Colonial Athletic foes will lock horns when the Drexel Dragons (3-15) challenge the UNC Wilmington Seahawks (13-5) at John A Daskalakis Center. Action begins at 12:00 pm ET on Sunday, Jan. 24.
The Dragons are hoping to rebound after their 68-45 loss to James Madison on Thursday. Kazembe Abif was the game’s leading scorer with 15 points. The Seahawks, meanwhile, are coming off a 79-70 win against Delaware on Thursday. Chris Flemmings claimed his second double-double of the season with 17 points and 13 rebounds.
It’s a matchup of two different tempos, as the fast-paced Seahawks (ranked 23rd in the nation in possessions per game) square off against the grind-it-out Dragons (299th).
This is the second game of the season between these two teams, with the Seahawks winning the first matchup 75-63. In the victory, Flemmings led all scorers on the team with 17 points.
UNC Wilmington takes on Drexel as a five-point favorite. The Over/Under (O/U) for the matchup is sitting at 139 points. The Dragons come into this game 3-15 Straight Up (SU) and 7-9-1 Against The Spread (ATS). The Dragons prevent teams from making three-pointers, ranking 20th in the nation with 103 total three-pointers allowed (5.0 per game).
As for their opponent, the Seahawks have 13-5 SU and 7-7 ATS records. Offensively, they average 83.4 points per game, which is good for 16th in the country. Shifting to the other side of the court, the Seahawks allow very few three-pointers on defense with 5.0 given up per game. The Seahawks are a terror in the passing lanes, averaging an impressive 8.6 steals per game. Taking care of the basketball is something the Seahawks do very well, averaging just 11.2 turnovers per game.
With the Seahawks’ last win against Drexel, UNC Wilmington moved closer to evening up its record against Drexel. It now stands at 4-6 SU over their most recent meetings. Furthermore, Drexel holds the advantage ATS with a record of 5-4-1. Neither team held the edge in field goals, rebounds, or three-pointers in a single game during this span.
Predictions: SU Winner – NC-Wil, ATS Winner – NC-Wil, O/U – Over
Notes
Drexel is 1-7 SU in its last 8 games.
The total has gone UNDER in 5 of Drexel’s last 5 games.
Drexel is 1-5-1 ATS in its last 7 games at home.
Drexel is 2-9 SU in its last 11 games at home.
The total has gone UNDER in 5 of Drexel’s last 7 games when playing UNC Wilmington.
Drexel is 4-1-1 ATS in its last 6 games when playing UNC Wilmington.
Drexel is 6-1 SU in its last 7 games when playing at home against UNC Wilmington.
UNC Wilmington sits at 5-2 SU against the conference, while Drexel is 1-6 SU.
UNC Wilmington scores 78.5 points per away game (ranked 28th). Drexel ranks a poor 131st in points allowed at home, allowing 66.4 points.
The UNC Wilmington Seahawks have a defensive rating of 98.6 (ranked 95th), while the Drexel Dragons have an offensive rating of 94.3 (ranked 329th).
UNC Wilmington beats Drexel in both possessions per game and points per possession. The Seahawks average 73.9 possessions and 1.129 points per possession, while the Dragons average 66.7 possessions with .943 points per possession.
Drexel has an average effective field goal percentage of 42.1%. UNC Wilmington is a solid 8-5 when opponents have a similar or higher effective field goal percentage.
On average, Drexel attempts 15.0 three pointers and UNC Wilmington attempts 21.0. In games where they have 20 or more three point attempts, the Drexel Dragons are winless at 0-2 while the UNC Wilmington Seahawks have a 9-3 record.
UNC Wilmington, the 30th-ranked team in blocked shots, registers an average of 5.3 per game. Drexel does worse, ranked 121st with 3.9.
The UNC Wilmington Seahawks rank 90th in offensive rebounds. The Drexel Dragons rank 327th in the nation in defensive rebounds.
Opponents have had an average turnover percentage of 19.7% when playing Drexel this season. UNC Wilmington is undefeated (3-0) when its TO% is 19.7% or higher.
