WASHINGTON, D.C. (WECT) – UNCW men’s basketball is hoping to punch its ticket to the NCAA Tournament and win its first Coastal Athletic Association Tournament title in eight years this week.

The Seahawks are entering the conference tournament as the No. 2 seed after finishing the regular season 24-7 and 14-4 in CAA play, their most conference wins since 2021-22.

UNCW begins play on Sunday night at 6 p.m. against 10th-seeded Hampton, which took down Northeastern on Saturday. The ‘Hawks split their two games against the Pirates this year, beating them 83-62 at home in January before falling on the road, 83-70, in late February.

Head coach Takayo Siddle said his team is playing their best basketball right now, and he’s feeling as good as he’s ever felt going into a conference tournament.

“Right now the vibes are high, the energy’s extremely high, the connectedness is really high,” Siddle said before the tournament. “Those things as a coach make you feel really good, really confident. I don’t feel any added pressure. We’re gonna have the most fun.”

A loss in Washington, D.C. this week eliminates UNCW from NCAA Tournament contention. The Seahawks have fallen just short of March Madness two of the last three years, losing in the conference championship game, and haven’t qualified for the tournament since Kevin Keatts led them to back-to-back appearances in 2016-17.

Siddle said despite another strong regular season, he feels his team hasn’t gotten the respect they deserve heading into March. He said UNCW still has “much more” to prove this season.

“I feel like we haven’t gotten the credit we deserve. So, there’s a chip on our shoulder. I think the guys are very eager to get out there and prove why we think we have a chance to win this thing,” he said.

A challenging schedule — especially in nonconference play — will help the Seahawks this week, Siddle said. That slate included a road trip to Kansas and an early-season November tournament at Trask Coliseum that featured three games in four days, mimicking the schedule this time of year. UNCW also went 4-1 against the other teams that finished in the top four of the league: Towson, Charleston and William & Mary.

Siddle said the team’s mentality during the tournament is to take each game one at a time, with it hopefully ending with a conference title and a spot in the Big Dance.

“When those bright lights are shining down on you in those pressure moments, it’s the most important thing: can you be the hardest playing, most together, most confident team out there on the floor,” Siddle said.

The ‘Hawks have had over a week to rest after blowing out Delaware by 30 in their regular season finale, and took last Sunday and Monday off, Siddle said. The team focused on game preparation later in the week, and is “itching” to get back out on the court, he added.

If the Seahawks win Sunday they move on to the semifinals Monday night, where they’d likely face No. 3 seed Charleston. UNCW notched two big wins over the Cougars this year, including a 20-home victory on Feb. 13. The top seed in the tournament is Towson, which only lost two CAA games in the regular season and eliminated the Seahawks from last year’s conference tournament.

WECT will have full coverage of UNCW’s CAA Tournament run throughout the week from CareFirst Arena in Washington, D.C.

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