Towson outmuscled UNCW on Thursday to complicate the CAA

Towson 79, UNCW 55

The spotlight proved too bright for the Seahawks on Thursday night.

Playing in front of a national television audience and raucous near-capacity crowd inside Trask Coliseum, UNCW had little resemblance to the team that dashed to the top of the CAA standings last month.

Instead, it was Towson who brought the fight, slowing down the game and methodically taking apart a Seahawk defense that was a step behind with its rotations as the Tigers cruised to a 79-55 victory.

BOX SCORE

UNCW made 16 of 51 attempts (31.4 percent) from the field, missed all 10 attempts from 3-point range in the second half, and got outrebounded 42-24.

In short, it was a complete ass-kicking unlike the Seahawks have experienced in conference play, and largely, one that was self-inflicted.

Here’s what we took from the disappointing loss.

Off Our Game

From the tip, it felt like the Seahawks had a little too much juice, moving a little too fast, missing a few easy shots and generally not looking like themselves.

Given what was at stake and the audience, that’s not shocking.

What was shocking, however, is that the Seahawks settled in and became the team we’ve seen calmly navigate double-digit deficits by attacking the basket and tightening up its defense.

It wasn’t just fans and observers who didn’t recognize this team.

“I thought that we didn’t follow the scouting report — not at all — and I thought some of our guys were a little fearful,” UNCW coach Takayo Siddle said. “We didn’t do what we’re supposed to do, and I’ve got to get the guys ready a little bit better; that’s all on me. We weren’t mentally locked into our gameplan like we needed to be.”

A big part of the Seahawks’ winning formula is completely taking away the 3-pointer from opponents, and one way that’s accomplished is being extremely disciplined in when and how to help on defense.

On Thursday, facing a Towson team with several sharpshooters, UNCW defenders got caught drifting away from their assignments several times, helping the Tigers knock down 9 of 18 3-point attempts.

That’s a long way from Towson’s 7 of 24 mark from beyond the arc in UNCW’s victory on Jan. 22.

The Tigers got tougher and dominated the boards this time around, with a +18 rebounding margin and an 11-7 edge in offensive rebounds.

That’s a major turnaround from UNCW’s 42-40 rebounding edge in the first meeting, when the Seahawks grabbed 16 offensive boards.

Towson clearly wanted to make a statement with its toughness and physicality, and in cutting UNCW’s offensive rebounding rate from 38.1 percent to 18.4 percent, it did just that.

“Let’s give Towson a lot of credit; they came out and imposed their will on us and executed their gameplan — they were who they are, to a ‘T,’” Siddle said.

After scoring 44 points in the paint and attempting 32 layups in the game at Towson, UNCW got just 15 layup attempts and scored 24 points in the paint on Thursday.

Big Reset

Obviously, things are much different than the turning-point loss at Jacksonville on Dec. 11, but this one has similar potential in delivering a shock to the system for UNCW in getting the Hawks focused for the homestretch.

Much like Jacksonville, Towson flooded the lane with defenders, got physical and made UNCW play its kind of game, and the Hawks didn’t execute the mental aspect.

“You have to be able to execute what you’re trying to do on both ends of the floor in pressure moments, in chaotic moments,” Siddles said. “And you can’t get out of character and do things that you don’t normally do, and I think that tonight, that was the case.”

The Seahawks absolutely have to get more from James Baker (3 points, 1 rebound in 25 minutes) and Amari Kelly (1 rebound in 14 minutes) on a night like this. Although both big men played some strong defense, neither made any impact on the boards.

Jaylen Fornes, who has arguably been UNCW’s second-most important player through CAA play, has missed all 12 of his 3-point attempts in the past two games — something unthinkable as he knocked down one big shot after another over the past several weeks.

No one has said it publicly, but it sure appears Mike Okauru isn’t 100 percent healthy right now, as the speedy guard hasn’t had the same devastating efficiency as a finisher at the rim and 3-point shooter.

It appears injuries could be taking a toll and might require some assessment of how to best adjust roles to finish out the next several games.

• Playing 22 minutes vs. Charleston on Saturday night as he battled foul trouble, Okauru attempted just six shots from the field. In all over the past three games, he’s 10 of 29 on field goal attempts, averaging 9.7 points.

• Jamahri Harvey, who went down with a twisted ankle in the first half on Thursday, eventually returned to the bench with a boot on his left leg.

• Shykeim Phillips was taken down on a drive early on Thursday and fell hard on his hand (no foul was called!) and took quite a while to rejoin the play. He didn’t attempt a single free throw, and just days after getting any shot he wanted in the lane vs. William & Mary, didn’t have the same force around the basket. He finished with two points on 1/8 from the field. His three turnovers were his most since Nov. 20.

Towson, like most teams lately, mixed in some successful zone defense that threw the Seahawks’ attacking offense out of rhythm.

This time around, UNCW didn’t jack up 25-plus 3-pointers, but it never consistently had answers for how to beat the collapsing defense.

We’ve got to find a solution for making life easier when opponents decide to clog up the lane.

The Big Picture

As much as that sucked, UNCW remains in first place this morning, holding a half-game lead over Towson.

If the Seahawks win out, they’re guaranteed at least a share of the CAA regular-season championship. Whether that results in the No. 1 seed in the tournament depends on a few factors.

If everyone wins out, the Tigers get the No. 1 seed by way of sweeping Hofstra, which would be the third-place team.

Towson’s road certainly isn’t simple, as they’ll be in Charleston on Saturday night before playing the dreaded back-to-back scenario vs. James Madison. Then, they’ll close things out by finishing their suspended game vs. Delaware, and when things resume, the Blue Hens will be leading 48-39 with 18:42 remaining.

What a wild and crazy ending that would be to decide the league’s regular season champ.

Remaining Schedules

UNCW (12-3): James Madison (Saturday), at Drexel (Thursday), at Delaware (Sat., Feb. 26)

Towson (11-3): at Charleston (Saturday), JMU (Wednesday), at JMU (Sat., Feb. 26), Delaware* (Mon., Feb. 28)

Hofstra (10-4): Northeastern (Saturday), Elon (Thursday), W&M (Sat., Feb. 26), Charleston (Mon., Feb. 28)