Three Takeaways: UNCW guts out win at Norfolk State
The Seahawks are growing up
It took 28 minutes for Norfolk State’s stream to come online, but boy, were those final 12 minutes worth the wait for UNCW.
Fighting through foul trouble and the absence of another key player, the Seahawks gutted out an 80-72 victory over the Spartans thanks to an 11-0 run over the final 2 minutes, 44 seconds, keyed by two big 3-pointers from Jake Boggs.
A game of runs early on, UNCW’s sprint to the finish was a fitting end for a game that turned into a slugfest, with neither team leading by more than four points in the second half.
Joe Pridgen finished with 19 points and 10 rebounds to lead the Seahawks (4-3), while Boggs’ late explosion took him to 18 points and seven rebounds, with Ty Gadsden adding 18 points and five assists.
Here’s what we learned from the UNCW victory:
Enjoy the Process
This wasn’t just about the win, but how the Seahawks won.
Knowing the following things would happen:
UNCW’s best player is saddled with foul trouble and finishes with three points.
Your best shooter is 4 of 15 from the field.
Another starter, who is an good defender, joins the list of unavailable players.
Shoots 8 of 25 from 3-point range.
Starting point guard is still out.
Few people would have expected UNCW to win the game.
The numbers can tell lots of stories, but today, they wouldn’t have told the story of a UNCW team that is growing up, playing with more toughness and learning how to win.
It’s hard to imagine this result in any of the past three seasons. In fact, it’s probably more realistic to imagine NSU’s 13-0 run in the first-half ballooning into a hole too big to climb out of.
Instead, it was a four-guard lineup winning the rebounding battle 42-31 and closing out a road win with an 11-0 run, fueled by four stops in five trips.
This is the first time since the 2016-17 season that UNCW has three wins away from Trask Coliseum before January.
Last season, there were two road/neutral wins. In 2018-19, UNCW got its third of five such wins on Jan. 3, and in the 2017-18 season, the third win away from Trask came on March 4.
“They are golden and we’ve got to cherish this and celebrate as much as we can,” Coach Takayo Siddle said. “What a team effort by our guys.”
Boosting Boggs
There aren’t a lot of dudes in the CAA that have Boggs’ combination of skill, size and length, and at points this season, he’s shown the ability to become one of the league’s elite players.
At other times, though, he’s looked passive on the court in more physical games, with Siddle referencing the need to get his confidence up.
There was no hint of hesitation on Friday when Boggs let two shots fly in crunch time, confidently stepping behind the line to deliver the bucket to put UNCW ahead at the 1:39 mark before stepping into a great look to put the game away with 54 seconds to play.
“He’s a very, very good player and very capable of doing that on a nightly basis,” Siddle said. “The thing with him is just getting more consistent and believing in himself a little bit more, and I’ve got to continue to help with that.”
Thus far, Boggs’ success has been essential for UNCW.
In the three wins he’s played in, Boggs is averaging 20.6 points and 5.6 rebounds in 30.6 minutes, hitting 21 of 33 field goal attempts (8/14 3p) and 12 of 15 at the free throw line.
In three losses, Boggs is averaging 7 points and 3 rebounds in 23.3 minutes, hitting 7 of 18 field goal attempts (3/8 3p) and 4 of 6 at the free throw line.
Good things happen for the Seahawks when Boggs is asserting himself and shooting the ball.
Undersized and Unflinching
It’s looking increasingly like the UNCW big man rotation is going to be Pridgen and John Bowen, as Imajae Dodd managed just four minutes on Friday while Ian Steere hasn’t played since his debut vs. St. Andrews.
Pridgen has been as valuable as anyone in helping the Seahawks establish grit and toughness since his debut in the loss at East Carolina, averaging 12.7 points, 8 rebounds and making 16 of 25 2-point attempts.
Listed at 6-5, Pridgen makes up for what he lacks in height with strength, a high motor and great rebounding instincts. Offensively, Pridgen keeps a low center of gravity and handles the ball well enough to get into the lane, where he’s strong enough to finish in traffic or create enough contact to get to the line.
Maybe a bit of that has rubbed off on Bowen, who has played the best basketball of his UNCW career over the past two weeks, logging a career-best 10 points, six rebounds and three blocks on Friday.
At just 6-7, 200 pounds, Bowen will run into some tough matchups in the five spot this season, but lately, his elevated energy and and physicality will give him a chance to compete.
As compared to last season, Bowen has raised his rebounding rates from 6.7 percent to 13.7 on the offensive end and from 11.3 percent to 12.2 percent on defense. A nonfactor as a rim-protector last season, Bowen has gone from a block rate of 0.6 percent to 9.7 percent. He’s also been more prone to drawing contact, raising his free throw rate from 24.4 percent to 33.3 percent.
Given the rebounding from the perimeter players, a consistent 20 minute effort from Bowen would go a long way in solving the biggest question for this team.
Next Up
UNCW heads up to Buies Creek for its 106th all-time meeting with Campbell (4-1) on Monday afternoon at 1 p.m in a game that will air on ESPN+.
The teams have one common opponent in St. Andrews, who the Camels beat 85-51 in their opener on Nov. 30. Since then, Campbell has wins over Jacksonville, New Orleans and Florida National and a 66-56 loss at Elon on Dec. 16.
Quick Tips
After hitting 28 of 31 free throw attempts on Friday, UNCW moved to 36th nationally in free throw rate. Getting 24.7 percent of its scoring from the free throw line, the Seahawks rank 30th nationally. It was the third time this season they’ve attempted more than 30 free throws.
Of players available at the beginning of the season, Harvey is the seventh different UNCW player to miss at least one game due to injury or other reasons. That list doesn’t include Jay Estime’ (injury) or Pridgen (transfer).
Gadsden has made at least two 3-pointers in all six games that he’s played this season. Going back to last season, his streak is eight games.
UNCW moved to 2-0 in Friday afternoon tipoffs this season.
Three steals and nine forced turnovers were both season-lows for the Seahawk defense.
UNCW is averaging 4.5 blocked shots in four December games.
Five of seven opponents have made five or fewer 3-pointers this season.