AAC Basketball Preview: East Carolina vs. Temple
American Athletic Conference Tournament
First Round
No. 9 East Carolina (14-17, 6-12 AAC) vs. No. 8 Temple (16-15, 7-11)
When: Thursday, 3:30 p.m., XL Center (15,564), Hartford, Connecticut.
Television: ESPNU.
Coaches: ECU, Michael Perry (acting head coach, 5-7), Temple, Fran Dunphy (11th season, 230-135; overall, 540-298).
Series: Temple leads 4-2.
Last meeting: Feb. 15, 2017, ECU won, 78-64 at home.
Points per game: ECU, 62.3 ppg. Temple, 71.0 ppg.
Opponent points per game: ECU, 64.5 percent; Temple, 70.9 ppg.
Free throw percentage: ECU, 65.3 percent; Temple, 72.2 percent.
Three-point percentage: ECU, 31.0 percent; Temple 35.8 percent.
Up next: The winner meets top seeded SMU in Friday's noon quarterfinal.
EAST CAROLINA
Nov. 11 Grambling State, 72-57
Nov. 14 North Carolina A&T, 61-51
Nov. 17 at Charlotte, 64-76
Nov. 20 Stetson, 73-50
Nov. 22 Florida A&M, 82-62
Nov. 25 vs. Mercer, 66-70*
Nov. 26 vs. Air Force, 70-63*
Nov. 29 Hampton, 68-48
Dec. 3 N.C. Central 69-56
Dec. 6 at Virginia, 53-76
Dec. 15 College of Charleston, 35-53
Dec. 20 at UNC Wilmington, 71-81
Dec. 22 Presbyterian, 75-56
Dec. 28 South Florida, 60-49
Dec. 31 SMU, 44-75
Jan. 3 at Central Florida, 45-48
Jan. 7 at Temple, 62-81
Jan. 11 Houston, 58-74
Jan. 15 Cincinnati, 45-55
Jan. 22 at UConn, 65-72
Jan. 25 Tulsa, 69-66
Jan. 28 at Memphis, 50-57
Feb. 1 at SMU, 46-86
Feb. 4 Tulane, 74-65
Feb. 11 at South Florida, 57-64
Feb. 15 Temple, 78-64
Feb. 18 Central Florida, 58-61
Feb. 21 at Tulane, 76-73
Feb. 26 at Tulsa, 66-74
March 1 UConn, 66-62
March 5 at Houston, 51-73
*at Savannah Georgia
TEMPLE
Nov. 11 La Salle, 97-92 OT
Nov. 14 New Hampshire, 52-57
Nov. 17 at UMass, 67-70
Nov. 20 Manhattan, 88-67
Nov. 24 89-86 Florida State*
Nov. 25 81-77 West Virginia*
Nov. 30 at St. Joseph's, 78-72
Dec. 3 Penn, 70-62
Dec. 7 George Washington, 63-66
Dec. 10 DePaul, 74-65**
Dec. 13 at Villanova, 57-78
Dec. 17 NJIT, 68-63
Dec. 22 Yale, 83-77
Dec. 28 Cincinnati, 50-56
Dec. 31 at Central Florida, 53-77
Jan. 4 at SMU, 65-79
Jan. 7 East Carolina, 81-62
Jan. 11 at UConn, 59-73
Jan. 14 Tulsa, 68-70
Jan. 18 at Cincinnati, 74-81
Jan. 25 Memphis, 77-66
Jan. 28 at Houston, 66-79
Jan. 31 at Tulane, 79-71
Feb. 5 South Florida, 83-74
Feb. 9 SMU, 50-66
Feb. 12 at Memphis, 74-62
Feb. 15 at East Carolina, 65-78
Feb. 19 UConn, 63-64
Feb. 22 Central Florida, 69-71
Feb. 25 Tulane, 86-76 (2OT)
March 5 at South Florida, 72-60.
*NIT Season Tip-Off at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn
**Played in Miami
EAST CAROLINA
TEMPLE
Probable Starters
G Shizz Alston, 6-4, So. 14.0 ppg., 4.0 apg.
G Quinton Rose, 6-8, Fr., 10.0 ppg., 3.9 rpg.
G Daniel Dingle, 6-7, r-Sr., 12.7 ppg., 4.5 rpg.
F Obi Enechionyia, 6-10, Jr. 12.9 ppg., 5.8rpg.
C Damion Moore, 6-11, Fr., 3.5 ppg., 2.8 rpg.
Key reserves
G Alani Moore, 5-10, Fr., 6.6 ppg., 1.7 apg.
F Mark Williams, 6-8, Sr., 6.2 ppg., 2.8 rpg.
C Ernest Aflakpui, 6-10, So., 4.3 ppg., 5.0 rpg.
EAST CAROLINA
Probable starters
G Jeremy Sheppard, 6-1, Fr., 9.3 ppg., 3.5 apg.
G Kentrell Barkley, 6-5, So., 12.4 ppg., 7.5 rpg.
F/C Deng Riak, 6-10, r-Fr., 3.2 ppg., 5.2 rpg.
C Andre Washington, 7-1, Gr., 7.0 ppg., 7.2 rpg. 2.9 bpg.
G Caleb White, 6-7, Sr., 11.7 ppg., 2.3 rpg.
Key Reserves
G B.J. Tyson, 6-3, Jr., 9.9 ppg., 3.0 rpg.
F Michael Nzege, 6-8, Sr., 3.2 ppg., 2.9 rpg.
G/F Elijah Hughes, 6-6, Fr., 7.0 ppg., 2.4 rpg.
G Raquan Wilkins, 6-5, Fr., 1.8 ppg., 1.5 rpg.
About ECU: Michael Perry, who has been an ECU assistant for 10 seasons, has been guiding the team since the last week of January after coach Jeff Lebo underwent hip surgery…In Sunday's regular season finale loss to Houston, Jeremy Sheppard scored a team-high 12 points…The Pirates shot 16 for 50 from the field, 5 for 21 from three point range and 14 for 22 from the foul line… Sheppard had three assists, giving him 98 and setting a school record for most assists by a freshman in a season, breaking the old mark of 97 set by Japhet McNeil in 2003-2004….With 92 blocked shots, Andre Washington now owns the single season ECU record…Nobody scored in double figures in ECU's loss this season at Temple, with Kentrell Barkley totaling a team-high nine points… Barkley had 19 points and 13 rebounds in this year's win over Temple…Sheppard earned a spot on the ACC All-Rookie Team.
About Temple: The Owls had a team-high 16 steals and shot 11 for 25 (44 percent) from three-point range in Sunday's win at South Florida…It was the first time Temple had at least 15 steals since a 15-steal effort on Nov. 16, 2008 in a xx over Clemson…Against USF, Daniel Dingle had 17 points and Obi Enechionyia had 14 points, seven rebounds and five steals and hit 4 of 8 from beyond the arc…In Temple's win this season over ECU, Dingle led five double-figure scorers with 19 points…The Owls shot 65.4 percent in the second half (17-26) while outscoring ECU, 41-28…Temple was outscored 41-26 in the second half of its 78-64 loss at ECU…Mark Williams led Temple with 15 points in the loss…Temple's Quinton Rose was named to the AAC All-Rookie Team.