GREENVILLE — Senior forward Darrius Morrow
had never had a game at East Carolina in which he didn't score — not
until Saturday evening in a 76-64 home loss to Charlotte.
It was a strange day indeed for the big
guy from Atlanta, GA, who set a school record for free throws made (159)
and attempted (239) last season when he averaged 13.0 points a game. He
didn't get to the foul line once in Williams Arena at Minges Coliseum
against the 49ers.
"We wanted to keep him off balance,"
said visiting coach Alan Major.
Charlotte (4-2) was physical and
collapsed on the 6-foot-8, 245-pound Morrow, who didn't look anything
like the player who scored 33 points last season at Marshall, an ECU
record in a Conference USA game. Morrow was 0-for-8 from the field and
compounded his personal misery with five turnovers.
"Darrius just struggled immensely,"
said Pirates coach Jeff Lebo who played his most productive returning
player a game-high 36 minutes.
ECU struggled in a lot of areas. The
Pirates were outscored 30-18 in the paint, 14-13 off turnovers, 16-9 on
second-chance points, 15-5 on fast breaks and 31-27 in bench production.
No one else took up the slack on the
interior for ECU, which probably led Lebo to hope that Morrow would
break out of his Saturday slump at some point. Robert Sampson had two
points in 24 minutes as he was hampered by an injured thumb. Austin
Steed managed one basket in 13 minutes.
The Pirates are not achieving the sort
of inside-outside balance that challenges opposing defenses. No one
heated up from outside the arc as the inside game was constricted by
Charlotte's 6-9 Chris Braswell (13 points, nine rebounds, five assists
and three blocks) with help from Javaris Barrett (13 points and six
boards) and K.J. Sherrill (seven rebounds).
There were times when the 49ers'
interior passing was clinic quality.
ECU went 10-for-33 behind the arc.
Despite a game high 22 points, Pirates point guard Miguel Paul made just
3 of 9 from long distance and 5 of 19 overall from the floor. He
compensated by making 9 of 10 free throw opportunities. Erin Straughn
was 2 of 5 behind the arc, former 49er Shamarr Bowden was 3 for 8 and
Paris Roberts-Campbell was 2 for 9.
Little Jamar Briscoe, who is listed at
5-10 but appears smaller, gave Charlotte a spark. The guy nicknamed
"Deuce" suddenly developed a hot hand from region three.
"He came in 2 for 15 and made 4 of 4
(3-pointers)," Lebo noted.
Briscoe played like he wanted to
personally repay the Pirates for
a 62-61 loss in Greenville last
Dec. 1 in which Morrow made a free throw to complete a 3-point play with
3.8 seconds left for the winning margin.
What a difference 367 days made.
"I wish I knew," Lebo said of the
solution to Morrow's difficulties. "He was just out of whack tonight.
I've not seen him play like that in a long time. ... They mixed how they
defended him. They were quick, athletic and strong. He's a little better
sometimes with even bigger guys than guys his size and strength."
Morrow has been dedicated. He dropped
about 35 pounds during the course of last season, became a team leader
in the process and has kept the weight off, a factor that caused Lebo to
count on him heavily this season.
Sometimes Morrow's production has been
a function of his lack of involvement in the offense. That wasn't the
case as ECU fell to 4-3 with only one win over a Division I opponent.
"We got him the ball a lot of different
times," Lebo said. "He just wasn't effective when he got it."
Despite a boat load of troubles, a
66-47 deficit with 5:05 to go and some fans headed to the exits, the
Pirates made a 16-3 run that got the remnants of the attending Pirate
Nation excited.
Paul made the second of two free throws
with 2:39 left to trim Charlotte's lead to 69-64 but the Pirates
wouldn't score again.
"It was a frustrating night," Lebo
said.
One difference for this ECU team is
that the veterans have experienced a degree of success, going 18-16 in
2010-11 for the program's first winning record in 14 years. They've had
a taste of winning, they know what it takes and that gives the group
confidence that they can get things turned around with Massachusetts
coming in on Tuesday night.
"We're still learning," Paul said.
"We're a work in progress."
Bowden had 13 points for ECU. Straughn
had 11 points and nine rebounds. Sampson had 11 rebounds and Morrow
grabbed eight as the Pirates managed a 43-42 edge on the glass.
"We're getting the looks we want,"
Straughn said. "We've got to be able to score more consistently. ...
It's a long season and it's early."
No one was throwing Morrow under the
bus. He's more than earned his scholarship and it's a good bet that he
will continue adding interest on the investment.
"They were doubling down on the post,"
Straughn said. "I'm pretty sure Darrius will come back even harder the
next game."
BOX
SCORE
CHARLOTTE 76, EAST CAROLINA 64
Date:
Saturday, Dec. 3, 2011
Place: Williams Arena at Minges Coliseum, Greenville, NC
Attendance: 5,273
Records: ECU 4-3; UNCC 4-2
SCORE BY PERIODS 1 2 FINAL
Charlotte
26 50 - 76
East Carolina
25 39 - 64
CHARLOTTE
49ERS
#
PLAYER FG 3PT FT R PTS MIN
35 Braswell, Chris..... f 4-9
0-0 5-7 9 13 25
00 Barnett, Javarris... g 6-12 1-4
0-0 6 13 29
01 Green, Derrio....... g 1-5
1-3 0-0 2 3 16
11 Mayfield, DeMario... g 4-8
0-2 1-3 4 9 30
15 Henry, Pierria...... g 3-5
1-2 0-0 3 7 28
02 Sherrill, KJ.......... 1-2
0-0 2-2 7 4 14
05 Nickerson, E. Victor.. 2-6
0-0 1-2 4 5 18
10 Briscoe, Jamar........ 5-8
4-4 5-10 1 19 18
14 Williams, Terrence.... 0-1
0-1 0-0 0 0 4
44 Voncina, Luka......... 1-2
1-2 0-0 0 3 18
TEAM.....................
6
TOTALS................... 27-58 8-18 14-24 42
76 200
PERCENT.................. 46.6 44.4
58.3
EAST
CAROLINA PIRATES
#
PLAYER FG 3PT FT R PTS MIN
01 Morrow, Darrius..... f 0-8
0-0 0-0 8 0 36
12 Sampson, Robert..... f 1-4
0-0 0-2 11 2 24
00 Paul, Miguel........ g 5-19 3-9
9-10 3 22 32
11 Gaines, Corvonn..... g 1-3
0-1 0-0 1 2 18
23 Straughn, Erin...... g 4-8
2-5 1-2 9 11 27
02 Kemp, Maurice......... 3-4
0-1 0-0 3 6 17
20 Bowden, Shamarr....... 5-10 3-8
0-0 0 13 14
22 CAMPBELL, Paris....... 2-10 2-9
0-0 1 6 18
25 Steed, Austin......... 1-3
0-0 0-0 4 2 13
35 Morales, Darius....... 0-0
0-0 0-0 0 0 1
TEAM.....................
3
TOTALS................... 22-69 10-33 10-14 43 64
200
PERCENT.................. 31.9 30.3
71.4
Fouled
out: None
Technical Fouls: None
Officials: Bryan Kersey, Mark Schnur, Alfred Smith |