The UNCW Seahawks improved their record to 6-3 with their win over Coastal Carolina on Sunday at Trask Coliseum. However, I’m not sure if they are going to be the team who’s potential I see, or the team that struggles against a Coastal Carolina team that the Seahawks have to beat handedly, if they have any shot of earning an at-large NCAA bid this year.
Before the CAA’s recent run of success in the Tourney, you wouldn’t think of a second bid, but after UNCW opened the nation’s eyes with their upset of USC and near appearance in the sweet sixteen, George Mason’s Final Four appearance and VCU’s dumping of Duke last year, the CAA has to be thought of as a mid-major conference worthy of at least two teams.
But who are the Seahawks? They have spurts where they look like they could be the class of the conference this year, but at other times, they seem to be stuck in neutral.
It is early yet, and star guard TJ Carter seems to be shaking off the rust of missing last years’ season. He was named CAA Co-player of the Week last week, and followed that up with his best offensive game of the season where he hit 12-20 from the floor for 27 points. While Head Coach Benny Moss noted the senior leadership, the Seahawks start four, but round out the line up with a freshman point guard, Chad Tomko. Coach Moss said Tomko is a natural leader, and I would suspect that he, like Carter, is still getting used to his role on this years team.
Entering the week, UNCW had the exact same number of assists as turnovers. This ratio is extra important to a team that shoots the ball very well; the Seahawks are second in the conference in field goal percentage, so when they get shots, they are successful. The difference for a team, shooting close to 50%, making 12 turnovers versus 18 turnovers is six shots, which if they make half, is six points - often the difference between winning and losing. The Seahawks are at the top of the conference in assists per game, but second to last in turnover margin, giving the ball away almost four times more than their opposition per game. Against Coastal Carolina, the Seahawks only had 12 turnovers and had 17 assists thanks in large part to Tomko’s seven assist, no turnover performance.
But while the offense seems to be coming along nicely, the defense is a bit concerning. While UNCW is near the top of most offensive categories, they are near the bottom of the conference for field goal percentage defense, and points allowed per game.
What I worry about, is their ability to get stops? They’ve shown they can score, but against the better teams, they are going to have to buckle down on defense.
To beat teams as good or better than you, you can’t plan on outscoring them; you may get red hot and win, but you can’t game plan shooting 60%, you have to do it at both ends of the court. Can UNCW do that? The jury is still out, but if so, and they can take care of the basketball, this team will be fun to watch in March. - Jesse Jones, CAPE FEAR SPORTS REPORT