When: Saturday, March 2 – 2:00 p.m.
Where: Trask Coliseum – Wilmington, N.C.
Broadcast: Broadcast nationally on CBS Sports Network (Dave Ryan & John Gianinni), audio broadcast on TowsonTigers.com (Spiro Morekas)
Series: UNCW leads 25-23
TOWSON, Md. – Towson men's basketball will travel to Trask Coliseum for the CAA regular season finale against UNCW on CBS Sports Network on Saturday afternoon. The Tigers are coming off a convincing 84-58 win at North Carolina A&T on Thursday. The Tigers are currently tied for fourth place with the Seahawks and can climb as high as third with a win or as low as fifth with a loss.
The game against the the Seahawks will air nationally on CBS Sports Network with Dave Ryan and John Gianinni on the call. Spiro Morekas will have the audio call on TowsonTigers.com.
This will just the 29
th all-time meeting between Towson and UNCW with the Seahawks holding a slim 25-23 lead in the series. Towson won the previous matchup back in January on a
Tyler Tejada corner three at the buzzer. The Tigers have won the last two contests and eight of the last nine against the Seahawks.
LEADER OF THE PACK:
The reigning Skip Prosser Man of the Year,
Pat Skerry enters his 13
th season on the sidelines leading the Tigers. Skerry and the Tigers are coming off another 20-win season that saw Towson reach the Coast Athletic Association (CAA) Semifinals, finishing third in the standings during the regular season.
The Massachusetts native has rebuilt the Tiger program, which has the highest Graduation Success Rate (GSR) in the CAA. Over the last ten seasons, Towson has won 18+ games seven times. He is currently second all-time in wins with 211 at Towson.
Skerry has used his platform as a head coach to start Autism Awareness in college basketball. What started as two guys with an idea has turned into a national event where hundreds of coaches wear the prominent blue puzzle piece pin. The effort put forth by Skerry was recognized as he was honored with the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) Guardians of the Game Service Award.
CHARLES IN CHARGE:
The big man in the middle for the Tigers,
Charles Thompson, is back for his fifth season at Towson and is looking to cap his prolific career by leading the Tigers to a CAA championship. Thompson is coming off another strong campaign that saw him earn CAA All-Defensive Team and All-CAA Second Team honors last season after averaging 12.2 ppg and 8.0 rpg shooting 56.5 percent from the floor.
Thompson ranks in the top 10 in program history in six different categories. He is the all-time leader in games played and is currently third in field goal percentage (.549), fourth in blocked shots (193), third in rebounds (975), second in minutes played (3,766), tied for first in starts (113) and is 15th in scoring (1,314).
The graduate student has 32 double digit rebounding performances in his career and has 22 double doubles during his tenure.
HOME COURT ADVANTAGE:
Towson has had a major home court advantage over the last nine years at TU Arena. Since moving into the arena from the Towson Center in 2013, the Tigers have gone 104-43.
Towson has had a winning record in home games in seven of the nine seasons, including winning the 2022 CAA regular season title against Delaware at home.
The Tigers broke the school record for consecutive home wins at TU Arena against Stony Brook on January 11 when Towson won their 15
th straight home game dating back to the 2022-23 season.
NATIONAL EXPOSURE:
The Tigers will play eight total regular season games in front of a national television audience including four Coastal Athletic Association games in January and February. The Tigers will play Elon (February 12, 9 p.m.) and Charleston (February 24, 12 p.m.) on CBS Sports Network at TU Arena and will be on the road on CBS Sports Network against Delaware (January 27, 2 p.m.) and Hofstra (February 3, 6 p.m.).
In addition to the CBS Sports Network games, Towson will open the season on Pac 12 Network against Colorado and will have all three games at the Charleston Classic air on the ESPN family of networks.
The Tigers will also air on local linear television with seven home games on Monumental Sports Network (formerly NBC Sports Washington) as well as their game against UMBC on MASN. Towson also announced on December 14 that three games (Jan. 25 vs. Drexel, Feb. 8 vs. Delaware, Feb. 22 vs. Monmouth) will also air on MeTV, a digital subchannel of WBAL.
SCOUTING THE OPPONENT:
UNCW comes into the contest at 20-9, 11-6 CAA having lost their last two games. Most recently the Seahawks fell against Hofstra on Thursday night 69-58 and are 9-2 this season at home. Trazarian White leads a quartet in double figures at 19.8 ppg. White is also the team leader at 7.1 rpg and is shooting over 50 percent from the floor. Shykeim Phillips (13.9), KJ Jenkins (12.4), and Maleeck Harden-Hayes (10.6) are also in double figure for the Seahawks.
UP NEXT:
Towson will await the results of the other games on Saturday to find out their seed and opponent for the upcoming Jersey Mike's CAA Men's Basketball Championships that gets underway March 8 at the Entertainment & Sports Arena in Washington, D.C.
