Busting Brackets
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AAC Basketball: Tournament preview and predictions

By Steven Massucci

Mar 15, 2015; Hartford, CT, USA; The Southern Methodist Mustangs celebrate after defeating the Connecticut Huskies during the final round of the American Conference Tournament at XL Center. Mandatory Credit: David Butler II-USA TODAY Sports at XL Center.
Mar 15, 2015; Hartford, CT, USA; The Southern Methodist Mustangs celebrate after defeating the Connecticut Huskies during the final round of the American Conference Tournament at XL Center. Mandatory Credit: David Butler II-USA TODAY Sports at XL Center. /
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Nov 20, 2015; Berkeley, CA, USA; East Carolina Pirates guard Caleb White (2)with his arm around guard Kentrell Barkley (15) as a timeout is called during the second half against the California Golden Bears at Haas Pavilion. The California Golden Bears defeated the East Carolina Pirates 70-62. Mandatory Credit: Kelley L Cox-USA TODAY Sports
Nov 20, 2015; Berkeley, CA, USA; East Carolina Pirates guard Caleb White (2)with his arm around guard Kentrell Barkley (15) as a timeout is called during the second half against the California Golden Bears at Haas Pavilion. The California Golden Bears defeated the East Carolina Pirates 70-62. Mandatory Credit: Kelley L Cox-USA TODAY Sports /

8. East Carolina Pirates

ECU went 4-14 in conference play this year. They started 0-of-6 but finished 4-of-8, getting close wins at Memphis and against Temple.

Last year’s team won a game in AAC tournament play before losing to eventual champion SMU by six in the quarterfinals. They return two of three leading scorers from that team.

The Pirates scoring punch comes almost exclusively from their four guards. Sophomore BJ Tyson leads the team in scoring. 6’7″ junior Caleb White adds some height to this undersized group. 6’5″ freshman Kentrell Barkley leads the team in rebounding with 6.5 per game. This is a great group of shooters, ranking 3rd in the conference as a team.

The two main presences down low for ECU are 6’9′ senior Michael Zangari and 6’8″ junior Michel Nzege. 6’11” Marshall Guilmette was expected to be the main scoring output from the paint for ECU, but injuries forced him to retire from basketball altogether in the off-season.

The Pirates are by far the worst rebounding team in the conference, ranking last in total rebounding and rebounding margin. This leaves them very vulnerable to bigger teams, evidenced by the season sweep handed to them by UCF.

Prediction:

1st Round Win vs. USF – As mentioned, ECU recently beat USF in an absolute shutdown of the Bulls offense. In the game, USF wasn’t able to fully take advantage of the thin ECU frontcourt and get their big men above their scoring average.

They forced it inside, but their lack of offensive talent showed as their offense stalled. As long as the experienced backcourt of ECU can lock down on USF once again, they shouldn’t have a problem advancing past the first round.

Quaterfinals Loss to Temple – Temple is actually a fairly decent matchup for East Carolina, exemplified in the Pirate’s 64-61 win against them in late January. The Owls are not a premier rebounding team and their offense is perimeter-oriented, which ECU can combat.

Temple has a tournament berth on the line, so expect them to gut out a victory. However, don’t be completely shocked if the Pirates pull off a quaterfinal upset against the one seed.

Next: 7. Central Florida Knights