GREENVILLE — East Carolina is making a habit of knocking off marquee
programs at its intimidating home floor.
On Sunday, Ole Miss painfully etched its name among the growing list of
humbled foes.
The Rebels marched into Greenville with four returning starters,
six-consecutive postseason appearances, and high hopes of another stellar
season.
But history, glamour, and glitz wouldn't be enough to propel the SEC
visitors in their season opener, as East Carolina, behind a smothering
defensive effort and balanced scoring attack sent the Rebels home wounded
with a 65-58 loss at electric Williams Arena at Minges Coliseum.
"Obviously it was a great win for our kids — a great win for our program,"
Pirates coach Bill Herrion said. "I'm really proud of these guys.
"I like the look of this basketball team, but I've liked it from day one.
These kids play very hard. They're very competitive. They thoroughly enjoy
playing with each other and playing together."
The Pirates (2-0) certainly seemed in unison throughout the second half.
Trailing by three at intermission, the Pirates traded baskets with the
talented Rebels (0-1) before taking the lead for good at 34-32 on Moussa
Badiane's lay in with 14:43 left.
Propelled by its tough man-to-man defense, East Carolina eventually built
its lead to nine on Gabriel Mikulas' five-foot jumper with 2:43 left and
sank enough free throws down the wire to smoke the victory cigar.
"(Coach Herrion) told us defense was going to win the game," Pirates point
guard Travis Holcomb-Faye said. "Ole Miss is a great defensive team and we
really couldn't run our offense much in the first half.
"The second half, we came in and settled down and got the ball in to Gabe
(Mikulas) and Erroyl (Bing). On the defensive end, we just tried to lock up
and get rebounds."
ECU did win the battle of the boards, out-rebounding the athletic Rebels
35-33. Forward Errol Bing paced the Pirates, ripping down six boards, four
on the offensive end.
Bing also hit all five of his field goal attempts, finishing with 11 points.
Mikulas and guard Derrick Wiley each tossed in 11 apiece, while Holcomb-Faye
added ten, complimented by five assists.
Rebels forward Aaron Harper led all scorers, banging in 15 points, including
three-of-six from behind the arc.
Badiane led the charge defensively for the Pirates, who forced 18 turnovers
and limited Ole miss to 41 percent from the floor, swatting five shots while
being limited to just 14 minutes due to foul trouble.
The sophomore center also made a number of key plays down the stretch to
help seal the victory.
"He went and got a couple of defensive rebounds late in the game," Herrion
said. "That is something he did not do last year. He also stepped up and
made some big free throws.
"The thing we have to do with Moussa is we have to keep him out of foul
trouble. We've got to keep him on the floor — he has such an impact on the
game defensively."
The Pirates and Rebels played nip-and-tuck throughout much of the first half
with neither team enjoying more than a six point margin.
Ole Miss held an early 13-7 advantage, but the Pirates battled back to take
a 14-13 lead, then going back-and-forth with the visiting Rebels before
heading into the locker room down 27-24.
"It was an opportunity game for East Carolina basketball," Herrion said. "To
a play a quality, quality SEC team, a team that's been to the postseason six
years in a row — five out of the six to the NCAA tournament, two years ago
to the Sweet 16.
"If we're going to ever aspire — which we are — to be a postseason caliber
team here at East Carolina in basketball, you've got to win games like that.
You've got to take advantage of these opportunities and I thought our kids
really responded down the stretch."
After playing two games in less than 48 hours, the Pirates have almost a
week to prepare for their next outing, a home contest against former
conference rival William and Mary next Saturday.
BOX
SCORE: East Carolina 65, Ole Miss 58
Mississippi (58)
Player FG FT PTS
Harper 6-9
0-0 15
Fox
0-2 0-0 0
Allen 4-15
3-4 11
Pearson 2-5
2-3 7
Sanders 4-6
2-2 10
Johnson 0-1
0-0 0
Nunnery 0-0
0-0 0
Reed 5-12
0-0 11
Wade 1-4
2-2 4
Rhodes 0-0
0-0 0
Totals 22-54
9-11 58
