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Jeff Janowski/UNCW University Relations

Men's Basketball Joe Browning

Seahawks, Entourage Land In Providence

NCAA Tournament Central
PROVIDENCE, Rhode Island – Pastel blue skies and white, puffy clouds served as a picturesque backdrop for the UNCW men's basketball team and its traveling party early Tuesday as the Seahawks made their way to Providence, R.I., and a Thursday date in the NCAA Tournament with college basketball juggernaut Duke.
 
The Seahawks, 25-7, punched their ticket for the 2016 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament last weekend with a three-game run in the Colonial Athletic Association Championship in Baltimore, Md. This week's journey to Providence marks the fifth NCAA appearance for the team, but only its second matchup ever with the Blue Devils and Hall of Fame coach Mike Krzyzewski.

An NCAA-provided charter flight picked up the Seahawks, cheerleaders, pep band, dance team, mascot, and supporters at Wilmington International Airport and carried the group to Providence in a brisk adventure that lasted just 1:15.

Once in Rhode Island, the Seahawks began final preparations for their eighth postseason appearance overall. UNCW has now played in the NCAA (2000, 2002, 2003, 2006, 2015), NIT (1998, 2001) and CIT (2015) postseason events.

UNCW brings a four-game winning streak into Thursday's 12:15 p.m. tip that will be beamed nationally on CBS-TV. The matchup kicks off the 68-team tournament that captivates sports fans each season and sends them into self-induced "March Madness" trauma.

The Seahawks have matched the school record of 25 victories set by the 2005-06 club and are seeking to become only the second team in school history to advance in the NCAA Tournament after the 2002 team and all-time great Brett Blizzard stunned fourth-seeded Southern California at Arco Arena in Sacramento, Calif.

The Blue Devils, 23-10 and 11-7 in the Atlantic Coast Conference this season, own the best NCAA Tournament winning percentage in the tournament's history (.755) and ranks third all-time in NCAA Tournament wins (105).

The two teams, just 160 miles apart, have only played once. Duke outlasted UNCW, 67-57, in overtime on Feb. 8, 1982, in Durham.
 
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