GAME NOTES: Looking for a quick turnaround from a sub-par couple of weeks, the East Carolina Pirates will clash with the Memphis Tigers in an American Athletic Conference battle at the FedEx Forum Wednesday.

East Carolina enters the game having lost two in a row, and five of its last six in approximately a month's time. The January slump for the Pirates has dropped the team back to 8-11 on the season, with a 1-5 mark in conference play and an 0-6 record on the road.

Memphis is coming off a narrow 57-55 victory over Tulane on Saturday, and has now won four of its last five games. The Tigers are 12-7 on the year, with a 5-3 mark against AAC competition. They are also 9-3 at the FedEx Forum this season.

Memphis has dominated the all-time series against East Carolina, owning a 14-1 advantage over the Pirates with an 8-0 record in Memphis. The Tigers have won the last five games in a row over ECU.

East Carolina dropped a tight 66-64 contest to Tulsa on Saturday, but the score reflects a closer contest than was originally the case. Antonio Robinson buried a meaningless 3-pointer at the buzzer for ECU to cut the deficit to two points, although the Golden Hurricane already had the win wrapped up. Still, the Pirates shot 41.1 percent from the floor, and were led by Terry Whisnant's 22-point effort. Michel Nzege tallied a double-double with 13 points and 11 rebounds, and Robinson finished the contest with 10 points and six assists. Tulsa was allowed to shoot 41.7 percent from the field.

The Pirates' scoring offense checks in at right about the middle of the road when it comes to points per outing by AAC teams. ECU is averaging 66.4 ppg on 42.1 percent shooting from the floor, and is led individually by Whisnant's 13.9 ppg. Caleb White and freshman B.J. Tyson each contribute 12.4 ppg for the Pirates, rounding out a trio of double-digit scorers for the Pirates on the campaign. The main problem for ECU this season has been on the defensive end of the floor, as the Pirates allow opponents to score 67.2 ppg - toward the bottom of the conference rankings. With 5.8 boards per outing, Nzege leads ECU in the rebounding category.

Memphis escaped with a tight two-point victory over Tulane on Saturday, as Austin Nichols connected on a baseline jumper with 3.1 seconds remaining to lift his Tigers to victory. Nichols finished just shy of a double-double with 17 points and nine rebounds, while Markel Crawford added 15 points and five steals for Memphis in the winning effort. Avery Woodson chipped in with nine points and five rebounds. The Tigers played a strong game defensively, and held the Green Wave to a mere 36 percent shooting mark from the floor.

Even though Memphis only has one player averaging a double-digit scoring mark this season (Nichols, who contributes 12.9 ppg), the team is still managing a 67.7 ppg total on 44.8 percent shooting from the floor. The big man Nichols has recorded a team-best 62 blocked shots through just 19 games, and leads the conference averaging 3.3 blocks per outing. Nichols also shares the team's rebounding lead with Shaq Goodwin. The two players are bringing down an average of 6.1 rpg, while Trahson Burrell adds in 5.7 boards per outing. A strong defensive effort allowing opponents to score 61.6 ppg has helped the Tigers get to a 12-7 record this season.

At home, the Tigers will be very dangerous against a sluggish offensive program that has yet to pick up its first road win. The Pirates may find it hard to get an offensive rhythm going against a big, defensive-minded Memphis team.