BOSTON – UNCW has been what you might expect a team with its personnel makeup to be: inconsistent. They can look very good, like a team with a very high ceiling, and they can look bad. This is evidenced by just six of their games being decided by ten points or less (they are 2-4 in such games). Saturday’s 68-64 loss at Northeastern was one more like that, played within a ten-point window, and familiar foes played a role in the result for UNCW.
The Seahawks can hang their hat on Keith Rendleman. That was a given before the season, and the senior forward has done nothing to disabuse anyone of that notion thus far, including his 13 points and 14 rebounds on Saturday. Tanner Milson, who hit six three-pointers en route to 20 points, has also started every game except Saturday’s, but he has become one they can count on, and Cedric Williams seems to be getting there if he isn’t already. Head coach Buzz Peterson also mentioned Craig Ponder as being in that category, but after that, the growing pains of this inexperienced group are clear.
Ponder redshirted last year due to an early injury, and the thought was that having him as a true point guard would go a long way toward solving some problems. While he has scored, he has struggled mightily with turnovers, although he’s hardly alone there: the Seahawks give the ball away nearly 16 times a game and have just two players – Tyree Graham and Shane Reybold – with more assists than turnovers, and neither plays more than 13 minutes a game. Ponder was 1-7 from the field on Saturday but had five assists with three turnovers. That’s his second straight game with more assists than turnovers, the first time he has done that this season, so he may be ready to turn a corner.
As much as anything, a go-to guy could help. Rendleman can score, but that’s not his forte even though he averages a double-double. There have been different guys who have shown that at times, but no one has emerged as of yet.
“It’s like we’re trying to find that one guy to give us something,” said Peterson. “We can’t find that one go-to guy to get it.”
Milson can shoot, as he showed on Saturday, but he has to let the game come to him. That was also evident on Saturday, as Peterson said he talked to Milson about trying to do too much and instead letting the game come to him. Usually, that’s how a shooter has to play, although Milson has at times done more than that for them.
From a team standpoint, turnovers have been the biggest problem for this team. UNCW committed 18 turnovers on Saturday. Of those turnovers, 12 came in the first half, and Northeastern cashed them in for 20 points and had a two-point lead at the break. When they held on to the ball, they did well, going 14-21 from the field.
“The turnovers between the top of the key areas hurt us, gave them 20 points off our turnovers in the first half, which puts you way behind there,” said Peterson.
Even though they had just six turnovers in the second half, they came at crucial times as they tried to rally late. For good measure, Ponder had a couple of good shots rim out, and while they scored on stickbacks after both, that still took more time off the clock at a bad time. Down 60-57, they embarked on a stretch of empty possessions that helped Northeastern seal the game.
“The stretch where we had three straight turnovers, I thought, really hurt us,” Peterson reflected.
Certainly, the Seahawks could use some consistency among their starters, and that’s something Peterson has been looking for. He used the eighth different starting lineup on Saturday through the first 14 games, with no group starting more than six games. Part of it has been a lack of production at times, as six times this season a starter has gone scoreless in a game. He went with a different one on Saturday for matchup reasons, and it almost worked out.
UNCW is ineligible for postseason play due to APR sanctions, so this season it’s about competing and developing for the future. This is also a team that is once again pretty young, and we’re seeing that reflected in the inconsistency. They will have to grow through the challenges, and perhaps because no one else will become a go-to guy, someone will take it upon themselves to become one. They might even have some of that growth through a surprise win late in the season since they have looked very good at times.
