“I was really impressed with my team defensively tonight,” East Carolina head coach Jeff Lebo said. “They did a wonderful job in man to man defense, you can see that we’re much bigger and much more physical.”
The Pirates pressured the Tigers all night long especially at the guard spots, and their ball pressure led to an impressive eight steals and 17 turnovers in total which led to 11 points off of turnover. The Pirate wings are now able to pressure the ball with the security of the big men behind them.
“We can have a little more confidence defending on the perimeter now,” senior forward Caleb White said.