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Men's Basketball Joe Browning

Seahawks, Cougars Collide In Rematch

WILMINGTON, North Carolina – The UNCW men's basketball team opens a three-game home stand to finish out the regular season on Saturday, Feb. 22, when regional rival Charleston visits Trask Coliseum for a 7 p.m. Colonial Athletic Association men's basketball matchup.
 
The Seahawks, 8-20 overall and 3-12 in the CAA, meet the Cougars, 15-12 and 9-6, for the second time after stunning Earl Grant's club, 72-70, on Jan. 25 at TD Arena. Interim head coach Rob Burke of UNCW doesn't expect the Cougars to forget the surprising win by the Seahawks last month in Charleston.
 
"With the break this week, I'm sure they've taken this time to work on their defense," said Burke. "We just have to come ready to play. Charleston has won big games and they've won on the road. They want to get back to their winning ways.
 
"We need to focus on how we need to get better and focus on how we want to defend Charleston.
We have to fine tune what we're doing. At the end of the day, it will be difficult to stop what Charleston does. We have to match our offense with their offense. We've worked on sharing the basketball and everyone being shot ready."
 
Both teams enter Saturday's game after suffering a pair of losses last weekend on trips to the league's northernmost outposts, Northeastern and Hofstra. The Seahawks fell to the Huskies, 71-63, and Pride, 78-64, while the Cougars lost to NU, 65-51, and Hofstra, 76-63.
 
In its last outing, UNCW, plagued by early foul trouble, lost to CAA frontrunner Hofstra, 78-64, last Saturday at the David S. Mack Sports and Exhibition Complex on Long Island. Georgia transfer Isaac Kante poured in a career-high 23 points and shared scoring honors with senior guard Eli Pemberton to pace the Pride. Freshman point guard Shykeim Phillips anchored four Seahawks in double digits with 14 points.
 
Cold shooting continues to stifle the Seahawks, who shot 40.6 percent in the two games last weekend and are converting just 42.8 percent this season. UNCW has shot 40 percent or less on 16 occasions in 2019-20.
 
Sophomore forward Marten Linssen turned in a pair of solid outings on the northern trip. The Dusseldorf, Germany, native averaged 15.0 points and sank 12-of-15 from the floor and 6-of-7 at the free throw line. Linssen ranks second in the CAA in field goal percentage accuracy behind Kante at 58.8 percent on the season.
 
The Cougars, riding a three-game losing streak, have experienced a roller coaster season, reeling off six straight wins to pace the loop briefly before a recent string of losses have Grant's team sitting in fifth place in the conference.
 
Senior guard Grant Riller has enjoyed a stellar season in his swan song at CofC. He ranks second in the CAA in scoring at 21.6 ppg and is shooting 50 percent from the field and 84.5 percent at the charity stripe. Riller had his streak of 54 consecutive double figure games snapped in last Saturday's loss in Boston when the Huskies held the Orlando native to just nine points.
 
Riller is facing the Seahawks for the ninth time in his storied career. He's averaged 18.8 points and shot 52.5 percent in those outings, pouring 22, 28 and 31 points in his three appearances at Trask Coliseum.
 
Following Saturday's clash with the Cougars, the Seahawks entertain Drexel (Thursday, Feb. 27) and Delaware (Saturday, Feb. 29) next weekend to conclude the regular campaign.
 
The UNCW-CofC contest will be carried over the air on The Breeze (95.9 FM). Play-by-play voice Mike Vaccaro and color analyst Marty Feurer will be on the call and the contest may be heard worldwide on the station's website, www.959thebreeze.com. A video stream of the game will be available on FloSports.com.
 
Seahawk Storylines
  • Burke stands 3-6 overall since taking over the program on Jan. 13. He's 2-2 at home and 1-4 on the road during his brief time in the lead chair.
     
  • The Cougars own a slim 15-14 advantage in the 29-game series with the Seahawks. Thirteen of the 29 games in the series have been decided by five points or less.
     
  • The Seahawks own a 10-6 advantage over the Cougars in conference play, but CofC has taken five of the last seven meetings.
     
  • UNCW and CofC are meeting for the seventh time in February. The Seahawks hold a 4-2 advantage in games played in the second month of the calendar year.
     
  • UNCW is facing Grant for the 15th time and owns a 9-5 mark against the sixth-year CofC skipper. Grant previously worked for Clemson Head Coach Brad Brownell, who led the Seahawks to a pair of NCAA berths in four seasons from 2002-06.
     
  • Charleston is the lone South Carolina opponent on the schedule. The Seahawks own a 62-46 (.593) record against 13 teams from the Palmetto State through the years.
     
  • The Seahawks own a combined 34-29 (.539) record against three Charleston opponents: CofC (14-15), The Citadel (1-2) and Charleston Southern (19-15).
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Players Mentioned

Marten Linssen

#23 Marten Linssen

F
6' 8"
Redshirt Sophomore
Shykeim Phillips

#2 Shykeim Phillips

G
6' 0"
Freshman

Players Mentioned

Marten Linssen

#23 Marten Linssen

6' 8"
Redshirt Sophomore
F
Shykeim Phillips

#2 Shykeim Phillips

6' 0"
Freshman
G