North Carolina A&T (3-6) vs. East Carolina (7-2)
When: Tuesday, Dec. 7, 7 p.m.
Where: Mingles Coliseum (East Greensboro, N.C.)
TV/Radio: Spencer Turkin (tobaccoroadsports.com)
A&T Team Leaders
Points: Marcus Watson (12.6 PPG)
Rebounds: Marcus Watson (5.2 RPG)
Assists: Kameron Langley (5.7 APG)
Blocks: Harry Morrice (14)
Steals: Kameron Langley (19)
Field Goal Percentage: Webster Filmore (.708)
3-pt Field Goal Percentage: Demetric Horton (.404)
Free Throw Percentage: Tyler Maye (.714)
A&T Big South Leaders (Top-10)
Assists: Kameron Langley (50) – 1st
Blocks: Harry Morrice (14) – 5th
Steals: Kameron Langley (19) – 2nd
A&T National Leaders (Top-100)
Assists: Kameron Langley (50) –13th
Blocks: Harry Morrice (14) – 91st
Steals: Kameron Langley (19) – 34th
NORTH CAROLINA A&T AGGIES (3-6): Last time out, A&T scored a season-high 97 points in a rout of Carver College and moved to 2-0 at home.
The Aggies have put together back-to-back wins for the first time this season, heading into Tuesday's matchup with the Pirates. This game marks the first time Will Jones will be facing the Pirates as the head coach for the Aggies.
Graduate forward Justin Whatley spent his first two college basketball seasons in Greenville competing for ECU. He saw action in 25 games, limited by injury, scoring 65 points and grabbing 40 rebounds, all told.
The Aggies lead the Big South in turnover margin at plus-3.33, averaging 13.0 turnovers while forcing 15.9 per game from their opponents, also tops in the league. Collectively, A&T swipes a league-leading 9.0 steals per game as well.
Coach Jones is now in his third season overall and second full season after initially taking over on an interim basis on December 24, 2019. Since then, Jones has compiled a 19-5 conference record and the program's first regular-season conference title since 1990. He even earned Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference coach of the year honors in 2019-20 and sports a 27-21 (.571) overall record at the program's helm.
EAST CAROLINA (7-2): The Pirates are winners of three-straight and will put their perfect 6-0 home record on the line Tuesday against the Aggies. Last time out, ECU defeated Big South member Gardner-Webb, 62-52. All three games during the Pirates winning streak have been close calls as they have only outscored their opponents 195-182 during that span, with two of the games decided by less than three points.
Sophomore guard Tristen Newton leads the Pirates in scoring, averaging 18.2 points per game, almost six points higher than the next closest scorer, Brandon Suggs (12.4 ppg). Newton had a season-high 30 points in a 95-79 win over Western Carolina on Nov. 14. He has scored in double-figures in all nine games for the Pirates this year, including six games with 15-plus points.
Head coach Joe Dooley is in the fourth year of his second stint as the head coach for the Pirates and his seventh year overall. He got his start as a head coach in 1995 at the helm of ECU's program and held the position for four seasons, amassing 57 wins. Then, he departed and became an assistant around the country for over a decade, highlighted by his years on Bill Self's staff at Kansas, where he recruited big names such as Mario Chalmers and Cole Aldrich.
After Kansas, he became the head coach at Florida Gulf Coast in 2013, where he earned two NCAA tournament berths, two NIT berths and won 20-plus games all five years he coached there. He also earned Atlantic Sun coach of the year in 2017. He returned to ECU in 2018 and surpassed the 200-win mark at the end of last season. He now has a 93-106 (.467) record at the helm of the Pirates and a 207-164 (.558) mark overall.
THE SERIES: The Aggies are 1-6 all-time against ECU. On Nov. 26, 2017, their lone win was an 87-81 triumph.
GAME NOTES
- The Aggies are looking for their first road win of the season. Their last road win in November or December came on Nov. 21, 2018, at Mount St. Mary's.
- The Aggies reached 90-plus points for the first time this season. They reached 90-plus points four times last season.
- ECU shares the ball well offensively at 15.7 assists per game, which is second in the American Athletic Conference (AAC).
- They are also a quality free-throw shooting team, knocking down 75 percent of their shots from the charity stripe, third in the AAC.
- The Aggies secured a season-high 49 rebounds against Carver last Friday night.
- Graduate guard Kameron Langley led the MEAC in assists three times. He leads the Big South in assists this season at 5.6 per game.
