North Carolina State coach Sidney Lowe didn't dance around the question as to why the Wolfpack are playing at East Carolina at 7 p.m. Saturday.

Lowe doesn't have anything against the Pirates, and would probably be OK to host them at the RBC Center, but to play them at Minges Coliseum in Greenville, he didn't mince words during Friday's press conference.

"We are playing East Carolina tomorrow, that's it," Lowe said. "It was on the schedule before, it was already done, and that's it. [The] schedule was made before I got here, put it that way."

East Carolina made history when it hosted Clemson on Dec. 5, losing 82-67 to the Tigers. It was the first home game ECU had against a ACC team since 1969. No offense to the Tigers, the Wolfpack will bring a different dynamic to Minges. NC State is 17-0 vs. ECU all-time, and the Pirates are 0-57 against ACC teams.

Lowe knows the crowd will love seeing an upset victory.

"This is a big game for them," Lowe said. "It's a good game for them. It's a big game for us. We expect that they are going to be fired up, ready to go. This is the first time we're going down there to play them. They got some very talented players, some experienced players, and they are looking forward to the challenge."

Game time: Saturday, Dec. 8, 7 p.m. • Minges Coliseum, Greenville

Television: Time Warner Cable, Ch. 24 in Raleigh

PG — 12 Farnold Degand (6-4, Soph., 8.0 ppg, 3.2 rpg, 3.0 apg)

SG — 4 Courtney Fells (6-5, Jr., 9.0 ppg, 4.7 rpg, 0.5 apg)

SF — 11 Gavin Grant (6-8, Sr., 10.2 ppg, 5.3 rpg, 3.2 apg)

PF — 33 Brandon Costner (6-9, Fr., 10.5 ppg, 5.7 rpg, 1.7 apg)

C — 34 Ben McCauley (6-10, Soph., 4.3 ppg, 3.0 rpg, 1.3 apg)

PG — 22 Darrell Jenkins (5-11, Sr., 9.2 ppg, 3.6 rpg, 7.0 apg)

SG — 4 Sam Hinnant (6-4, Jr., 8.9 ppg, 2.6 rpg, 1.5 apg)

SG — 3 Cory Farmer (6-3, Sr., 7.1 ppg, 2.1 rpg, 2.4 apg)

PF — 23 John Fields (6-9, Fr., 7.1 ppg, 4.5 rpg, 2.2 bpg) or 12 Taylor Gagnon (6-6, Sr., 1.9 ppg, 3.4 rpg, 0.1 apg)

C — 32 Gabe Blair (6-8, Soph, 10.4 ppg, 8.2 rpg, 2.2 spg, 0.8 bpg)

Location: Greenville, N.C.

Nickname: Pirates

2006-2007 record: 6-24 overall, 1-15 in Conf. USA

2007 postseason: None

Coach: Mack McCarthy (first year at ECU, 312-182 in 16 years)

The all-time series with NC State: NCSU leads 17-0

Last meeting with NC State: NC State won 64-57 over ECU on Dec. 28, 2006

East Carolina: ECU's Hinnant scored 16 points to lead the Pirates in the loss to Clemson … The Pirates have wins against Limestone, N.C. Wesleyan and recently upset George Mason 68-65 on Dec. 2 behind 18 points from James Legan … East Carolina had lost seven straight to Division I teams prior to the George Mason win.

NC State: NC State is playing the last of five straight neutral/road games, stretching from the New Orleans game Nov. 18 to when the Wolfpack host South Carolina State on Dec. 15 … Grant is three points shy of reaching 1,000 for his career, becoming the 40th player to do so in school history … Degand had nine turnovers in 185 minutes, ranking seventh in the ACC in assist/turnover ration (2.0).