Men's Hoop at East Carolina on ESPN3 at 2 p.m.
Blue Devils looking for first win of the season
The Central Connecticut men's basketball team resumes play today at 2 p.m. on the road at East Carolina. The game will tip at 2 p.m. and will air live on ESPN3. CCSU (0-5) and East Carolina (3-3) are meeting for the first time in almost 30 years.
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Today
The Blue Devils continue their season this weekend after a six-day layoff following an 0-3 trip to the NABC College Basketball Experience Hall of Fame Classic at Monmouth University last week. Central continues its road trip to open the season. They play today vs. East Caro- lina, then will play at Rider and at Hartford this week before playing their first home game of the season on Dec. 10 vs. UMBC. Central will then be off for 10 days before returning home on Dec. 20 vs. NJIT at 7 p.m. and then a Monday matinee vs. Brown at 2 p.m. on Dec. 22.
Last Time Out
The Blue Devils led for over 37 minutes but couldn't hang on in a 65-60 loss to Bethune-Cookman in the final game of the NABC CBE Hall of Fame Classic last weekend at Monmouth. Central led by as many as 10 points in the second half but the Wildcats came back to top the Blue Devils, dropping them to 0-5 on the season. Sophomore Matt Mobley had a team-high 21 points, including 8-of-9 from the free-throw line, and senior Faronte Drak- eford scored a season-high 20 points before fouling out in the loss. The Blue Devils led by eight at halftime but hit only 8-of-24 from the field in the second half.
Series History: ECU Leads 2-1
Today marks the fourth all-time meeting between East Carolina and Central Connecticut, but the first since the 1986-87 season. East Carolina won at home in 1984-85 (58-53) and 1985-86 (97-68) but the Blue Devils won their only meeting between the two teams in New Britain, 87-64, during the 1986-87 season.
Mobley's Start
Sophomore Matt Mobley has started his sophomore season averaging 20.2 points per
game through his first five games, including three games at 20 or more points. He scored
a career-high 30 in the season-opener, and last time out he had 21 in the loss to Bethune Cookman. Mobley is getting to the free-throw line this season, hitting 30-of-39, leading the NEC in attempts early this season. Mobley was 37-of-42 from the line as a freshman last season. Mobley averaged 6.8 points per game as a rookie and scored 10 or more points 11 times in his first season. Mobley had a stretch in the middle of the season when he scored in double-figures in seven of eight games, averaging 13.1 points per game during that stretch.
Lineup Changes
Senior Malcolm McMillan did not play last weekend at Monmouth, missing the first three games of his career with the Blue Devils. McMillan played in 29 games as a freshman and 30 in each of his sophomore and junior seasons, making 85 starts in 89 career games played. In McMillan's absence last weekend, senior Greg Andrade made his first career start vs. Towson, and freshman Kevin Seymour made two starts vs. Monmouth and Bethune-Cookman.
Seymour
Freshman guard Kevin Seymour made his first two career starts vs. Monmouth and Bethune-Cookman last weekend. Seymour did not play vs. Fairfield in the season-opener, and played just two minutes vs. Maryland in the second game of the season. Last weekend he played 22 minutes vs. Towson, 37 vs. Monmouth and 40 vs. Bethune-Cookman. He had his best all-around game in the loss to Monmouth. In 37 minutes he scored seven points, grabbed six rebounds and had four assists, all career-highs. Sey- mour was 6-of-11 from the field in the three games, including 1-of- 2 from three. He averaged 4.3 points, 4.0 rebounds, 2.3 assists and 33.0 minutes in the three games last week.
Assists vs. Turnovers
The Blue Devils have posted just 43 assists in the first five games of the season. Senior Faronte Drakeford is the team leader with nine on the season. On the other hand, the Blue Devils have posted 80 turnovers in the first five games, with four Blue Devils recording at least 13 turnovers on the season. Central had only eight turnovers in the loss to Fairfield to open the season, but has had at least double that number (16) in each of the last four games.
Tale of Two Halves
The Blue Devils had their best shooting half of the season in the first half vs. Bethune-Cookman, hitting on 11-of-19 shots, good for 57.9 percent. They were also 11-of-14 from the line before halftime on their way to a 35-27 lead. However, in the second half, the Blue Devils had their poorest shooting second half of the season, making only 8-of-24, 33 percent, and hitting only 2-of-8 from three. They were outscored 38-25 in the second half.
