Know the Foe: East Carolina

Memphis has lost five straight games, and it will look to bounce back on Sunday against East Carolina. The Pirates enter the game following a one-point win over UTSA, and they must continue winning if they want to make the conference tournament in Birmingham.

Mike Schwartz is in his fourth season as ECU’s head coach, and he’s in the midst of the worst year in his tenure. The Pirates are 10-18 and 5-10 in conference play, but they have turned a corner lately, winning five of their last nine games. 

After completing a 5-8 non-conference slate, Schwartz’s team lost the first six games of conference play before picking up its first win in late January on the road against North Texas. 

As a team, ECU averages 70.9 points per game, and it shoots 41.7 percent from the field, 27.8 percent from deep and 70.1 percent from the free-throw line. The Pirates are one of the worst shooting teams in the country, and they rank No. 358 in three-point percentage and No. 319 in two-point percentage among 365 teams, according to KenPom. 

Despite the team’s poor shooting, ECU’s Jordan Riley ranks second in the country in points per game, only 1.4 points behind BYU’s AJ Dybantsa. Riley averages 23.7 points, 5.7 rebounds and 2.3 assists per game, and he’s shooting 30.5 percent from deep, which is a career high.

The Pirates have two more players averaging more than 10 points a game in guard Dimitri Gardner and center Giovanni Emejuru. Gardner averages 11.1 points per game and shoots 41.7 percent from deep, while Emejuru averages 13.3 points, 9.4 rebounds and 1.8 blocks in 33.1 minutes per contest.

In the frontcourt, ECU averages 36.3 rebounds per game, but it has a rebounding margin of minus-0.1. Emejuru and Riley are the only two players who average more than five rebounds per game, and the Pirates have allowed their opponent to grab double-digit offensive rebounds 21 times this season.

Defensively, Schwartz’s team allows 76.8 points per game, and opposing teams shoot 44.8 percent from the field and 34.7 percent from three-point range. Opponents only attempt 14 free throws per game, and ECU’s frontcourt blocks four shots per game.