ECU Pirates To Open C-USA Championship Thursday Against Tulsa

Fourth-seeded ECU faces No. 5 Tulsa at 9:30 p.m. EDT

2013 C-USA Championship Bracket

IRVING, Texas March 9, 2013 – After finishing tied for fourth and earning a first round bye, East Carolina will open the 2013 C-USA Basketball Championship against Tulsa at 9:30 p.m. EDT on Thursday, March 14, at the BOK Center in Tulsa, Okla.

The fourth-seeded Pirates defeated the fifth-seeded Golden Hurricane, 72-63, on the TU campus earlier this season. It’ll be the third time that ECU and the Golden Hurricane have met in the C-USA tournament with Tulsa winning each of the previous two match-ups in in 2007 and ’08.

The game will air live on CBS Sports Network. A victory over the Hurricane will secure the Pirates second appearance in the C-USA tournament semifinals in the past three seasons.

Last season ECU defeated Rice, 68-66, in the first round before falling to second-seeded Southern Miss in overtime, 81-78, in the quarterfinal round.

Two years ago, the Pirates reached the semifinals by defeating UCF in the opening round and then ousting top-seeded UAB in the quarterfinals before falling to eventual champion Memphis in the semis.