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It’s the start of the road to March Madness as the college basketball season gets underway in earnest with a non-conference tilt between a team from the CAA taking on a powerhouse from the ACC in the Tar Heel State. The UNC Wilmington Seahawks make the in-state trek to the Deandome to face the #1 North Carolina Tar Heels Monday night. UNC Wilmington finished the 2021-22 season 27-9 overall and closed the year by beating Middle Tennessee 96-90 in double overtime to claim the CBI Championship. North Carolina ended last season 29-10 and reached the national title game, falling 72-69 to Kansas. In the all-time series between the schools, the Tar Heels have won all five previous meetings, including a 78-62 road victory in the most recent matchup on November 8, 2019.
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UNC Wilmington put together a stellar season last year under coach Takayo Siddle, going 27-9 overall and 15-3 in the CAA, losing to Delaware 59-55 in the CAA Tournament title game. That put them in the CBI, where they rolled over the competition en route to claiming the tournament title. The hope is that the team can contend in the CAA again this season though it will take some time to get their rotation up to speed. Four of the team’s top five scorers from a season ago have graduated, leaving them with some holes to fill. Seeing that the Seahawks were a middle of the road team on both ends of the floor last season, the quicker that things come together for them, the better their chances at making noise in the conference this season.
The Seahawks were slightly above average last season offensively, putting up an average of 72.1 points per game on the year, putting them 146th in the nation in scoring offense. UNC Wilmington collected 33.5 boards a night (263rd) while handing out an average of 10.6 assists (331st) per contest. The Seahawks were average on the defensive end of the floor, ranking 174th in the nation by allowing 69 points per game. Shykeim Phillips is the team’s leading returning score as he put up 11.3 points plus 3.8 rebounds per game last season. Trazarien White, Jamahri Harvey, Amari Kelly and Jamarii Thomas are other key contributors for the Seahawks. Victor Enoh transfers in from Memphis after spending two seasons there and two at Memphis to play in the paint. Donovan Newby comes in from Milwaukee while Eric Van Der Heidjen comes in from Ole Miss. Noah Ross, Khamari McGriff, Nolan Hodge and Riley Berkoff are all freshmen looking to make an impact for the Seahawks this season. UNC Wilmington shot a cold 42.4% from the floor as a team on the year. The Seahawks drilled an average of 7.1 triples a night wh ile shooting 33.3% from beyond the arc. UNC Wilmington shot an above average 74.3% of their attempts at the charity stripe last season, which was 91st in the country.