East Carolina returns to the court after nearly a month off due to Covid-19 Thursday night when the Pirates host UCF in American Athletic Conference play.
It has been since February 8 when ECU took on SMU and lost 71-56 that they have played a basketball game. Five straight postponements have followed in scheduled games against Houston, Wichita State, Tulsa and a pair of games against Temple.
ECU enters at 8-8 and just 2-8 in AAC play but they have had their moments in league play and things could be far different right now if the chips had fallen in a little different direction.
Johnny Dawkins’ Knights at 9-11 on the season come in as one of the hotter AAC teams of late after winning their last three games in succession against South Florida, Tulane and at home Tuesday night against Tulsa 73-69.
Brandon Rachel’s 16 points and nine rebounds led four UCF players in double-figures against Tulsa including 13 points from Darien Jackson and 11 each from Keyshawn Embery-Simpson and Elijah Joiner. Two other players added nine points each in the win so UCF is getting balanced scoring.
Three ECU players will be out for Thursday’s matchup with the Knights in the form of Bitumba Baruti, Charles Coleman and Tyree Jackson. That will not help matters in terms of the overall rotation but having said that, only Baruti has been playing meaningful minutes of the three.
How the Pirates will fare after nearly a month long layoff remains to be seen, but for Joe Dooley and the Pirates, they are just happy to be playing basketball again.
Conditioning could be a concern in the first game back and Monday was the first day being able to play five on five since the SMU game. Dooley says getting reacclimated to contact will also be important.
“The guys were excited as we were adding guys to practice. We had some more guys who came out on Saturday and Sunday. We were able to do stuff and practice Monday and Tuesday with all of those guys,” Dooley stated, “They were excited to have some guys back out of protocol and be able to play some five on five and excited to get back into a little bit of a routine.”
“I think we will have to substitute more often. Our conditioning is terrible. I don’t think it’s where it would be obviously but I think the guys have done a pretty good job of shooting and doing some conditioning stuff in the time we were allowed,” said Dooley on Wednesday, “The other thing is we might have to use a timeout or two just to slow down and get some guys’ breath back.”
Making a decent percentage of shots will go a long way toward putting a representative game together on Thursday for the Pirates. So far, ECU has either been really hot or very cold from the field and Dooley would no doubt be pleased to find some middle ground.
“We have either been A or Z which is not what you want to be. I do think that Tremont and Tristen have struggled a little bit from three. If J.J. Miles can get on a little bit of a roll, J.J.’s stats have been very, very consistent,” Dooley told PirateIllustrated.com, “Making some three point shots and the biggest thing is our offensive rhythm. You’re not going to get your rhythm in a couple of days of practice so you just want to make sure that you don’t turn it over and take open shots.”
The Pirates will wind up the regular season on Sunday at 1 pm against ever improving Cincinnati before heading to the AAC tournament.
Game time for the UCF game is set for 9 pm Thursday in Minges Coliseum and can be seen on ESPNU.
Catch Coach Dooley's pregame Zoom Press Conference below and stay tuned for the very latest here on PirateIllustrated.com.
