Head Coach Benny Moss will have to get his guys ready for their toughest CAA game of the year after Saturday’s loss.

  Disappointment set in Saturday night during the second half as I realized UNCW was about to lose.  I wasn’t used to it.  They’ve won some big games recently, but as shots kept rimming out, loose balls kept winding up in the enemy’s hands, and the refs’ whistles kept blowing against them, it was evident - this wasn’t going to be one of them.

Early on, I thought they were going to win.  It just felt like they should…the crowd was rockin’, they were on a hot streak, and it seemed on paper at least, like they could control the inside.

   But then things changed.  After a tight first half, UNCW saw what was a slim lead turn into a chubby deficit, and when they went down by fourteen points, it was obvious they needed to turn things around abrubtly.  

   TJ Carter did his best to lead a comeback, pulling down a few big rebounds, swiping a few pockets and converting them into crowd frenzying dunks, but it wasn’t to be for the Seahawks as the Catamounts left Trask Coliseum wth a 84-73 win.

   As much as it seemed UNCW struggled on offense with lazy entry passes to the post and cold shooting,  they managed to score 73 points.  That’s how good they’ve become.  On a “bad” night, they can still score, but the key is on those nights, they have to defend and hit the glass - not strengths of theirs Saturday night.

   Vermont’s Marqus Blakely put on an impressive performance, going for 19 points and 19 rebounds; he owned the paint from the opening tip.  In looking at the lineups before the game, I thought UNCW would be able to control the interior as Vermont had only one starter, Blakely at 6’8”, taller than 6’5”.   Late in the first half, I realized I was wrong as the Catamounts held a 17-11 rebound advantage.  The Seahawks wound up evening out the rebounds by game’s end, but that’s deceiving since Vermont was hitting so many of their shots, they didn’t have many offensive rebound opportunities.

   You can have an off night as UNCW did, but you have to be able to force you opponent into an off night as well.  That’s the secret to Big East basketball.  Make you opponent play worse than you, instead of trying to play better than your opponent;  it ‘aint pretty, but desparate times call for desparate measures.

   But I’m going to look on the bright side of things, hey, you can’t win’em all.  

   Vermont was at least kind enough to make it aparent that they were going to hand UNCW just their third loss in the last twelve games with plenty of time on the clock so that by the time the final buzzer sounded, emotionally, I had come to grips with the loss.  

   And this was just a game against Vermont - a non-CAA foe, the least significant game of the season coming down the stretch.  Had it been a league game, well that would be a little more heartbreaking.  Better to lose to Vermont than VCU on Wednesday or to Old Dominion on Saturday in the final CAA game of the year.  Seahawk fans shouldn’t expect a win at first place VCU, but that would be more of a statement win than beating Vermont.  And Old Domion is right on their heels in the conference standings; a win against the Monarchs would gaurantee a first round bye in the CAA Tourney while a win against Vermont would get them, well a win and not much more in the grand scheme of things.  Plus, a loss may make them refocussed and help get their heads right as we enter the “Must Win” part of the year.  You don’t want to go into the post-season overconfident, you want to have something to prove.  You want to be on a mission.  After getting that loss out of the way, now that mission can begin.

   If there was a time to lay an egg, Saturday’s game against Vermont was it.  None-the-less, I was in the mood for pancakes.