Campbell @ East Carolina preview

Last Meeting ( Dec 4, 2017 ) Campbell 66, East Carolina 69

This season has been nothing short of a disaster for new-look East Carolina, consistently failing to beat teams from lower conferences, and enter Saturday's home contest against Campbell riding a four-game losing streak. Injuries, poor defense and a lack of outside shooting has plagued the Pirates in what looked to be the start of a promising rebuild.

Pirates players missing a total of 20 games this season, with swingmen J.J. Miles and Seth LeDay the most recent victims as they were out the last two and three games, respectively. But two players that have come off injury and added life to the lineup are junior college transfers Tyrie Jackson and Tremont Robinson-White. Jackson missed five games and has been heating up since his return, averaging 16.7 points in his last three contests, while Robinson-White, who missed seven games, has eclipsed double figures in his last two games. The Camels are off to their best start since 2011-2012 and have won their last two games despite not reaching 60 points.

TV: 4 p.m. ET, No TV

ABOUT CAMPBELL (6-2): The Camels have been searching far and wide to fill the void left by leading scorer in the country Chris Clemons, with 11 players seeing double-digit minutes per game. Sophomore swingman Cedric Henderson Jr. has been incredibly efficient while averaging 11.1 points, shooting 74 percent from the floor - which would be second in the nation, but his 50 field goals attempted does not qualify him - in addition to shooting 8-for-13 from 3-point range. Guard Ja'Cor Nelson (10.4 points) is the only other Camel to average double figures and had reached double digits in four straight games before being nearly silenced for just two points against Florida Gulf Coast.

ABOUT EAST CAROLINA (2-7): Sophomore forward Jayden Gardner has been the bright spot for the Pirates all season, leading the American Athletic Conference with 19.7 points a game while his streak of 11 straight double-digit scoring efforts dates back to 2018-2019 and is one of nine players in Division I to average 19 points and eight rebounds. Freshman swingman Brandon Suggs has stayed healthy and has been the most consistent newcomer, eclipsing double figures in seven contests. Freshman guard Tristen Newton averages 9.2 points and leads all AAC rookies in assist-turnover ratio (2.6).

TIP-INS

1. East Carolina is last in the AAC in scoring defense (75.3 points), and second-last in field goal percentage defense (45.9 percent) and scoring margin (minus-4).

2. The Pirates have used eight different starting lineups consisting of 11 of 13 scholarship players.

3. Campbell is first in the Big South in assist-turnover ratio (1.32) and second in turnover margin (plus-5.5).

PREDICTION: Campbell 72, East Carolina 68