The CAA basketball tournament saved the best for last on Sunday. The 11-20 UNC Wilmington Seahawks rode the hot hand of Jordon Talley to a 93-88 upset of the Hofstra Pride. It was the first big upset so far for the CAA, as the Pride were six-point favorites over the Seahawks coming into this game.
Talley was in a shooter’s duel with one of the best scorers in the country, Hofstra’s Justin Wright-Foreman. Wright-Foreman did not let his teammates down with his performance. On the season, Wright-Foreman was averaging 24.2 PPG coming into this game and did his part with 29 points on 10-23 shooting from the floor. He was fantastic from three as well, hitting 7-16 from beyond the arc, and even added in five boards and an assist without a turnover.
However, Talley was just too much in this one. It seemed like every time Hofstra was looking to break out and pull away from UNC Wilmington, he was there with the answer. Talley led all scorers with 37 points, and he was very efficient from the floor. He was 12-23 from the field and went 5-10 from beyond the arc.
These teams went back and forth the entire game. Hofstra led by eight at half, but UNC Wilmington was never out of it because of how well they were shooting as a team.
There were two big factors that eventually turned this game in favor of the Seahawks. First, while UNC Wilmington was able to hit its free throws, Hofstra wasn’t. The Seahawks went 21-26 from the stripe, while Hofstra managed to go just 14-24 from the line.
Rebounding was the other big issue for the Pride. Hofstra was able to grab just 34 rebounds as big man Rokas Gustys battled foul trouble. The Seahawks outrebounded them by nine boards, giving them a few more crucial possessions.
UNC Wilmington is now looking to win its third straight CAA Tournament. However, while they finished first in the regular season in each of the last two seasons under former coach Kevin Keatts, no one was expecting this after the season that first year coach C.B. McGrath had.
The Seahawks will face No. 2 seed Northeastern in the second CAA Semifinal on Monday, March 5, at 8:30 p.m. ET. The game will be broadcast on CBS Sports.
