Central Florida @ East Carolina preview

Last Meeting ( Jan 13, 2019 ) East Carolina 65, Central Florida 76

Central Florida and East Carolina are looking to halt skids when they meet on the Pirates' homecourt Thursday evening in an American Athletic Conference matchup. ECU has lost two in a row after a 76-64 setback at Temple while the Knights have lost three straight after scoring a season-low in a 64-48 debacle against local rival South Florida.

"They (USF) definitely played well against us tonight," UCF coach Johnny Dawkins told reporters. "I don't think we put our best performance out there. It's disappointing. We didn't shoot the ball very well. In a game like this, you need those shots to fall." The loss put an end to the Knights' hold on USF, halting their bid to make it 10 victories in a row and now they face a similar challenge in trying to defeat ECU for the eighth straight time. But both schools are floundering since league play began, sinking toward the bottom of the AAC with the Knights losing eight of their last 10 and the Pirates falling in five of their last six. ECU has averaged only 58.6 points in those five losses and has given up 75.2.

TIME: 7 p.m. ET. TV: None

ABOUT UCF (11-10, 2-7 AAC): The Knights only had one player in double figures in the low-scoring loss to USF, with leading scorer Collin Smith (12.6 points per game) totaling 12 points on 4-of-6 shooting from the floor. UCF's second-leading scorer Ceasar DeJesus (10.8) was limited to just four points while Matt Milon recorded seven but he was just 1-for-6 from long range as the team as a whole went a miserable 2-for-22 from 3-point land. The Knights are now 5-1 when they record at least eight treys in a game and 6-9 when they don't.

ABOUT ECU (9-13, 3-6): For the Pirates, it all begins with sophomore forward Jayden Gardner, who has registered double figures in every game this season but tied his season low with 11 points in the loss to Temple. Gardner, the AAC's leading scorer, is the only Pirate averaging in double digits (20.8 ppg), with five posting at least 7.0 per game, including Tre Robinson-White (8.5), who scored a season-high 21 points against Temple. The Pirates have hit less than 28 percent of their long-distance shots in each of their last seven losses and 11 of their 13 setbacks overall.

BUZZER BEATERS

1. With its seven-game winning streak, UCF has dominated this series, owning a 21-9 overall advantage.

2. The Knights have won by an average of 11 points during their seven-game run against the Pirates.

3. Gardner lit up the Knights last year with 35 points and 20 rebounds in a losing cause.

PREDICTION: East Carolina 64, UCF 61