Fans welcomed the UNC Wilmington men’s basketball team back late Thursday night from their NCAA tournament trip to Orlando, Florida.
“Haven’t brought it up at all”, he said, answering a question about whether he’d talked to his younger teammates about what to expect today, when the Cavaliers play UNC Wilmington in a first-round East Region game in Amway Arena. London Perrantes helped lift Virginia as well with 24 points of his own. They’re extremely balanced with four different players averaging at least 12 points, and their top three scorers are all guards, led by 6-foot-5 sophomore C.J. Bryce (17.6 ppg). In the first half, the Seahawks were almost unstoppable from any spot on the court, as senior guards Ambrose Mosley, Chris Flemmings, and Denzel Ingram all shot over 50% combined and were all responsible for the 6 three pointers made early in the contest.
The Wahoos held UNCW to 41-percent shooting (26-of-61).
Trailing, 28-14, Virginia roared back with a 12-0 run over a 2:19 stretch to cut into UNCW’s margin and then took a 30-29 lead into intermission. The Cavaliers are one of the stingiest teams in the country, largely driven by their controlling of pace.
The Seahawks finished out their season with a 29-6 record.
They did it without a breakout game from Mike Daum. They ended the regular season with four straight wins, then added three more victories on consecutive days to win a second straight conference title.
“I just couldn’t get the feeling back in my arm”, Perrantes said later. “And I have a lot of respect for Kevin, Coach Keatts, and what they’ve done the last couple years with the UNC-Wilmington program”.
London Perrantes sat in front of his locker in the Virginia locker room Wednesday afternoon with a wry smile on his face. I know that’s they’re calling card. The junior didn’t start, He checked in at the 15:57 mark in the first half but was limited. They didn’t get much production outside of that quartet, though, as the other five players who saw the floor scored just 10 combined points. “They did a great job of preparing us for this”.
“I’m glad we worked on our five guard lineup all week in practice”.
Last meeting: Virginia defeated UNCW 69-67 on January 18, 2010, in Charlottesville – Tony Bennett’s first season as UVa’s coach. I feel for him.
The Seahawks also have the experience of last year’s NCAA appearance. Shayok, who said he was just trying to give his team some energy off the bench, scored 11 points, giving Virginia just the offensive boost it needed. But the Gators offense pulled away in the second half, scoring 47 points and holding the Buccaneers to just 33. “That’s why we were going to go four guards from the jump even if Isaiah [Wilkins] was available”.