HawgBeat - Scouting Report: Analyzing the UNC Wilmington Seahawks
HawgBeat takes a deep dive into the analytics for Arkansas' opponent on Saturday: The UNC Wilmington Seahawks.
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Fresh off of a short Christmas break, the Arkansas Razorbacks (8-4) will wrap up non-conference play with an intriguing matchup against a proven UNC Wilmington (9-2) squad inside Bud Walton Arena in Fayetteville on Saturday.
The Seahawks are not your usual non-conference foe, though they usually aren't with Eric Musselman coaching the Hogs. UNC Wilmington has just two losses — a 30-point home loss to Appalachian State and an 8-point loss on the road at East Carolina. On the flip side, it owns wins over Murray State, Marshall, Georgia Southern and most notably Kentucky.
"It's a team that is very, very dangerous," Musselman said Thursday. "It's a team that is very well coached. It's a team that understands their roles. And it's a team that has two stars surrounded by really good perimeter players, and it's a very, very old team. I mean, they've got some veterans on this team that have played at multiple schools and have played multiple years of college basketball."
Head coach Takayo Siddle is in his fourth season with UNC Wilmington, which is coming off a 24-10 season in 2022-23. The Seahawks rank top-25 nationally in scoring offense and 3-point percentage. Their 80-73 win at then-No. 12 Kentucky on Dec. 2 is about as good as it gets.
"All you’ve got to do is look at Wilmington’s record and that lets you know how good they are," Musselman said. "We try to schedule teams that are really good. That’s the object of what we do. We don’t sit in the office in non-conference and say, ‘Hey, how many wins can we get? Let’s just schedule wins.’ You schedule people you think can challenge you. You schedule people that you think are going to have good [seasons].
"Them beating Kentucky, it’s not good for the SEC, but it’s good for our strength of schedule if they beat a Power 5 team. That’s good for us that Wilmington has had success. For us, we have to come ready to play."
Here's a closer look into UNC Wilmington's stats, efficiency ratings, projected lineups and more ahead of Saturday's game, which is set to tipoff at 4:00 p.m. CT on SEC Network:
UNC Wilmington Last Five Games
Dec. 21 - @ Marshall (W, 78-69)Dec. 16 - @ Georgia Southern (W, 82-77)
Dec. 10 - vs. Montreat (W, 119-50)
Dec. 2 - @ Kentucky (W, 80-73)
Nov. 30 - @ East Carolina (L, 74-66)
UNC Wilmington statistical rankings (per game)
Scoring offense:
UNCW - 85.4 (t-19th nationally)
Arkansas - 80.3 (69th nationally)
Scoring defense:
UNCW - 70.6 (172nd nationally)
Arkansas - 75.2 (t-273rd nationally)
Assists:
UNCW - 13.2 (209th nationally)
Arkansas - 12.0 (t-277th nationally)
Field goal percentage:
UNCW - 48.0% (47th nationally)
Arkansas - 47.6% (62nd nationally)
3-point percentage:
UNCW - 38.7% (21st nationally)
Arkansas - 34.8% (124th nationally)
Free throw percentage:
UNCW - 74.6% (57th nationally)
Arkansas - 71.6% (159th nationally)
Rebounds:
UNCW - 34.5 (234th nationally)
Arkansas - 37.5 (t-140th nationally)
Blocks:
UNCW - 2.5 (t-299th nationally)
Arkansas - 6.8 (4th nationally)
Steals:
UNCW - 6.9 (175th nationally)
Arkansas - 5.6 (t-297th nationally)
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UNC Wilmington projected starting five
#2 - G Shykeim Phillips - Grad., 6'2", 190 lbs.
Stats per game: 24.2 min, 14.2 points, 3.0 rebounds, 3.3 assists, 1.8 steals, 1.0 turnovers, 0.1 blocks, 53.8 fg%, 12.5 3fg%
#1 - G Donovan Newby - Sr., 6'1", 185 lbs.
Stats per game: 25.0 min, 7.3 points, 2.0 rebounds, 2.0 assists, 0.5 steals, 0.6 turnovers, 44.4 fg%, 35.5 3fg%
#3 - G Maleeck Harden-Hayes - Grad., 6'7", 200 lbs.
Stats per game: 26.3 min, 11.8 points, 4.7 rebounds, 0.5 assists, 0.4 steals, 1.1 turnovers, 0.4 blocks, 44.9 fg%, 36.8 3fg%
#5 - G Noah Ross - So., 6' 7”, 205 lbs.
Stats per game: 14.8 min, 2.7 points, 3.2 rebounds, 0.6 assists, 0.7 steals, 0.5 turnovers, 0.2 blocks, 33.3 fg%, 37.5 3fg%
#21 - F Khamari McGriff - R-So., 6'9", 210 lbs.
Stats per game: 12.8 min, 2.6 points, 1.9 rebounds, 0.4 assists, 0.4 steals, 0.5 turnovers, 0.6 blocks, 72.2 fg%
Other notable UNC Wilmington players
#13 - F Trazarien White - Jr., 6'7", 190 lbs.
Stats per game: 26.5 min, 19.3 points, 5.6 rebounds, 1.5 assists, 1.1 steals, 1.7 turnovers, 0.5 blocks, 57.0 fg%, 45.0 3fg%
#0 - G KJ Jenkins - Grad., 6' 2”, 180 lbs.
Stats per game: 20.3 min, 10.0 points, 2.5 rebounds, 1.0 assists, 0.3 steals, 0.5 turnovers, 40.6 fg%, 40.0 3fg%
#30 - G Nick Farrar - Sr., 6'7", 255 lbs.
Stats per game: 14.7 min, 7.1 points, 3.1 rebounds, 1.4 assists, 0.5 steals, 0.8 turnovers, 0.1 blocks, 49.1 fg%, 52.6 3fg%
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2023-24 KenPom efficiency ratings comparison (out of 363 teams)
UNC Wilmington (113th)
~ Adjusted offensive efficiency: 108.4 points per 100 possessions (93rd)
~ Adjusted defensive efficiency: 103.6 points per 100 possessions (156th)
~ Effective field goal percentage: 49.9% (178th)
~ Turnover percentage: 12.6% (2nd)
~ Offensive rebounding percentage: 23.7% (319th)
~ Free throw rate: 34.5% (141st)
~ Adjusted tempo: 67.9 possessions per 40 minutes (241st)
~ Average offensive possession length: 18.3 seconds (285th)
~ Average defensive possession length: 16.9 seconds (121st)
Arkansas (66th)
~ Adjusted offensive efficiency: 110.7 points per 100 possessions (64th)
~ Adjusted defensive efficiency: 98.5 points per 100 possessions (65th)
~ Effective field goal percentage: 53.5% (61st)
~ Turnover percentage: 17.0% (134th)
~ Offensive rebounding percentage: 27.0% (253rd)
~ Free throw rate: 46.6% (9th)
~ Adjusted tempo: 70.7 possessions per 40 minutes (99th)
~ Average offensive possession length: 17.0 seconds (149th)
~ Average defensive possession length: 16.2 seconds (27th)
*Click here for an explanation on what each rating takes into account.
EvanMiya analytics comparison (out of 363 teams)
EvanMiya Analytics
| Category | UNC Wilmington | Arkansas |
|---|---|---|
| Overall Rank | 107 | 54 |
| Roster Rank | 133 | 63 |
| Offense Rank | 94 | 57 |
| Defense Rank | 140 | 62 |
| Injury Rank (ranking after accounting for injuries) | 107 | 53 |
| Tempo Rank: | 262 | 90 |
