UCF, with early league wins against Temple and UConn, sits atop the American Athletic Conference standings after a competitive start to the league slate.
The Knights will look to keep that unblemished mark when they host an improving ECU squad on Sunday at 4 p.m.
Former Florida Gulf Coast coach Joe Dooley is back for a second stint with the Pirates (he was also the head coach there in the 1990s). While ECU is only 1-2 in the American, that one win came against perennial league power Cincinnati.
"I think East Carolina has gotten better," UCF head coach Johnny Dawkins said. "If you look at them from the beginning of the season to now, I see a lot of improvement. I think there is more consistency in their play. (Shawn) Williams was hurt early. Missed the first five games. He was the Freshman of the Year last year in our conference. That led to some ups and downs with them. Since he's been back and healthy, they've been in a rhythm. They're playing very well. A very good basketball team. They're playing some inspired basketball for Coach Dooley."
Jayden Gardner is ECU's leading scorer and rebounder with 18.3 points and 8.8 rebounds per game.
"Gardner is a tough player," Dawkins said. "Very good competitor. Undersized post man, but can really score the basketball. The thing I like about him is he plays so physical. He gets fouled quite a bit. I think he gets fouled the second most of any player in the country. That's impressive for a freshman, to be that good. Probably getting at least 10 free throws a night. Probably one of the better freshmen in our conference and definitely a great competitor."
Watch the videos above for more from Dawkins and also interviews with B.J. Taylor and Aubrey Dawkins.
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Three American teams find themselves in the top 40 of the current NET rankings, which is the NCAA's replacement of the RPI:
No. 9 - Houston
No. 31 - UCF
No. 37 - Cincinnati
The latest NCAA.com bracketology from Andy Katz slotted UCF as a No. 9 seed in the NCAA Tournament.
Link to NET rankings: https://www.ncaa.com/rankings/basketball-men/d1/ncaa-mens-basketball-net-rankings
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Houston was one of college basketball's final remaining undefeated teams until they were knocked off by Temple earlier in the week. This is a school that used to draw hundreds for Conference USA home games and now they're logging multiple sellouts. Tomorrow's game with Wichita State is already sold out. UH opened up a new arena (Fertitta Center) this season.
