Phillips, UNCW Escape vs. Tribe
The Seahawks' win sets up a massive showdown with Towson on Thursday
UNCW 80, William & Mary 73 (OT)
Welcome back! I needed weekend off writing thanks to having a few things going on, but now I’m feeling nice and refreshed for the final sprint through another CAA championship!
Let’s not worry about eloquence: everything about that game was incredibly weird.
The oddities started with a 2 p.m. weekday tipoff and subsequent lack of energy, on down to UNCW’s insistence on putting up 3-pointers and allowing the Tribe to stick around.
There were a few uncharacteristic individual performances, and a couple of perplexing defensive plays that saw William & Mary score on straight-line drives.
Despite all of that, UNCW was able to grind out an 80-73 victory on Monday afternoon at Trask Coliseum, needing Shykeim Phillips’ overtime heroics to put away a scrappy William & Mary team that just wouldn’t quit.
BOX SCORE | PHOTO GALLERY
Phillips scored 11 of his career-high 24 points in overtime, while Jaylen Sims was fantastic from start to finish, putting up 26 points, six rebounds and four assists in 43 minutes.
Here’s what we took from the game, as the Hawks held on to set up a massive showdown with second-place Towson on Thursday night.
Energy Outage
The Seahawks were battling human nature on Monday, taking the court about 40 hours after an emotional win over Charleston in front of a capacity crowd on Saturday night.
Not only were they coming off a big win, but this game was also wedged in just before what is viewed as the CAA’s biggest game of the regular season, and one so important, it was moved to CBS Sports Network.
Here’s what Trask looked like just before tipoff vs. the Tribe.
When this team has been at its best this season, its energy has been off the charts, with players and a raucous student section feeding off one another, creating an avalanche of turnovers and fastbreak buckets.
It was apparent from the start that synergy wasn’t possible, and after an early run from the Seahawks, they weren’t able to tap back into that momentum. Heading into halftime, UNCW coach Takayo Siddle said his team needed to do a better job of creating its own energy.
For the most part, it never came for a sustained period until overtime, when Phillips went on the attack and it seemed the Hawks smelled blood in the water.
Largely, this one should serve as a wake-up call for the Seahawks, who will need to create their own energy a time or two next month in Washington, D.C., when it will have to play a few games in front of a sleepy crowd to reach the CAA championship game.
It all makes sense — they’re tired, it’s late in the season and you’re facing a struggling team at an odd time. But it’s been proven time and again lately that the difference from first to worst in the league isn’t nearly as big as it seems.
(Kudos to those who did show up for what became a pretty decent crowd for a weekday afternoon and one plenty of CAA teams would love to have!)
Three Minutes
In Saturday night’s win over Charleston, Phillips had the honor of closing things out — hitting all three of his field goal attempts — just as he’s done several times this season.
On Monday, things didn’t work out that way, but it wasn’t for lack of trying.
With 3:02 to play, Phillips had a layup attempt blocked at the rim, but it ultimately ended up with James Baker Jr. getting a bucket.
The next possession went to the opposite side of the floor for a Jaylen Fornes 3-pont attempt as the shot clock expired.
With just under two minutes, Phillips got the ball near midcourt, but the Tribe ran a trap at him, forcing the ball out of his hands. Sims stepped on the sideline, attempting to drive to the basket.
With just under one minute, W&M trapped Phillips again, this time forcing a pass and ending up in the hands of Fornes for a late-clock 3-point attempt.
After the Tribe tied the game at 63-63, it ran a trap at Sims with about 15 seconds remaining, resulting in an excellent pass to Mike Okauru with 10 seconds left. Rather than holding for the last shot, Okauru let it fly (a good look, any other time) and W&M got a good look for the win.
In overtime, UNCW made sure trapping wasn’t an option, running through a set on its first possession that got Phillips the ball, ready to attack, at the top of the key. He finished a layup through a foul, and the Seahawks never looked back.
The next time down, the Hawks got the offense moving again before finding Phillips for a wide-open three on the wing, He followed with a nice dish to Baker for a layup, and finally, on his final bucket, the Hawks got him the ball ready to drive off the wing.
It was a nice adjustment by Siddle and assistant coach Travis Hackert, who made sure they were getting the ball to their closer in position to attack without allowing the Tribe to trap.
Phillips, just as we’ve seen him do so many times this season, was magnificent in overtime, hitting three of his four field goal attempts — rebounding his one miss — and hitting all four of his attempts at the free throw line.
Everyone knows exactly what’s coming when UNCW needs a bucket in crunch time, and no one has been able to stop it. The Tribe delayed the inevitable by a few minutes, but Phillips ultimately finished them, too.
The Big Picture
This was the perfect wake-up game.
UNCW gets the win and remains in first place, but the Seahawks know they didn’t play their best and the coaching staff will have no trouble getting their attention for the next two days.
A few points on what was out of the ordinary:
Because the Tribe played so much matchup zone, the Hawks got lured into tossing up 26 attempts from 3-point range — a good bit over where the sweet spot has been. UNCW is averaging 20.8 attempts per game in wins, and 26.5 in losses.
Fornes, who has been so key to UNCW’s surge in CAA play, missed all 10 of his field goal attempts — eight from 3-point range — and had four turnovers. If he gets similar looks vs. Towson, he’ll easily have a 12-point night.
The Seahawks got a total of six points in 39 minutes from the bench. Given Towson’s size, expect to see a bit more of Amari Kelly on Thursday night.
Baker had an efficient 10-point night, making all four of his field goal attempts. He should be taking more than that, as he showed on Saturday.
A national TV game with a chance to put a nail in the coffin for the second-place team? Energy isn’t going to be a problem in what will be an absolutely insane Trask Coliseum.
Okauru scored nine points at Towson earlier this season, and he hasn’t quite been himself for the past two games. He’s due for a big one. (This worked last time we called it.)