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Non-conference schedules are beginning to come to an end with a matchup on Thursday between the East Carolina Pirates (6-4, 3-6 ATS) and the Florida Gators (6-3, 2-6-1 ATS). East Carolina just lost a home game to South Carolina 68-62, just missing the cover as 5.5-point underdogs. Florida is coming off a win in the Orange Bowl Classic against Richmond, winning 87-76 as 11-point favorites. This is a neutral court matchup set to tip at 7:00 EST from the RP Funding Center in Lakeland, Florida and can be found on the SEC Network.
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The East Carolina Pirates have rarely left their campus this season so far. They played nine of their ten games this season at home, losing their only road game at George Mason. The Pirates lost a couple early season games where they were listed as favorites, going down to SC Upstate and Northeastern. KenPom has their non-conference schedule listed as the 347th most difficult in the country, which gives them close to the easiest road in the nation. In their last game, they were led by guard RJ Felton with 15 points and 7 rebounds in the loss to South Carolina.
Felton leads the Pirates in scoring with 16.2 PPG as a 6'3 junior guard. He is the top shooter on the team with 16 made threes on the season, and also the best perimeter defender averaging 1.9 steals per game. Felton is active on the board, grabbing 6.8 RPG. Brandon Johnson is next up in scoring, the 6'8 forward adds 14.6 PPG and leads the team in rebounding with 8.4 per game. Johnson has reached double figures in each of the last four games, with two double-doubles. Their third scorer is another 6'8 forward, Ezra Ausar plays a powerful game inside at 247 pounds and adds 14.3 PPG and 5.8 RPG. There is a drop in scoring after the top three, the next highest scorer is 6'0 point guard Bobby Pettiford Jr. with 9.8 PPG, he also leads the team in assists with 3.7 per game.
East Carolina is currently ranked 204th overall in KenPom. They are stronger on the offensive side of the ball where they rank 127th in the nation in efficiency, while their defense ranks 293rd. The Pirates play slow on offense, their tempo is ranked 301st in the nation based upon their average amount of possessions per game.