I like our chances to bounce back quickly on Saturday. NU is coming off a grind-it-out loss against Charleston at home, and after losing to Drexel last Saturday, is facing a potential third straight loss.
Win, and we can call this a successful road trip. Keep the game competitive but lose....well, at least our next 4 are @ JMU and three home games.
http://uncwsports.com/news/2018/1/30/men...skies.aspx
Seahawks Conclude Trip With Huskies
BOSTON, Massachusetts - The UNCW men's basketball team tries to bounce back from a 20-point loss at Hofstra when the Seahawks make their way to Boston for a Saturday matinee and rematch against Northeastern's Huskies.
The Seahawks (7-16, 4-7) and Huskies (14-9, 7-4) reunite following an overtime thriller 21 days ago at Trask Coliseum that saw Bill Coen's club prevail, 81-77.
The two teams tip off at 4 p.m. at historic Matthews Arena. The Seahawks are 0-6 in afternoon games this season (vs. Loyola-Chicago, at LSU, Furman, vs. NDSU, vs. Howard, at Delaware). After the NU tilt, the Seahawks have just one more matinee on the docket, playing Drexel's Dragons in the regular season finale on Feb. 24 in Philadelphia.
"We just have to have more Pride when we play Northeastern," said C.B. McGrath, UNCW's first-year head coach. "We know what they run and what they're about. If we don't have more energy and activity on the defensive end, it won't matter. We had been showing improvement on the defensive end the last three weeks,
"The more you lose, the more ground you lose in this league. There's some good teams in this league and a lot of parity. If you don't show up every night, you have no chance to win."
The Seahawks are locked in a three-way tie for seventh place in the CAA standings with Delaware and Drexel. The Huskies fell into a tie for second place with Hofstra, just one game behind frontrunners Charleston and William & Mary, after losing to the Cougars on Thursday night in Beantown.
In its last appearance, UNCW suffered a 96-76 defeat at Hofstra when the Pride shot a sizzling 63.0 percent at the Mack Sports Complex. Hofstra scored 48 points in each half to take the first pairing of the season between the two clubs. Sophomore guard Eli Pemberton of Hofstra led all scorers with 27 points, one point off his career high set back in December against Rider.
Meanwhile, up in Boston, senior guard Joe Chealey scored a game-high 23 points to propel Charleston past Northeastern, 69-64, in a battle of first-place teams. The game was tied at 60-all with 2:48 remaining when the Cougars got a layup from Cameron Johnson and a three-point play by Grant Riller to grab the lead. Northeastern's Bolden Brace drained a 3-pointer that made it 65-62 with 25 seconds left, but Johnson hit two free throws to seal the win. Northeastern was paced by Donnell Gresham, who hit 4-of-6 triples and scored a team-high 18 points.
Saturday's contest marks the 24th meeting between the Seahawks and Huskies. The Seahawks lead the series, 12-11, but have won four of the last five matchups and seven of the last 10 pairings.
In the January battle between the two teams, UNCW redshirt sophomore guard Ty Taylor sank three free throws with .4 left in regulation to send the game into overtime, but Northeastern scored 11 straight points late in extra time to escape Wilmington with the victory. Northeastern shot 52.8 percent overall and 60 percent in the second half, with eight of the club's nine players scoring and seven collecting at least seven points in the contest.
The Seahawks have enjoyed some success of late in Boston, winning their last three games at Matthews Arena by an average of 8.3 ppg.
Following Saturday's contest, the Seahawks return to Wilmington briefly before concluding a rigorous three-game road swing on Thursday, Feb. 8, at James Madison. UNCW and JMU meet for the second time in a 7 p.m. tip-off at the JMU Convocation Center in Harrisonburg, Va.
The Seahawks have just seven games remaining in the regular season - three at home and four on the road.