White, Seahawks Make a Statement
UNCW intent on imposing its will in victory over Northeastern
This time, they passed the test.
If there were any concerns about how the Seahawks would handle the aftermath of Wednesday’s ugly loss, those worries were quickly allayed when Trazarien White immediately smashed the ball right into Northeastern’s heart and didn’t let up for 40 minutes.
UNCW had a double-digit lead to work with for most of the second half, where the game was unfortunately slowed to a halt by incompetent officiating, as the teams were whistled for 29 of the total 51 fouls in the final minutes.
Despite the tight calls, the Hawks never wavered in their commitment to create contact, attack the rim and meet Huskies with resistance in the lane.
It was a clear point of emphasis after the Seahawks were clearly out-competed at Charleston.
“I’m very proud of those guys. I thought we did a good job bouncing back from that loss we took,” UNCW coach Takayo Siddle said. “I told them in the locker room, ‘Setbacks lead to great opportunities,’ and we had a great opportunity tonight, to get our 20th win on the season and our 10th conference win, and that’s pretty special.
A few observations…
Terrific for Trazarien
Over the course of a season, you’ll notice you’re hearing certain words in nearly every extended conversation with coaches and players.
“Maturity” has been on the mind of Siddle since the preseason, and along the way, he’s gotten varying degrees of it from his squad, and particularly, Trazarien White.
Lately, he’s pointed out that he’s seeing more of it from White, whose blend of skill, athleticism and toughness make him impossible to guard in the lane, and a guy that will be in the CAA Player of the Year conversation for the next couple of seasons.
On a night the Hawks HAD to show some growth, White took it upon himself to set the tone with energy and effort, finishing with 23 points, 7 rebounds and 2 steals.
“He was imposing, he was physically imposing tonight,” Siddle said. “He wasn’t going to be denied tonight, he got to his spots, he didn’t get pushed off his spots, and when he caught it on the block and in the short corner, he was able to make really good powerful moves.
“He got to the free throw line, he was on the backboard — he played a physically imposing game, and he was a huge reason why we won the game.”
Part of that maturity is staying the course and not freelancing when adversity hits, and unlike Wednesday night, it seems the Seahawks never strayed from the plan.
“We wanted drive it and post it and I thought we really imposed our will, and we really executed the gameplan.”
Whether it was driving the lane, drawing charges, sealing off the post or drawing fouls with his physicality, White showed just how good he can be on Saturday.
When he brings that energy and he’s out there flexing and yelling after buckets, we have a look at just how good the Seahawks can be, too.
A Clear Correlation…
Turnovers continue to tell the story for UNCW, and Saturday night, the Seahawks wanted to use that havoc to create some easy baskets and take some pressure off the offense.
Northeastern ultimately gave up the ball 19 times — tying a season-high for UNCW — which resulted in 16 points for the Hawks.
The Huskies had already turned the ball over 15 times by halftime, which surpassed a number that correlates to success for the Seahawks.
When UNCW forces 13 or more turnovers, it is 16-1.
When UNCW forces 12 or fewer turnovers, it is 4-6.
That was huge, because when Northeastern actually got shots off, they were pretty solid in shooting 47.7 percent from the field.
“I don’t like that percentage; I know Coach (Kurt) Kanaskie doesn’t like it, but we got stops when we needed to,” Siddle said. “The game was really choppy; there was a lot of fouls being called there was a lot of stoppage. We didn’t allow that to affect us and we got the job done.”
Interestingly enough, UNCW played a similarly choppy foul-fest in the aftermath of the first Charleston loss, but never found a rhythm. I’d say that’s a point for maturity, too.
Rare Company
As the game was winding down, play-by-play voice Mike Vaccaro dropped a surprising fact: with tonight’s victory, the Seahawks have secured back-to-back 20-win seasons for only the third time since the program moved to Division I in 1976.
Siddle joins his mentor Kevin Keatts as the only UNCW coaches with consecutive 20-win seasons, which raises another surprising fact: neither Coaches Jerry Wainwright nor Brad Brownell were able to coach their team to that level of success in consecutive seasons.
That adds some perspective to what Siddle has been able to accomplish in two-plus seasons at UNCW after he took over the program amid the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.
In the three seasons prior to his arrival, the Seahawks went 31-52 overall and 17-37 in league play.
Siddle’s first team went 7-10 and 1-6 during the bizarre, modified COVID season, and since then, UNCW is 47-16 overall and 25-7 in the CAA.
Asked about the accomplishment by Vaccaro, Siddle shared his thoughts.
We’re in a good place, but my vision for this program is to hang those banners. We have a long way to go with this team; I think we’re certainly starting to play some good basketball in spots, and I think if we can continue to get better, we’ll be one of the teams when we go to D.C. that will have a chance.
I want to hang banners, I want to get national recognition — that’s my vision for this program, and that’s what we’re trying to get to. We can’t skip steps; I like where we are right now, but there’s a lot of basketball left.
There are some tiny corners of our fanbase that haven’t given Siddle the credit he deserves for getting this program in position to compete for championships in only his third season.
With plenty of season left to go, the current two-season win total of 47 is second best in UNCW history, only behind the 54 wins that Keatts’ teams put together from 2015-17.
The Big Picture
With four regular-season games left, the Seahawks sit in third place in the CAA standings and control their destiny in retaining it.
A first- or second-place finish would require quite a bit of help, as Hofstra and Charleston both own tiebreakers over the Hawks.
Remaining schedule:
Thursday, at Drexel (15-11, 9-5)
Saturday, at Delaware (12-14, 4-9)
Thurs. Feb. 23, vs. Stony Brook (9-17, 5-8)
Sat. Feb 25, vs. Towson (17-9, 9-4)
Around the CAA
Drexel 73, Towson 66 (OT)
The league’s marquee game delivered on Saturday, as Drexel picked up a massive win to stay in the hunt for a top-four finish.
Meanwhile, Towson dropped a half-game back of UNCW in the standings. With the Tigers finding the final weekend down south, they couldn’t afford this one.
The Pirates actually led this one 27-12 before Pat Robinson III got going en route to a season- high 30 points.
We’ll always have The Streak.
Monmouth had a cool thing going with a four-game streak, but Hofstra has an even cooler thing going, asthe Pride won their seventh straight game.
Monday Night’s CAA Schedule
N.C. A&T at Monmouth, 7 p.m. (FloSports)
Towson at William & Mary, 7 p.m. (FloSports)
Drexel at Hofstra, 7 p.m. (FloSports)
Stony Brook at Delaware, 7 p.m. (FloSports)
Northeastern at Charleston, 7 p.m. (FloSports)
Hampton at Elon, 9 p.m. (CBS Sports Network)