GAME NOTES: The second round of the Gulf Coast Showcase kicks off Tuesday with a matchup featuring the Fresno State Bulldogs taking on the East Carolina Pirates at Germain Arena.

Fresno State is off to a 1-3 start to the new season, having only beaten Bristol University in the team's second game. The Bulldogs were in action on Monday in the first round of the GCS, and were defeated by Evansville, 58-52.

East Carolina was also in action Monday, taking on Green Bay of the Horizon League. The Pirates dropped the contest, 66-49, and fell back to .500 at 2-2 on the early season.

These two stories programs have never met on the basketball court before, so Tuesday's clash will be the first-ever meeting.

Neither Fresno State nor Evansville shot the ball well on Monday in the first game of the Gulf Coast Showcase. The Bulldogs limped to a 39.6 shooting percentage from the floor in the loss, but defensively at least held Evansville, a potentially explosive offensive team, to 38.3 percent shooting in the contest. Karachi Edo came off the bench to net 17 points to pace Fresno State, adding five blocked shots in the loss. Paul Watson chipped in 13 points with six rebounds, and Julien Lewis tallied 11 points for the Bulldogs, who now must try and pull things together for the consolation prizes.

Lewis leads the team in scoring heading into Tuesday's contest with East Carolina, netting 14.8 ppg, but the guard has given the ball away 11 times already in five contests. Watson checks in at second on Fresno State's roster in scoring, adding 13,0 ppg. Marvelle Harris, who scored six points Monday, is third on the team averaging 12.3 ppg with a team-high 5.0 rpg and 15 assists, and Edo rounds out the team's double-digit scorers with 12.0 ppg. The Bulldogs come into Tuesday's game against ECU netting 67.8 ppg, and allowing just a single point more than their scoring average at 68.8 ppg surrendered.

East Carolina had a worse time staying with Green Bay than Fresno State did with Evansville. The Pirates allowed the Phoenix on Monday to shoot 55.3 percent from the floor, while ECU netted a meager 31.9 percent of its field goal attempts. Terry Whisnant scored a team-high 23 points for the Pirates, but was the only player on the team to net a scoring total in double figures. He and Caleb White each brought down three rebounds, which was the high on the team, and no player recorded more than a single assists in the loss.

Whisnant came into Monday's contest and the Gulf Coast Showcase ranked third on East Carolina's roster in scoring, netting 13.7 ppg, which certainly increased after Monday's 23-point outburst. He trailed White, who led the team entering the tournament with 16.7 ppg, and B.J. Tyson, who averaged 16.0 ppg coming in. White scored just six points in the loss on Monday, while Tyson could only manage four points. The Pirates as a unit entered Monday's clash averaging 90.0 ppg, but fell way short of that mark against Green Bay.

Hopefully the offense picks up on either side of the ball for Tuesday's matchup. East Carolina may have been scoring plenty of points, but all of that came against inferior competition. Fresno State has the depth to get the job done, and should play solid enough defense to limit the Pirates.