Sims, Phillips combine for 27 points in second half

UNCW 86, Charleston 78

The thing about “best” wins and “biggest” games is, if you’re lucky, they don’t hold on to those titles for long.

Remember the Seahawks’ win over Campbell on Dec. 22? That was about three “biggest win of the Takayo Siddle Era” declarations ago.

On Monday night a new one moved atop the list of UNCW’s most significant wins of the season, as the Seahawks went on the road and gutted out an 86-78 victory over Charleston for the program’s first CAA win away from Trask Coliseum in nearly two years.

BOX SCORE

Jaylen Sims scored 15 of his 24 points in the second half, Shykeim Phillips tied his career-high with 20, and Jaylen Fornes hit three 3-pointers off the bench on his way to a season-high 16 points as UNCW (9-5, 3-0 CAA) pushed its wining streak to six games.

Here’s what we learned as the Seahawks stayed undefeated in their black alternate uniforms.

Another Step

First up for UNCW, it was simply winning the games it was supposed to. Then it was stringing together a few and pulling off a surprise at home — something the Seahawks did in beating CAA-favorite Delaware at Trask before topping Elon last week.

But to become a great team, you’ve got to win on the road — something the Hawks certainly weren’t expected to do on Monday, as they entered as 8.5-point underdogs.

When UNCW’s shots weren’t falling early and Charleston jumped to an 18-10 lead, it felt like things were stacking up against the Seahawks.

Add in the 13 first-half fouls that gave four different starters two fouls apiece, and it definitely felt like the basketball gods were conspiring against the winning streak.

Add in second half runs from the Cougars or the Seahawks’ own mistakes, and there was any number of times a weaker team would have come apart.

Ultimately, UNCW kept rolling through adversity, whether it was something they had created for themselves or something they had no control over.

Winning consistently on the road in college basketball is tough. Out of 358 teams, UNCW is one of 79 teams at .500 or better on the road with at least three wins.

“Man, I am speechless right now,” Coach Tayako Siddle said. “These guys, they just keep on responding to every challenge that’s put in front of them. It’s a new group and we’re learning along the way, and we haven’t been together for very long and so everything that’s coming in front of us, those guys are taking it in full stride and they’re answering the bell. I’m so proud of these guys.”

Starving the Beast

During a 90-second stretch (15:09 through 13:43) in the first half, UNCW learned the hard way what can happen when you feed turnovers to Charleston’s fastbreak monster, as the Cougars scored six quick points off three Seahawk turnovers.

Over the next 33 minutes and change, Charleston managed just five more points off turnovers as the Seahawks committed a total of six turnovers, including a ridiculous two in the second half.

Because UNCW was so responsible with the ball on Monday night, Charleston — which leads the nation in tempo at 75.5 possessions — managed a total of three fastbreak points.

More than any big assist numbers that Sims could put up, his ability to protect the ball and ensure the Seahawks pile up possessions and shots is far more important.

Since sliding into the primary ballhandling role six games ago, Sims has committed a total of eight turnovers in 202 minutes. His turnover rate of 8.8 percent ranks 68th in all of college basketball, and many of the players in front of him don’t spend nearly the same amount of time with the ball in their hands.

Sims has one turnover in the past two games (73 minutes) while the Seahawks have been especially strong in the second halves of those two games, committing a total of two turnovers.

Hanging Tough

Charleston has two ways of creating easy baskets: getting turnovers to break out for layups, and on offensive rebounds, where they’re gathering over one-third of their misses to help create second-chance points.

Neither was an advantage on Monday, as UNCW battled to hold the Cougars’ rebounding advantage to just 35-34.

The teams were actually even in second-chance points at 11, while the Hawks ended up with a 12-9 offensive rebounding advantage thanks to a gritty second-half performance.

James Baker Jr. and Fornes each grabbed two offensive boards in the second half, while Amari Kelly got one, adding on to his four from the first half. Mike Okauru, who didn’t have his best offensive night, managed four defensive rebounds to go with his three steals.

There’s no major strategic adjustment for why the Seahawks buckled down to close things out on the boards — it was just a matter of everyone committing to rebounding and getting tough in the paint.

Speaking of the paint, UNCW outscored Charleston 44-38 thanks to a relentless attack that saw Sims, Phillips and Okauru get into the lane at-will.

Next Up

The road trip rolls on Thursday night as the Seahawks visit a James Madison (11-4, 2-2) team coming off a surprising 90-67 loss at Elon on Monday night.

Last season’s co-regular season champion, the Dukes were chosen fourth in this season’s preseason poll.