After recording the best regular season in the school’s NCAA basketball history, the Seahawks are back on the tournament. They gave Duke a good scare last year before falling a few plays short, and it is sure to give them an added experience overall.
The team will again bring in a strong offense that has four guys netting over 12 a game. CJ Bryce’s 17.6 points and scoring ability leads the pack, followed by inside-out guy Chris Flemmings (15.8), shooter and floor general Denzel Ingram (14.5 PPG, 5.4 APG), and the very efficient Devontae Cacok (12.3 PPG, 9.3 RPG).
Cacok, a sophomore center, is a defensive specialist (1.1 SPG, 1.8 BPG) who also shoots an eye-popping 79.9 percent from the field, which is high, even for a big man.
All of their offense has the Seahawks posting 85.2 points, 16.1 assists, and 9.5 threes per contest (all are top 18 in the country). Such potency on O, of course, could be a key to beating their opponents for the first round – the offensively-challenged Virginia Cavaliers.
Team Weaknesses:
More than half of the time, an offense-focused team displays almost zero defense… and that’s what you’ll get from UNC-Wilmington. They give up 74.9 points, allow opponents to shoot 47.7 percent, which are both one of the worst among all of this year’s tournament participants.
Team Stats:
CATEGORY
STAT
NCAA RANK
Points
85.2
10th
Rebounds
35.9
86th
Assists
16.1
18th
Field goal percentage
48.2
21st
Three-point percentage
36.6
104th
Free throw percentage
69.2
208th
Turnovers
10.4
28th
Starting Lineup:
POSTION
PLAYER
PPG
F
Devontae Cacok
12.3
F
Chris Flemmings
15.8
G
CJ Bryce
17.6
G
Ambrose Mosley
8.1
G
Denzel Ingram
14.5
Writer’s Prediction:
UNC-Wilmington will upset Virginia and then get eliminated in the second round.
