UNCW Reclaims Paint, Tops Tribe
UNCW Reclaims Paint, Tops Tribe
Toughened Seahawks have won three straight
UNCW 70, William & Mary 63
WILLIAMSBURG, Va. — There’s no doubt this one was personal.
Weeks after a stunning home loss to the Tribe, the Seahawks came out intent on staking claim to the paint and showing they were the tougher team this time around.
It worked from the start, as UNCW built an early lead and were only briefly threatened in the second half en route to a 70-63 victory at Kaplan Arena on Saturday afternoon.
The Seahawks (19-6, 9-3) pushed their winning streak to four games ahead of Wednesday’s pivotal matchup at Charleston.
A few points from Williamsburg…
Tra Day
Opponents have gone out of their way to take Trazarien White off his game lately, getting physical and throwing several defenders his way every time he gets past the free throw line.
That’s part of the deal when scouting reports start catching up with one of the league’s best players, but coming into this one, White had scored fewer than 10 points in four of the past five games.
It didn’t take long to see the White of old on Saturday, and his defensive energy was the key.
White was moving his feet, diving for loose balls and taking charges — including one with 32 seconds remaining, and the Hawks clinging to a 66-61 lead.
When he’s bringing his best on the defensive end, he finds his way to the bucket on offense. Saturday, he showed a little of everything, knocking down two 3-pointers, beating his man off the dribble and powering through a crowd to finish through contact.
It was awesome to see him having fun, running the floor and doing all of the little things.
Retake the Paint
The most surprising part of UNCW’s loss to W&M on Jan. 14 was how the Tribe pulled it off, in outscoring the Seahawks 42-20 in the paint and holding them to just nine “at-rim” shots. That day, they were just flat-out the tougher, more energetic team.
It was obvious this time around that UNCW coach Takayo Siddle had challenged his team to set the tone, as the Hawks came out flying to the ball on defense, getting physical with W&M ballhandlers and attacking the paint on offense.
Shykeim Phillips, who missed the first game, made a difference with his ability to get in the lane off the bounce, and with a bit more space out there, the Seahawks made it a priority to get White and Amari Kelly the ball in position to score. Nick Farrar only had five points, but brought great effort and physicality in his 13 minutes, creating a few extra possessions with his deflections on the boards.
Ultimately, UNCW outscored W&M 34-28 in the paint while getting 19 layup attempts.
Because of that success in the paint, the Hawks had higher-quality looks from 3-point range, going 5 of 13 from beyond the arc. Quite a bit different from the 6-23 performance in the first matchup, where UNCW was forced to put it up from deep rather than choosing to.
Playing His Role
Donovan Newby is showing exactly why Siddle and staff went out and got him in the transfer portal after two seasons at Milwaukee.
A steady hand all season, Newby as committed a total of 23 turnovers in 25 games and never more than two in the same game, and most importantly, he’s embracing his role off the bench.
Saturday, Newby showed a new dimension as he took what the defense gave him and kept beating his man for elbow jumpers on his way to a career-high 20 points on 7/10 shooting and a perfect 4/4 at the free throw line.
With the Tribe selling out to stop him from the 3-point line, Newby attempted a career-high seven 2-pointers.
In all, Newby has stepped up when the Seahawks needed it most, averaging 10.2 points over the past six games.
He’s flown under the radar a bit this season, but Newby is only going to become a bigger asset to this team as an experienced, steady guard who understands his role and never tries to do too much.