GREENVILLE, N.C. (December 10, 2024) – A couple of programs on the rise will face off on Wednesday in North Carolina, as the North Alabama men's basketball team battles East Carolina at 6 p.m. CT inside Minges Coliseum.
Wednesday's matchup includes a pair of teams within 16 spots of each other in the NCAA NET Rankings. Both teams are off to strong starts with ECU at 7-3 overall and North Alabama at 6-4. UNA looks to add a second straight win, while ECU looks to avoid a third straight loss.
Fans can listen live on WLX Radio worldwide on the app or website, or tune in locally on 98.3 or 103.5 FM with "Voice of the Lions" Benjamin Ray on the call. The "Countdown to Tipoff" begins at 5:40 p.m. CT. Fans can also watch on ESPN+ or follow live stats.
GAMEDAY INFORMATION
Game: North Alabama vs. East Carolina
Date: Wednesday, December 11
Time: 6 p.m. CT
Location: Greenville, North Carolina
Venue: Williams Arena at Minges Coliseum
Capacity: 7,100
Watch:
ESPN+ (Patrick Johnson, Si Seymour)
Radio:
WLX 98.3 / 103.5 FM ("Voice of the Lions" Benjamin Ray)
Live Stats:
StatBroadcast
Tickets:
Click Here
Game Notes:
Click Here
Social Media:
@UNA_Basketball
NOTES
LAST TIME OUT: North Alabama tied the school record for largest win margin against a Division I opponent last Wednesday, defeating Tennessee Tech 82-59 inside CB&S Bank Arena. The 23-point win matches the previous records set against Mississippi Valley State in 2019 (73-50) and ASUN opponent Kennesaw State in 2021 (66-43). Five players finished in double figures for UNA.
SCOUTING THE LIONS: UNA enters 6-4 overall, including four Division I wins over Air Force, UT Martin, ULM and Tennessee Tech. The Lions average 78.7 PPG while allowing just 78.1 PPG on defense. UNA ranks 22nd in the nation with a +4.9 turnover margin and average 9.6 steals per game. Junior all-conference guard
Jacari Lane remains the team's leading scorer with 15.4 PPG, including 15 points in his last outing. Redshirt sophomore forward
Corneilous Williams had a double-double last time out and averages 9.8 PPG with 8.2 RPG.
SCOUTING THE PIRATES: ECU has a 7-3 record, including a 7-1 start to the season. The Pirates dropped their last two games against tough competition, falling to UNCW at home and South Carolina on the road. ECU is one of the better defenses UNA will face all season, as they allow 69.5 PPG. ECU is led by all-conference senior guard RJ Felton with 18.8 PPG.
SERIES HISTORY: This will be the first all-time meeting between the two schools. UNA is 0-5 against current schools from the American Conference with three losses to Memphis and two to UAB. However, UNA is 4-1 against first time opponents this season, one of which came against Mountain West opponent Air Force.
NET BATTLE: For the second straight game, UNA will face a team who is closely ranked in the NCAA NET Rankings. East Carolina enters at 169, while UNA enters just 16 spots back at 185. Following last week's win over Tennessee Tech, UNA jumped 38 spots up the rankings from 223. Tennessee Tech was eight spots behind UNA at 231 last week.
A FAMILIAR FOE: Last season, senior guard
Daniel Ortiz played at UAB and faced off against East Carolina in conference play. UAB won the game by eight points — 69-61. Ortiz happened to score eight points that night, going 3-7 from the floor and 2-4 behind the arc. Ortiz spent two seasons at UNA before transferring to UAB last season. He made his return back to UNA as a senior.
MILESTONE MEN: To end the month of November, a pair of Lions reached 1,000 career points at UNA.
Jacari Lane was the first to do it against ULM, becoming the 28th Lion to accomplish this feat. Lane is now ranked 22nd in all-time scoring as a Lion, needing just 22 points to pass UNA legend Wimp Sanderson for 20th on the list. Meanwhile,
Daniel Ortiz reached 1,000 points at UNA three games ago and has 1,252 points for his college career.
SENIOR SCORER: Fifth-year senior
Will Soucie has played more Division I games than any other UNA player in school history with 126 career games. The New Jersey native is on his way to a career season with 10.7 PPG through nine starts. Soucie had a team-high 16 points and seven rebounds in last week's win over Tennessee Tech.
REBOUND YEAR: Redshirt sophomore
Corneilous Williams leads the ASUN with 8.2 rebounds per game. Last season at Western Carolina, he averaged just 11 minutes per game and 3.5 PPG. This season, he is averaging 9.8 PPG and 8.2 RPG over 27.9 minutes.
UNSUNG HERO: Senior
Taye Fields has been an impact player for UNA, as the Missouri Western transfer ranks second on the team with 25 assists, 63 rebounds and 16 steals.
MAGIC NUMBER: The magic number has been 70 for UNA this season. The Lions are 6-1 when scoring at least 70 points, while 0-3 when scoring under 70 points. On the defensive end, UNA has allowed less than 70 points in all six wins and more than 70 in all four losses.
LOCKDOWN DEFENSE: In three games this season, UNA has held an opponent to under 60 points. This includes wins over Air Force, Point and Tennessee Tech. The Lions accomplished this twice all of last season with wins over Jacksonville State and Bellarmine.
ON DECK: The Lions will host Charleston Southern for the final home game of the calendar year, set for Thursday, Dec. 19 at 6 p.m. inside CB&S Bank Arena.
UNA BASKETBALL NIGHT AT LOST PIZZA: The UNA basketball programs announced a new partnership with Lost Pizza Co. in downtown Florence this season, as the restaurant will host the weekly "UNA Basketball Night" live radio show each Tuesday from 6-7:30 p.m. For more information,
click here.
For more information on North Alabama Athletics, visit www.roarlions.com and follow UNA Athletics on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
