UNCW basketball in the Bahamas: How to watch, what to know

Now we truly get to see the UNCW men's basketball team.

After its first five games against clearly superior (or inferior) competition, the Seahawks travel to the Baha Mar Nassau Championship, running Friday through Sunday at the Baha Mar resort in the Bahamas. There, they'll be joined by seven other mid-major teams, meaning the heights, weights and depths of the teams will be much more in line with what UNCW will face the rest of the season. All games will be streaming on FloSports.

It'll be UNCW's second beachside tournament in a convention center space this calendar year, and the first one went OK for them at the CBI Championship in Daytona Beach in March. The Seahawks won four games in four days there for the program's first postseason tournament title.

For UNCW (2-3), guard Shykeim Phillips could return after missing Monday's 94-47 demolition of Mount Olive with an illness. And transfer Nick Farrar played his first meaningful rotations of the season, finishing with 18 points and eight rebounds in 21 minutes. Freshman Nolan Hodge also added 15 points and 10 rebounds off the bench for UNCW's first double-double of 2022-23.

Here's a look at the field (with KenPom team rank out of 363 Division I teams in parentheses). All stats are through games played Monday.

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Vermont (131) vs. Ball State (217), noon

The Catamounts are 1-4 with road/neutral losses to some big names: at Saint Mary's (California), at Cal State Fullerton (double overtime), at Southern California (by two points) and vs. Iona at Mohegan Sun in Connecticut. Vermont's roster is a donut, full of freshmen and seniors, but only one sophomore and one junior who have played minutes so far.

Ball State is 3-1 with two non-Division I wins, a victory over Nebraska Omaha and a loss to Indiana State on the road. The Cardinals have turned the ball over on 25 percent of their possessions in their two Division I contests and are the opposite of Vermont, playing all sophomores and juniors, except senior guard Demarius Jacobs, so far.

UNCW plays the winner/loser of this game on Saturday.

UNCW (223) vs. Missouri State (102), 2:30 p.m.

The Bears (2-1) lost at BYU by two points and beat Middle Tennessee at home by 24 – the same Blue Raiders that UNCW played in the CBI final in March. Fourth-year forward Donovan Clay (6-foot-8, 230 pounds) was all-defense for the Missouri Valley Conference a season ago and had 15 points and 14 rebounds vs. MTSU. UNCW's already seen some quality big men; here's another. MSU also has nine Division I transfers on its roster from Power 5 schools and other mid-majors.

North Texas (66) vs. San Jose State (203), 5:30 p.m.

The Mean Green (2-1) have split their two Division I games, including a ghastly 63-33 loss at Saint Mary's that included a 5-for-30 night from the field ... from 2-point range. It's sent UNT to dead last in the country in 2-point field-goal percentage vs. Division I teams (27.3 percent). But the Mean Green is also taking a ton of 3-pointers, so maybe it won't matter. Senior guard Tylor Perry missed the first two games but had 21 points and four assists in a win over Fresno State.

The Spartans' lone loss was at home to CAA member Hofstra, and its wins are not great. But they are wins, which have been hard to come by. SJSU (4-1) hasn't had a 10-win season since 2016-17. The Spartans also are sixth in the country in 2-point field goal percentage vs. Division I foes, so a North Texas team that already likes shooting from long range might take even more 3s than they already do.

Oakland (270) vs. Long Beach State (165), 8 p.m.

The Grizzlies (2-3) look great offensively, with games of 87, 90 and 92 points against Division I competition. But look at the other's team's point totals, and suddenly the record makes sense. Oakland's defense isn't stopping anyone so far – teams are scoring 95 points per game against them thanks to shooting 49.5 percent from 3-point range. Over three consecutive days, scores tend to rise as teams play more, so Oakland's gotta find something to stop someone.

The 49ers (2-2) tend to play a slew of Power Five teams in the nonconference schedule, but that's not the case this year. The Big West plays a 20-game conference schedule, and they have a young roster, so they're staying solely west of the Rockies, other than this trip. Senior guard Joel Murray leads a balanced team that does not shoot the 3 much at all – 360th in percentage of field-goal attempts as 3-pointers – so this last game of the opening round could have more strategy than you'd think.

This article originally appeared on Wilmington StarNews: UNCW basketball in the Bahamas: How to watch and what to know