Who’s playing
East Carolina Pirates @ Memphis Tigers
Current records: East Carolina 9-7, Memphis 12-3
How to watch
What you need to know
Memphis is 9-1 against East Carolina since March 2018, and they will have a chance to extend that success on Saturday. The two will face off in a battle of American Athletic at 2 p.m. ET at FedExForum. The Tigers show themselves to have some offensive power as they have averaged 79.1 points per game this season.
East Carolina hopes to do what North Texas couldn’t do on Sunday: end Memphis’ winning streak, which now stands at three. Memphis managed a 68-64 victory over North Texas.
PJ Haggerty was the offensive star of the game going 11 for 14 en route to 27 points plus five rebounds and three steals.
Even though they won, Memphis struggled to get the ball on offense and finished the game with only four offensive rebounds. It was the fewest offensive rebounds they had all season.
Meanwhile, East Carolina had to endure a three-game losing streak, but that streak is no more. They got past Temple 80-79 on Wednesday.
East Carolina can attribute much of its success to RJ Felton, who had a double-double with 23 points and 12 rebounds. Jayshayne Woodard was another key player, going 5 of 8 on his way to 15 points plus five rebounds and two steals.
Memphis has been performing well recently as they have won five of their last six games, which has been a nice improvement to their 12-3 record this season. As for East Carolina, their victory improved their record to 9-7.
Keep an eye on the arc in Saturday’s game: Memphis has been dynamite from deep this season, making 41.1 percent of its threes per game. It’s a different story for East Carolina, as they’ve made just 27.5 percent of their threes this season. Given Memphis’ considerable advantage in this area, East Carolina will need to find a way to close that gap.
Looking ahead, Memphis is the favorite in this one, as experts expect to see them win by 13 points. For those looking to play the spread, keep Memphis’ opponent in mind: They are a mediocre 2-5 ATS against East Carolina in their last seven matchups.
Odds
Memphis is a 13-point favorite against East Carolina, according to the latest college basketball odds.
The line on this game has moved a lot since it opened, since it started with the Tigers as 16.5-point favorites.
The over/under is 148.5 points.
See college basketball picks for every game, including this one, from SportsLine’s advanced computer model. Get Picks Now.
History of the series
Memphis has won 9 of its last 10 games against East Carolina.
- February 29, 2024 – Memphis 82 vs. East Carolina 58
- January 7, 2023 – Memphis 69 vs. East Carolina 59
- January 27, 2022 – Memphis 71 vs. East Carolina 54
- January 15, 2022 – East Carolina 72 vs. Memphis 71
- February 6, 2021 – Memphis 66 vs. East Carolina 59
- January 24, 2021 – Memphis 80 vs. East Carolina 53
- February 19, 2020 – Memphis 77 vs. East Carolina 73
- February 13, 2019 – Memphis 79 vs. East Carolina 69
- January 10, 2019 – Memphis 78 vs. East Carolina 72
- March 4, 2018 – Memphis 90 vs. East Carolina 70
