Seahawks Take a Step in Loss at Pittsburgh
Moral victory? No. Tangible progress? Absolutely.
UNCW found itself at a crossroads in its young season on Tuesday.
On a night the Seahawks just couldn’t get a shot to fall while Pittsburgh used its ACC-level size and muscle to dominate the boards, it appeared UNCW was headed for a blowout loss.
Suddenly facing a 17-point deficit in the second half, the Seahawks responded with its most inspired basketball of the season, digging in defensively to help fuel a comeback that gave UNCW a chance to win the game down the stretch.
Ultimately, the Seahawks expended too much energy getting back into it, missing 14 of 15 shots as the Panthers held on for a 59-51 victory at the Petersen Events Center.
Trazarien White came off the bench to score 14 points and grab seven rebounds, while Mike Okauru had his most productive game of the season with 12 points and five rebounds.
Here’s the story from the other side.
The Seahawks didn’t come out with the win, but they should come out with more confidence after seeing what they can accomplish with maximum effort.
No Quit
Given the way the game had gone, it would have been pretty easy for UNCW to fold up and go home once Pitt made it 38-21 at the 18:51 mark.
Shots weren’t falling and the Panthers were using their size advantage to dominate the game in every way, whether it was scoring easy buckets in the paint or creating second-chance opportunities on the boards.
Instead, the Seahawks turned up the defensive intensity to create a few opportunities outside of the halfcourt offense.
“Our press was really good in the second half, created some easy baskets for us,” Coach Takayo Siddle said. “We were able to get some stops and get out and run a little bit, shake loose in transition a little bit.”
Generating a few turnovers changed the game for UNCW in every way. After seeing the ball go through the net a few times, the Seahawks were more patient in running their offense, getting more penetration and working inside-out.
Afterward, play-by-play man Mike Vaccaro noted that Siddle was active on the sideline, applauding and encouraging as the Seahawks ran through the offense — regardless of whether a shot had even gone up yet.
Seeing his team make progress in the way it moved the ball and attacked was enough to get him excited.
“I didn’t think we did that as much in the first half,” he said. “In the second half, we were getting to the paint and spraying out, which helped us get cleaner looks.”
After scoring just three points off nine turnovers and two on the fastbreak in the first half, the Seahawks managed nine points off eight turnovers and 10 on the break in the second half.
As well as UNCW has played at times on the press, we haven’t seen it in peak working order, as the Seahawks need to make more shots to allow the defense to set up.
Tuesday night, the Seahawks executed well enough on defense to win games, and they definitely brought enough energy and effort to get it done.
While the offense — and we’ll talk about that later — wasn’t quite there, Siddle saw enough to be encouraged.
“There’s a lot of positives to take out of the second half, and I just told the guys not to let that loss define them,” he said. “Within that loss, there was a lot of positives, a lot to build on, especially in the last half. I thought we fought, we competed, we scrapped — the ball just didn’t go our way at the end, but a lot of positives to take away from it.”
Tough Enough
The biggest reasons for the comeback were the two guys who ended up with the most points — Okauru and White.
They weren’t UNCW’s best players because they scored the most. It’s the opposite — they scored the most because they were UNCW’s best players.
One of the great things about this system is that it’s an equal-opportunity offensive attack that generally rewards guys who are playing the hardest and making a difference defensively.
White is attacking from the moment he steps on the floor, as evidenced by his nine free throw attempts and three steals. Late in the game, the freshman wing didn’t shy away from the big shot, either, putting up five shots over the final 6:44.
Through three games, it’s safe to say White has been UNCW’s best player for two of them. He plays hard, he’s physical and he goes hard to the basket — all things that aren’t easy to teach.
Plus/minus can be a misleading stat, but it makes sense that White was the only UNCW player who was on the positive side on Tuesday, finishing at +5.
Meanwhile, Okauru seems to have turned the page after a tough start to the season where he just wasn’t quite himself.
Tuesday night, he did a great job pressuring the ball, attacked the basket and rebounded the way he’s proven that he can.
“With Mike, it’s all about his energy and his effort and it has a lot to do with his approach to the game,” Siddle said. “I thought he came otu and he played extremely hard.”
Those two helped set the tone on a night that UNCW needed some toughness and physicality on both ends of the floor. Because of them, the Seahawks were able to touch the paint more offensively and force the defense to react.
Offensively speaking
On one hand, it’s amazing UNCW shot 28.8 percent from the field and had a a chance to win a road game vs. an ACC opponent.
On the other, 28.8 percent? Jeez.
In all, the Seahawks shot 17 of 59 from the field, including 6 of 23 from 3-point range, bringing their three-game totals to 66 for 187 (35.2 percent) from the field overall and 22 of 70 (31.4 percent) from beyond the arc.
In all? Shot selection was better on Tuesday night, trending upward after the Seahawks settled for a few tough ones early on against Pitt’s zone.
Once UNCW’s pressure started working and the Seahawks were able to get into the lane, they were getting better shots from both inside the arc and outside.
It worked for a while as Pitt’s lead was whittled down to 49-47 with 9:14 remaining.
After that, though, it appeared the comeback had zapped UNCW’s energy, as the Seahawks missed 14 of 15 attempts over the final 8:16.
“I thought we still had great looks; they just didn’t fall for us,” Siddle said.
On the season, Jaylen Sims has made 9 of 32 from the field while Jaylen Fornes is 10 for 33.
There’s no way those two are 29-percent shooters — No way.
As UNCW’s shot selection continues trending up, so too will the field goal percentage.
Up Next
It’ll be a short turnaround as the Seahawks return to Wilmington to meet Coastal Carolina on Thursday night at Trask Coliseum.
The Chanticleers are a bit of an unknown at this point, having only played one game, a 101-73 win over Ferrum on Nov. 9.
Former UNCW coach Benny Moss, who led the program from 2006-10, will make his return to Trask on Thursday night as Coastal’s associate head coach.
Dan Spears of the StarNews spoke with Moss about the homecoming last week.