UNCW men’s basketball (1-2) fell just short in Tuesday night’s matchup against Pittsburgh (1-2), despite a valiant second-half effort.

After trailing by 15 early in the second-half, UNCW managed to cut the lead all the way down to 2 points, but could never quite get over the hump.

What does this loss mean for UNCW?

First off, UNCW traveled to the Steel City and gave Pitt a run for its money. Although UNCW never led in the game, the Hawks showed fight against a talented ACC (Atlantic Coast Conference) opponent and it will certainly benefit them later in the season.

Yes, the first half for the Seahawks was sloppy, and the team struggled finding ways to put the ball in the hoop in the last five minutes of the game. However, for the majority of the second half, we saw an extremely capable UNCW team on both sides of the ball.

Defensively, all the pieces were there. UNCW forced 17 turnovers and held Pitt just to 59 points, with only 25 coming in the second half. If the defense plays at this caliber and the offense finds a rhythm, this Seahawk team is a threat in the CAA (Colonial Athletic Association).

The Hawks settled in during the second half. For a 10-15 minute span, UNCW seemed to outplay a team preseason “experts” would say they had no business competing with.

The Seahawks will try to put together a full 40 minutes on Thurs. when they take on Coastal Carolina inside of Trask Coliseum. Tipoff is scheduled for 7:00 p.m.