Who’s Playing
Temple Owls @ East Carolina Pirates
Current Records: Temple 9-5, East Carolina 8-7
How To Watch
What to Know
We’ve got another exciting American Athletic matchup on schedule as the East Carolina Pirates and the Temple Owls are set to tip at 7:00 p.m. ET on Wednesday at Williams Arena at Minges Coliseum. The Pirates are strutting in with some offensive muscle as they’ve averaged 76.6 points per game this season.
East Carolina is headed into Wednesday’s matchup looking for a big change in momentum after dropping their third straight game on Sunday. They fell just short of FAU by a score of 78-76. For those keeping track at home, that’s the closest loss the Pirates have suffered since November 15, 2023.
Despite their defeat, East Carolina saw several players rise to the challenge and make noteworthy plays. Jordan Riley, who almost dropped a double-double on 19 points and nine rebounds, was perhaps the best of all. The team also got some help courtesy of C.J. Walker, who dropped a double-double on 21 points and 13 rebounds.
Even though they lost, East Carolina smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 25 offensive rebounds. The team’s really been improving in that area: they’ve now improved their offensive rebound total in four consecutive games.
Meanwhile, Temple won against Buffalo last Sunday with 91 points and they decided to stick to that point total again on Friday. Temple rang in the new year with a 91-85 victory over Wichita State. The Owls’ season wasn’t pretty last year but it’s starting to look like struggles are in the rearview.
Temple’s success was the result of a balanced attack that saw several players step up, but Jamal Mashburn Jr. led the charge by scoring 24 points. With that strong performance, Mashburn Jr. is now averaging an impressive 20.2 points per game. Another player making a difference was Quante Berry, who went 5 for 7 en route to 14 points plus five assists and five rebounds.
East Carolina’s loss dropped their record down to 8-7. As for Temple, their win was their sixth straight at home, which pushed their record up to 9-5.
Rebounding is likely to be a big factor in this contest: East Carolina has been smashing the glass this season, having averaged 39.7 rebounds per game. However, it’s not like Temple struggles in that department as they’ve been averaging 37.4. With both teams battling to corral missed shots, we’ll see if one team can grab an edge.
East Carolina beat Temple 70-64 in their previous matchup back in January of 2024. Will East Carolina repeat their success, or does Temple have a better game plan this time around? We’ll find out soon enough.
Series History
Temple has won 7 out of their last 10 games against East Carolina.
- Jan 28, 2024 – East Carolina 70 vs. Temple 64
- Jan 10, 2024 – East Carolina 73 vs. Temple 62
- Jan 18, 2023 – Temple 73 vs. East Carolina 58
- Dec 28, 2022 – Temple 59 vs. East Carolina 57
- Feb 02, 2022 – Temple 71 vs. East Carolina 63
- Jan 08, 2022 – Temple 78 vs. East Carolina 75
- Feb 23, 2020 – East Carolina 67 vs. Temple 63
- Feb 01, 2020 – Temple 76 vs. East Carolina 64
- Jan 16, 2019 – Temple 85 vs. East Carolina 74
- Feb 07, 2018 – Temple 90 vs. East Carolina 73
