From the local newspaper:
Hurry up and wait 'til Sunday
NCAAs out, but Seahawks hope to play a bit more
<!----> By Brian Mull
Staff Writer
brian.mull@starnewsonline.com
UNC-Wilmington's basketball season might end with a practice rather than a game.
After taking a break early this week, the Seahawks will hit the court over the weekend to stay sharp in case they receive an invitation to the NIT or the new College Basketball Invitational.
Those bids are handed out Sunday, after the NCAA Tournament selects its field of 65 teams.
"It's hard to know what to do because it's such a long layoff," UNCW coach Benny Moss said Tuesday. "Our first possible game wouldn't be until next Wednesday. We're going to let them have two or three days to refresh."
Moss said he expected his players would come in to lift weights and work out on their own at some point in the week. Organized practices likely wouldn't start before Friday.
So, the off-season hasn't officially begun for the Seahawks, even though their bid for an NCAA berth ended Sunday night in Richmond, Va., with a 53-41 loss to George Mason in the semifinals of the CAA Tournament.
Their hopes to join the 32-team NIT field suffered a blow last night.
San Diego's upset of Gonzaga in the West Coast Conference championship game and Middle Tennessee's upset of South Alabama in the Sun Belt semifinals hurt all bubble teams, including CAA regular-season champion Virginia Commonwealth.
Gonzaga, with a 25-7 record and a Ratings Percentage Index of 29, is a strong candidate for an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament, as is South Alabama (24-6, 38).
The trickle-down effect of those results probably burst the NCAA bubble for VCU (24-7, 56). The Seahawks, who finished second in the CAA regular season, hoped to represent the conference in the NIT, but now it appears likely that VCU will.
Moss said he and CAA deputy commissioner for basketball Ron Bertovich briefly discussed the Seahawks' NIT chances last week.
The second-year UNCW coach said he hopes his seniors get one more chance to play somewhere.
"We're thinking NIT," Moss said. "If the CBI comes about, we'll see what happens."
Brian Mull: 343-2034
brian.mull@starnewsonline.com
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