East Carolina @ Connecticut preview

Last Meeting ( Mar 1, 2017 ) Connecticut 62, East Carolina 66

Connecticut looks to get on the winning track Saturday as East Carolina comes to town looking to build on its first American Athletic Conference victory of the season. UConn enters on a four-game losing streak while the Pirates picked up their first conference victory last time out at South Florida.

To record consecutive conference victories, East Carolina will have to slow down UConn junior guard Jalen Adams, who leads the AAC in scoring at 19 points per game - having reached double-digits in all 13 of his games this season, including five times over 20 points. Adams came up one assist short of a triple-double in a double-overtime loss to Tulsa on Wednesday. But the Pirates have not fared well in slowing down their opponents, allowing 50 more field goal attempts than it has taken on the season, even while limiting opponents to 41.3 percent shooting. The Pirates have also made 29 fewer 3-point shots than their opponents overall.

TV: Noon ET, ESPNews

ABOUT EAST CAROLINA (7-7, 1-2 AAC): The Pirates winning formula comes in the form of shooting success. East Carolina has hit better than 40 percent in nine games this season, posting a record of 7-2 in those outings. While four of the five starters are shooting better than 40 percent overall (B.J. Tyson, Isaac Fleming, Kentrell Barkley and Dimitri Spasojevic), the Pirates are hitting just 26.1 percent from beyond the 3-point line with Tyson leading the way at 33.8 percent among players with at least 15 attempts.

ABOUT CONNECTICUT (7-7, 0-2): A big part of the Huskies struggles on offense comes from a lack of consistent ball distribution. UConn has totaled double-digit assists and shot at least 40 percent from the field in just half of their games. But in a double-overtime loss versus Tulsa last game out, the Huskies recorded a season-high 18 assists - nine from Adams - that led to UConn's third-best shooting game of the season (43 percent).

TIP-INS

1. UConn holds an 7-2 all-time record against East Carolina, including 4-1 since the two have been in the AAC together.

2. Adams needs 28 points to become the 50th player in UConn history to record 1,000 in his career.

3. Tyson, who leads the Pirates in scoring at 15.4 points per game, has reached double digits in scoring in a season-best four consecutive games.

PREDICTION: UConn 74, East Carolina 69