Seahawks hope to avoid snow en route to Buffalo, or do they?

WILMINGTON, NC (WWAY) — We caught up with UNCW men’s head basketball coach Kevin Keatts Thursday afternoon.
His Seahawks will be heading to western New York for a game on Saturday against St. Bonaventure. These are two of the best mid-major programs going head to head in less than 48 hours. “When you look at how they play and you look at the fact they have two guys who can really really score,” Keatts said on Thursday.  “It’s going to be a tough matchup for us,

UNCW is 7-1 overall. St. Bonaventure is 6-2. The weather is a bit sketchy. More than likely it’s going to be bone-chilling cold with a decent chance of the white stuff. “We deserve a little snow. I say this because we prepared the guys for snow when we went to Western Michigan. When we got there it was almost 68 degrees. We are hopeful. Obviously we’ll leave as early as we can tomorrow and it’s going to be a tough travel trip because we have to fly to Buffalo and obviously get on a bus and drive an hour and half to St. Bonaventure.”

WILMINGTON, NC (UNCWSPORTS.COM) — The UNCW men’s basketball team treks to frigid upstate New York on Saturday for its inaugural matchup with St. Bonaventure at the raucous Reilly Center.

The Seahawks, 7-1, are six points shy of being perfect on the season and carry a four-game winning streak into the Atlantic-10 Conference opponent’s cozy venue. The Bonnies, 6-2, are riding a five-game string of their own and have won 16 of their last 19 games on their home court.

“This is a great basketball team,” third-year UNCW Head Coach Kevin Keatts said of SBU. “They’re off to a great start and they’re playing with a lot of confidence. They have a lot of guys back off last year’s championship team and they’re very good, especially at home.

“They have two guys who can really score the basketball. It’s going to be a tough matchup for us. They like to get out on transition and they like to score a lot of points.”

UNCW is coming off a record-setting 126-113 triumph over NCAA Division II foe Pfeiffer last Saturday at Trask Coliseum. Team records fell faster than the New York thermometer as the Seahawks gave Keatts his 50^th career victory in the program. Keatts became the fastest coach in UNCW history to reach the milestone.

SBU, which leads the A-10 in scoring, enters the 6 p.m. tip-off following Tuesday night’s hard-earned 81-75 victory at Hofstra. The Bonnies, last year’s regular season champions in the A-10, were picked to finish fifth in the league’s regular season race and, like UNCW, feature a balanced attack and four players averaging in double figures.

The Brown and White is led by the highest scoring duo in the nation. Junior guard Jaylen Adams (23.4 ppg) and junior guard Matt Mobley (21.0 ppg) rank first and third in the A-10 in scoring. The Bonnies are shooting 45.7 percent from the floor and collecting 83.2 points each time on the court.

SBU is 3-0 at home – with wins over Saint Francis, Siena and Buffalo – and averages 4,398 fans at the historic Reilly Center. The game will feature the reigning Coach-of-the-Year honorees in the Colonial Athletic Association and A-10 in Keatts and SBU’s Mark Schmidt.

The Seahawks have played only three of their first eight games at home, but stand 4-1 in road/neutral games in 2016-17. Senior guard Chris Flemmings tops five players in double digits with 19.8 ppg, followed by sophomore guard C.J. Bryce (16.9), sophomore forward Devontae Cacok (14.0), junior guard Jordon Talley (12.3) and senior guard Denzel Ingram (11.6).

Flemmings and Cacok are coming off huge offensive performances vs. the Falcons. Flemmings scored 34 points with 10 rebounds, three assists and three blocks in the high-scoring affair. Cacok totaled 34 points, 19 rebounds, three assists and 11 dunks.

The Seahawks make a brief stopover in Wilmington before visiting longtime instate rival Campbell on Wednesday (Dec. 14) for the 102nd meeting between the two teams at the Pope Center in Buies Creek. UNCW’s next home date is Saturday, Dec. 17, when Radford comes to Trask Coliseum for a 2 p.m. tip.

“It’s going to be a tough travel trip because we have to fly into Buffalo and travel over to Olean. We’re going to keep our eye on the weather hopefully get out of there.”

Overall, the Seahawks are 28-24 vs. New York opponents, 9-11 on New York soil and 0-1 in the Buffalo area. UNCW’s only trip to the city nestled by Lake Erie came on Dec. 5, 1988, when the Seahawks fell to Niagara, 71-63.

Live Seahawk Digital Network (SDN) coverage of Saturday’s UNCW-SBU contest begins with the pregame show at 5:45 p.m. Simply visit UNCWsports.com, click on the “Live Events” button in the top right-hand corner and follow the prompts for a free audio feed of the contest. In addition, a radio broadcast of the game can be heard on WLSG 94.1 FM and 1340 AM (Wilmington) and WSME 97.1 FM and 1120 AM (Jacksonville).

Season tickets remain available by visiting the UNCW Athletics Ticket Office in Trask Coliseum, calling 1-800-808-UNCW or clicking on the Tickets button via UNCWSports.com. Tickets start as low as $99, with 5 and 8-game mini-plans also available.

For more information on the UNCW men’s basketball team throughout the 2016-17 season, visit UNCWsports.com and click on the Men’s Basketball button. Additional information is also available on UNCW’s social media channels: Facebook (UNCW Men’s Basketball), Twitter (@UNCWmenshoops), Instagram (UNCWBasketball).