Seahawks Stretch Streak to Six
Trazarien White, UNCW dominant in victory over ECU
UNCW 74, East Carolina 61
Shortly after UNCW threw 10 men at his team for 40 minutes on every inch of the 90-by-50 foot court inside Trask Coliseum, East Carolina coach Mike Schwartz tried to explain the paradox that is stopping the Seahawks.
“Sometimes, when you say nobody jumps off the page,” he said, “I’d tell you they all jump off the page, that’s the way we look at it.
“We knew numbers don’t always tell in terms of looking down the stat sheet, who is capable; film tells as you watch and watch and watch it.”
Tuesday night’s film will be a scary one for future opponents, as the Seahawks again showed just how dangerous they can be, using their depth and versatility to dominate the Pirates 74-61.
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Trazarien White finished with 18 points and 14 rebounds to lead UNCW, will Maleeck Harden-Hayes had his best scoring output of the season with 12 points and five rebounds.
In all, nine of the 10 Seahawks (7-3) who played were able to get into the scoring column.
Here’s what we learned in UNCW’s sixth straight victory.
Trazarien’s Time
We’ve seen glimpses since his first game as a Seahawk.
White checks all of the boxes UNCW needs in a player at his position on the wing, bringing ideal size at 6-6, 190 pounds. He’s plenty athletic, strong enough to finish in the paint and brings the physicality required to play as an undersized power forward.
Now, it seems he’s taking a step in terms of his approach and intensity on every single possession — and he’s bringing his team right along with him.
White singlehandedly took control of the game after a fiery media timeout at the 11:53 mark in the first half, immediately grabbing a rebound and setting the tone for a half that would see him score 12 points and grab 10 rebounds, hitting 8 of 14 attempts at the free throw line.
“We just wanted to be imposing, posting up and playing inside-out, and that’s what we did,” UNCW coach Takayo Siddle said. “He had the hot hand, so we kept going to him and he delivered tonight.”
Everything started with his energy and toughness, repeatedly generating free throws thanks to his willingness to mix it up in the lane.
“I’m not sure I’ve been in a game where one player shot 14 free throws in one half, and I give him all the credit,” Schwartz said. “He had 10 rebounds in one half; he was dominant, he was the difference. We had no answer.”
No moment better captured White’s evening than his diving save midway through the second half, only to go flying over the bench seconds later as he chased a rebound into the student section. UNCW led the game 46-32 at the time, with 12:13 remaining.
“He was attacking the offensive glass with two hands, he was refusing block-outs and then on the defensive end, he was going in there and getting dirty and getting some two-hand rebounds,” Siddle said. “Which, we need him to continue to do that.”
We’re going on the record now: if White plays with that level of intensity every night, he’s going to be a First-Team All-CAA selection, and he might well have a shot at Player of the Year.
The Other Guys
As great as White was on Tuesday night, it wasn’t a one-man show, as the Seahawks’ bench outscored the Pirates’ 33-11.
It was the ninth time in 10 games this season the UNCW bench has outscored the opponent, averaging 30.4 points per game from the reserves while allowing 16.4
The substitutes have been even better since the start of the Nassau trip, with an average margin of 27.6 to 12.8.
On Tuesday night, Jamarii Thomas, Nick Farrar and Donovan Newby all ended up with nine points. Amari Kelly had six and Shykeim Phillips had five.
Each of those players has already put up a double-figure scoring effort this season, while all but Newby have been UNCW’s leading scorer in a game.
“Our strength is our depth, and it has to continue to be that way,” Siddle said. “I just told them in the locker room, ‘Keep working on your character, keep thinking about UNCW first,’” Siddle said.
Schwartz talked about the challenge that creates in preparing for an opponent.
“You can go down the list with their players, they’ve got a really good team and of course they make it challenging to prepare for because they’ve got five guys that can play all over the court a lot of time,” he said. “They’ve got guys that can play in the midrange, they’ve got guys that can play in the post, and they’ve got guys that can shoot the ball, and they have some dynamic drivers off the bounce.”
Coming into this week, UNCW ranked 26th nationally in bench scoring — a number that figures to keep going up.
Running ‘em Off
Much of ECU’s success early this season has come from taking — and making — a boatload of 3-pointers, connecting on an average of 9.3 on 26.8 attempts (36th nationally) per game.
Siddle had a pretty good idea on how to stop the Pirates from knocking down triples.
“What I kept telling the guys was, ‘If we take them away, and we don’t let them get them off, it’s going to be hard for them to make them,’” he said.
Obviously, that’s much easier said than done, but the Seahawks pulled it off.
After missing all six of their 3-point attempts in the first half, the Pirates finally broke through with 4:30 remaining in the game. In all, they finished 2 of 14 from beyond the arc.
Just as UNCW’s offensive success is often predicated on versatility, so too was the defensive gameplan on Tuesday.
“We wanted to switch one through five, so we could stay connected and not give up clean threes,” Siddle said. “So, we really emphasized that, and I thought we did a really good job of covering the 3-point line.
Schwartz was complimentary of a Seahawk defense that has now risen to No. 125 in KenPom’s efficiency ratings on the strength of forcing turnovers and defending the 3-point line, where Division I opponents are hitting 29.7 percent.
“The way they play defense is they’re really good guarding the basketball one-on-one,” Schwartz said. “They take away the passing lanes, they take away a lot of ability to create kick-out threes, and they do a good job with that.”
Still Growing Up
As well as the Hawks played on Tuesday night, the final score could have looked a little different.
After opening up a 61-38 lead with 5:29 remaining, UNCW got sloppy and allowed the Pirates to make 9 of 12 field goal attempts down the stretch, coming as close as 70-59 in the final minute.
The game was never in doubt, but still, Siddle wanted a better finish for a night the Seahawks took a step forward.
“Like I said in the locker room, I just want us to be more mature and finish the game strong,” he said. “I thought we could have won the game by 20 if we had just locked in and got some stops late, but I’m proud of them. We’ve got a long way to go, but I like the direction we’re going in.”
Up Next
The homestand continues on Saturday afternoon as Jacksonville (4-2) visits Trask Coliseum for a 4 p.m. tip.
Last season, a 77-48 loss to the Dolphins on Dec. 11, 2021 served as a turning point for the Seahawks, leading to a players-only meeting that set UNCW on its course to win a school-record 12 straight games.
Jacksonville, No. 153 in the KenPom ratings, was chosen No. 2 in the Atlantic Sun preseason poll.