Getty Head coach Tim Jankovich of the Southern Methodist Mustangs
The East Carolina Pirates (5-0) will head to SMU Moody Coliseum to face the SMU Mustangs (4-0) Tuesday afternoon.
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The game (8 p.m. ET start time) won’t be on regular TV anywhere, but you can watch East Carolina vs SMU live on ESPN+ right here:
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East Carolina vs SMU Preview
The Pirates are coming off a 73-67 win over an 0-7 North Florida team. Forward Jayden Gardner led the way once again for the Pirates, scoring 20 points and hauling in 12 boards, notching his second double-double of the year. Guard JJ Miles added 16 points, hitting 3-of-3 from beyond the arc, and Brandon Suggs chipped in 10 points, five rebounds and five assists.
“It gives us a lot of experience in these situations, because last year, we lost a lot of close ones at the end of the game,” Suggs said, after hitting the go-ahead bucket in the game’s final minutes. “We were a young team. We didn’t know how to finish. It’s kind of good we are going through this now so we can learn how to win at the end of the games.”
East Carolina head coach Joe Dooley agrees, noting after the game he has been trying to establish a solid degree of consistency on the team. “One of the things in learning how to win is understanding you play the same way every game,” Dooley said after the win. “That doesn’t mean you have the same game plan, but it’s the same approach. As a coach, you need to be harder when you’re being successful because the most natural thing to do is take your foot off the gas. Now is the time to get better and be even harder.”
As for the Mustangs, they’re off to an impressive 5-0 start, with their most recent win coming in a close two-point win over Dayton December 5. Guard Kendric Davis led the way for SMU with 21 points and six rebounds, Emmanuel Bandoumel scored 19 and Ethan Chargois added 14. It was Bandoumel who hit the game-winning layup with under a second left in regulation to give the Mustangs the win.
“How many big shots has he made for us?” SMU coach Tim Jankovich revealed after the game on his radio show, per the Dayton Daily News. “If you remember last year, he’s a guy who can definitely deliver in the clutch. We’ve got a number of guys who have that kind of courage.”
Southern Methodist is averaging 89 points per game while surrendering 65.0 a game to opposing teams, and they’ll be going up against a Pirates squad that has been allowing 62.8 points a game while scoring 76.2 points per contest.