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Swagger is an element the East Carolina basketball team must possess in order to be successful in Conference USA against the likes of Cincinnati, Memphis and Louisville. And a certain swagger is exactly what the Pirates displayed in their dynamic 87-77 victory over the Louisville Cardinals.

East Carolina's Travis Holcomb-Faye takes Louisville to the hole. His 20 points and strong performance with the ball against the Cardinals' pressure were vital components in one of ECU's finest wins ever.

The leader of that strong attitude was junior guard Travis Holcomb-Faye. The Winston-Salem native took control of the game early with some big baskets and an aggressive, attack style of basketball.

When you face a Rick Pitino-coached team, you know his ball club is going to press all over the court for the majority of the night. This pressure will usually take most teams out of their offense and place Pitino's club in control. Against East Carolina, it was Holcomb-Faye who was able to face that pressure and use it to his advantage by attacking the Cardinal defense.

"The biggest key coming into this game was handling the full court pressure and our guys did a great job," said Pirate head coach Bill Herrion.

Holcomb-Faye put up some remarkable numbers for the game with 20 points, nine assists, two steals and only three turnovers in 35 minutes of playing time.

Holcombe-Faye is very special to the third-year coach — because the R. J. Reynolds High School product was Herrion's first signee after taking over the Pirate program.

In the past, Holcomb-Faye was basically known as a passer, leading the team the past two seasons in assists. But against Louisville, he turned his passing game into a scoring game, hitting two three-pointers as well as some clutch free throws down the stretch.

"We worked on breaking the press three days this week in practice," Holcomb-Faye noted. "We see traps everyday in practice. The guys aren't quite as big as the Louisville players, but we learned to pass the ball ahead and find the guy in the white jersey."

Even with a 43-38 lead at half, Holcomb-Faye knew his relentless attacking play had to continue. In the first minute of the second half he dished the ball to Moussa Badiane for a bucket and then drove down the right side of the lane for a looping basket and a nine point lead at 47-38.

"It's always good to get a good start in the second half," he said. "Coach always tells us the first five minutes of the second half are very important and we came out ready to play."

Holcomb-Faye combined with senior guard Brandon Hawkins to really show off the Pirate backcourt. Hawkins came off the bench to score 18 points, hitting all five of his shots from the floor, four of which were three-pointers, and didn't commit a turnover in 28 minutes of playing time.

"Intensity — we came to play," responded Hawkins when asked what the difference was in the Pirates against Louisville and in their previous games this season. "We played a full 40 minutes."

The commitment to 40 minutes of intense play could be seen in the guard play against Louisville, especially the play of Holcomb-Faye. On numerous occasions, when it looked like the press might be breaking ECU down, he would zip the ball up the side of the court or make just the right pass to the open man to break down the defense. Then, once across half-court, there was no letting up as he would attack the basket, either shooting or passing to an open teammate for an easy basket.

The continuous pressure placed on Louisville by the East Carolina offense placed the Cards' defense in tough situations time and time again. A key factor was that swagger from Holcomb-Faye, his belief that ECU belonged on the court just as much as Louisville, with all of its basketball tradition.

"We know they are Louisville, but we are in Conference USA just like they are and we know we can play with them or anybody," said Holcomb-Faye. "Coach told me that there was one thing that I couldn't do tonight — 'Travis you can't give the ball away.'"

And he didn't. He also didn't give an inch when it came to going toe-to-toe with the Cardinals, sending a very loud message to the rest of the league.

"All the teams in the conference know how we play hard and this win will open up their eyes even more as to how good we can be," said Holcomb-Faye.