Saturday, November 21st, 3:30 p.m. (et)

FACTS & STATS: Site: Virginia Islands Sports and Fitness Center (3,500) -- St. Thomas, Virgin Islands. Television: None. Home Record: Northern Iowa 0-0, East Carolina 1-0. Away Record: Northern Iowa 1-0, East Carolina 0-1. Neutral Record: Northern Iowa 0-1, East Carolina 0-2. Conference Record: Northern Iowa 0-0, East Carolina 0-0. Series Record: First-ever meeting.

GAME NOTES: The Paradise Jam continues in St. Thomas with a matchup between the Northern Iowa Panthers and the East Carolina Pirates.

The only game that Northern Iowa played prior to arriving in St. Thomas was on November 13th against Denver, and the Panthers posted a 71-65 victory in that contest. Yesterday, they took on DePaul and the result was 60-52 defeat. UNI is a member of the Missouri Valley Conference, and it is coached by Ben Jacobson.

East Carolina opened the season with an easy victory over UVA-Wise, but things have gone down hill in a hurry since. The Pirates have suffered three consecutive defeats, including a pair of blowouts. Yesterday, they were simply no match for national powerhouse Tennessee, losing by a 105-66 final.

This game marks the first-ever meeting between Northern Iowa and East Carolina on the hardwood.

Judging by the fact that Northern Iowa scored only 52 points last night against DePaul, it isn't surprising to hear that poor shooting was the main reason for the eight-point loss. Jacobson's team connected on a mere 32.7 percent of its field goal attempts in the clash, and Ali Farokhmanesh was the only player to reach double figures for the Panthers, as he tallied a modest 12 points in the setback. A 44-31 rebounding disadvantage certainly hurt the cause and overshadowed a solid defensive effort that saw UNI limit DePaul to 37.3 percent field goal efficiency. In the season-opening win over Denver, Northern Iowa played much better offensively, and Kwadzo Ahelegbe led four double-digit scorers with 18 points.

Brock Young is the go-to guy at the offensive end of the floor for East Carolina, as he is scoring 15.8 ppg to go along with 4.5 apg. Darrius Morrow provides 11.3 ppg and 7.0 rpg, while Chad Wynn checks in with 10.3 ppg and 6.5 rpg. Rounding out a foursome of double-digit scorers is Jontae Sherrod, who is posting 10.0 ppg. The Pirates are scoring 67.2 ppg as a team, but they are allowing 82.0 ppg to foes. That disparity is surprising, considering the fact that ECU is outrebounding opponents by six boards per contest. Young scored 15 points against Tennessee yesterday, but he committed 12 of his team's 35 turnovers, a staggering total to say the least. Sherrod added 12 points in defeat for the Pirates, who actually shot a healthy 52.6 percent from the floor. Clearly, the giveaways were the most obvious reason for the lopsided setback.

Northern Iowa is the pick in this tilt, as it figures to put plenty of pressure on an East Carolina squad that consistently made poor decisions with the ball yesterday.

Predicted Outcome

Northern Iowa 73, East Carolina 65