The Seahawks open their weekend set in Philadelphia on Saturday afternoon.

UNCW (6-3) at Drexel (5-2)

1 p.m. | Daskalakis Athletic Center, Philadelphia | FloSports | Listen | Game Notes

After a 10-day break for Christmas, the Seahawks return to action with the start of CAA play, where they’ll open a two-game set with Drexel in Philadelphia on Saturday afternoon.

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The Dragons, chosen third in the CAA preseason poll, have looked the part of a contender early on thanks to the dynamic scoring of Camren Wynter and grit from big man James Butler.

Meanwhile, UNCW comes in on a three-game winning streak, finishing nonconference play with a winning record for the first time since the 2016-17 season.

Key Players: G Camren Wynter (19.9 points, 4.4 assists, 3.7 rebounds, 1.6 steals), F James Butler (13.1 points, 9.9 rebounds), F T.J. Bickerstaff (11.6 points, 4.1 rebounds), G Zach Walton (9.6 points, 4.9 rebounds, 2.1 assists), F Mate Okros (5.9 points, 2.6 rebounds, 2.3 assists).

Last Game: Drexel pulled away in the second half for a Farleigh Dickinson 85-68 on Dec. 19.

KenPom rankings for UNCW: No. 188 overall, No. 160 Offense, No. 230 Defense.

KenPom rankings for Drexel: No. 153 overall, No. 150 Offense, No. 162 Defense.

KenPom forecast: Drexel 72, UNCW 67 (34 percent chance of victory).

Here’s what we’ll be watching as the Seahawks tip off conference play:

Who’s in Charge?

UNCW is (well, almost) built to press, trap and run while Drexel prefers long possessions in a halfcourt game.

It’ll be a complete contrast in styles, and whichever team is able to play the game on their terms, is more likely to end the day at 1-0 in the CAA.

“When I look at them, they’re so different from us,” Coach Takayo Siddle said. “When you talk about tempo, they’re one of the slower teams in the country … we want to play really fast, so it’ll be a game of who can impose their will on the other team. It’ll be a tough challenge for us.”

It’s much tougher to speed up an opponent than slow one down, but so far this season, three of the Dragons’ opponents have been successful in pushing the tempo.

After the long break, UNCW should have fresh legs, but the unique schedule of back-to-back games against the same opponent presents the big question for UNCW coach Takayo Siddle: do you take your foot off the gas a little with Sunday in mind or do you like your team’s conditioning and depth enough to push the pace even harder with the idea of wearing out an opponent that isn’t used to running?

In an unprecedented situation, both teams will be learning on the fly.

Hitting the Boards

Drexel, an above-average offensive rebounding team, is elite on the defensive boards thanks to Butler, who ranks 10th nationally in defensive rebounding rate at 32.9 percent.

When he’s on the floor, the 6-8, 240-pound Butler will have a size advantage on anyone responsible for boxing him out, whether that’s Joe Pridgen, John Bowen, Imajae Dodd or Jake Boggs. A fifth-year senior, Butler is strong and savvy, and despite his physical gifts, he plays with a lot of the same tenacity Pridgen shows in simply finding a way to the basketball when it comes off the rim.

Those two will certainly have some battles over the weekend, but there’s really no way of stopping a player like Butler.

That’s where UNCW’s style of play comes in, and rather than worrying about getting a body on him, the best hope for keeping Butler off the boards will be pulling him away from the basket by making him defend — either straight-up or off screens — someone on the perimeter.

It’s going to take a team effort, and luckily for UNCW, Dodd played some of his best basketball in the Seahawks’ last outing.

“When I look at them, rebounding the basketball is important, guarding the post is important,” Siddle said. “I think about us getting in foul trouble, so I’m worried about that a little bit, but on the other end, can they keep up with our speed and how well we’re scoring the basketball right now.”

The rebounding averages tell a clear story for the Seahawks: 11.3 offensive and 27.3 defensive rebounds in wins and 7.7 offensive and 19.7 defensive boards in losses.

Offense from Defense

UNCW played really well in the week before the break, winning three very different games: overcoming circumstances for a tough road win at Norfolk State, playing well from the tip and dominating at Campbell and slogging through an easy win over an overmatched opponent vs. Delaware State.

One constant in all three games for the Seahawks was using defense to get stops and turnovers, or at the least, push tempo, to fuel an offense that has averaged 1.15 points per possession (anything over 1.0 is considered good) over the winning streak.

Drexel is slightly above average in terms of turnovers, but in a game against a St. Joseph’s team that plays at a pace similar to UNCW’s, the Dragons committed 15 turnovers.

That number is right around where the Seahawks need to be, as they’ve forced 15.3 turnovers in wins this season.

The Wynter Storm

No one has found the formula for stopping Wynter yet this season. Not even Pittsburgh, with its ACC size and depth, was able to slow him down, as the crafty guard hit 10 of 16 from the field on his way to 24 points in a loss.

Siddle doesn’t have any fantasies of fully eliminating him.

“What I always tell my team with guys that average a lot of points is, ‘If he’s averaging 20, let’s make him take 20 shots to get it; make him inefficient,’” he said. “Everything has to be tough for him and we know he’ll be at the very top of the scouting report, because as he goes, the team goes. We have to wear him down and make somebody else run their offense.”

In the aforementioned St. Joseph’s game, the Hawks pushed him to his worst offensive performance of the season, as he hit just 4 of 14 from the field to finish with 14 points and four turnovers, but rather than hoisting shots, he got his teammates involved with a season-best seven assists.

Like rebounding, it’ll take a team effort to make Wynter uncomfortable. Gadsden will get the primary assignment of pressuring him, but Mike Okauru and Jamahri Harvey have the length to make him uncomfortable and force him into tough shots.