Seahawks have won four straight after Baha Mar championship

UNCW (5-3) at Coastal Carolina (3-2)

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After all those flights, maybe a bus ride isn’t so bad.

After spending much of the first month of the season on the road, the Seahawks are a little closer to home on Wednesday night, making the 80-mile trip to meet Coastal Carolina in Conway, S.C at the HTC Center.

Fresh off a gritty three-game, three-day run to the Baha Mar Nassau Championship title, UNCW will look to keep a four-game win streak rolling against a Chanticleer team still looking for its footing.

UNCW Notes | CCU Notes

KenPom rankings for UNCW: No. 173 overall; No. 197 offense, No. 151 defense.

KenPom rankings for CCU: No. 204 overall; No. 191 offense, No. 215 defense.

KenPom forecast: CCU 67, UNCW 65 (44 percent chance of victory).

This marks the second straight season the teams will meet after a 14-year hiatus in the series, with UNCW leading 11-2 all-time.

Here’s what to watch for as the Seahawks play for the seventh time away from Trask Coliseum this season.

Turn the Page

What a weekend for the program, earning two of the five best wins of the Takayo Siddle era en route to another tournament title — its second of 2022.

Not only did UNCW win three games in three days, but it also won a tooth-and-nail physical battle in the final game before spending Monday traveling back to Wilmington. No doubt, the Seahawks surely slept easy after getting back to campus.

After all that excitement and all that exhaustion, they had one day home before heading back on the road to meet a CCU team that is drawing an average attendance of 1,118 through three home games.

Facing a struggling opponent in what is likely to be a sleepy gym, the Seahawks are going to have to generate their own energy tonight and win the battle against human nature.

Great teams are able to do that most every night, and if this weekend is any indicator, UNCW is taking steps in that direction after bringing the intensity to basketball games being played in a ballroom.

Great Responsibility

The Seahawks won three straight games without shooting the ball particularly well, hitting 59 of 157 attempts (40.1 percent) from the field, including 17 of 51 (33.3 percent) from 3-point range.

But missed shots are better than turnovers, where UNCW was exceptional, committing a total of 25 turnovers in three games — a rate of 12.3 percent for the three-game stretch, which ranks in the 98th percentile nationally.

Jamarii Thomas committed just three turnovers (seven assists) in 76 minutes, Donovan Newby had two turnovers (four assists) in 74 minutes and Shykeim Phillips had four turnovers (six assists) in 84 minutes.

After the win over North Texas, Siddle had some interesting insight on why his team is taking such good care of the ball.

“We play against ourselves in practice every day and we’re a heavy-deny team, we pressure and we compete in practice,” he said. “We throw it all over the place in practice, but ever since I’ve been running this system — even with Kevin Keatts, it’s always been like that — we’ve always turned it over a lot in practice.

“When we get to the game — knock on wood — we’re going to take care of it because we’re not going to see the amount of pressure that we see in practice…”

That seems unlikely to change tonight, as Coastal ranks 360th nationally in defensive turnover rate, forcing them on 12.3 percent of possessions.

The MVP

Just looking at the stat sheet, you’d think Trazarien White had a solid — not great — weekend, averaging 11 points and 6 rebounds.

But he wasn’t chosen as the Baha Mar MVP for what shows up in the box score.

UNCW is a completely different team with White on the court, as his relentless attacking style and physicality set the tone for the Seahawks.

According to Pivot Analysis, White’s presence on the floor made the Seahawks 51 points better per 100 possessions. With him in the game, UNCW had an offensive rating of 110.3 and defensive mark of 84.3. When White was sitting, the Hawks offensive number dipped to 99.4 and the defense loosened up to the tune of 125.2.

White is averaging 12 points, 4.3 rebounds and 1.5 steals overall, but those numbers barely reflect the impact he’s having on games and his teammates.

He’s getting to the free throw line regularly (33 of 43 this season), generating them at a rate of 72.9 percent of his possessions used (47th nationally). Drawing 7.3 fouls per game, he ranks 21st nationally.

The biggest issue for him in Nassau was his own foul trouble, which sent him to the bench early a few times.

When he’s on the floor, UNCW is the best version of itself by a wide margin.

What’s Next on Defense?

How about that Seahawk defense?

As mentioned above, White’s energy is a major factor in how they’ve been able to cause havoc on the press. He’s also been particularly good as a help defender, poking the ball away from opponents in the lane.

UNCW is seemingly improving its defense every game, with some of the transition lapses we saw earlier in the season completely cleaned up, helping force 16.3 turnovers per game while holding opponents to 41.2 percent shooting in Nassau.

The shot charts below illustrate opponent’s shooting percentages (left) and where they took their shots (right).

The Seahawks forced a lot of contested 3-pointers above the break, and limited the high-percentage, back-breaking corner three attempts.

Depth is one reason UNCW has taken a step forward on defense, and another is Siddle and his staff have the personnel to switch on every ball screen, almost every time.

On the occasion they don’t switch the screen, you’re probably hearing the term “icing the screen” more often this season.

Icing a screen happens when an opposing team attempts to set a high screen for a ballhandler, typically with the idea of creating space toward the middle of the floor for that player to drive the lane or create a pick-and-roll opportunity.

Instead of fighting through the screen, the UNCW defender steps out and turns (almost?) parallel with the sideline to force the ballhandler away from the ballscreen.

Ballhandlers with space in the middle of the floor have all kinds of options. Ballhandlers crowded to the sideline have fewer choices to create of themselves or teammates.

About the Chanticleers

Coach Cliff Ellis is still at it in Conway, as the future hall of famer nears 900 career wins (897-552) in his 49th season as a head coach, while former UNCW coach Benny Moss serves as his top assistant.

Voted 8th in the Sun Belt preseason poll, Coastal returns all-league big man Essam Mostafa (13 points, 12.4 rebounds) and landed scoring machine Jomaru Brown (18.8 points, 3.4 assists) in the transfer portal from Eastern Kentucky.

A 6-2 combo guard, Brown (above) is electric with the ball in his hands, either attacking the basket or creating jumpers off the dribble. He doesn’t shoot a ton of threes, but he’s been efficient this season, hitting 10 of 19 attempts. So far this season, he’s drawing 7.4 fouls per game and has hit 24 of 26 free throw attempts.

He hasn’t gotten much help though, as Coastal currently ranks 348th in 3-point percentage (27.8 percent) and 323rd on 2-pointers, hitting just 43.3 percent. Turnovers — on both ends — have also been a problem with the Chants giving it up on 23.7 percent of possessions (344th).

Linton Brown (14.2 points, 41.4 percent 3pFG) is a dangerous shooter.

Notable results: Lost 79-78 at USC Upstate; Lost 89-51 at Missouri; Won 66-69 vs. South Dakota.