UNCW basketball stuns No. 12 Kentucky in road upset

The UNCW Seahawks basketball team took on a tall task with poise, defeating No. 12 Kentucky 80-73 on Saturday in Lexington, Kentucky.

UNCW's Trazarien White's 27-point performance propelled the Seahawks past the Wildcats for the first time in program history. The win also marks UNCW's first road victory over a nationally-ranked opponent.

"I thought our guys were really aggressive," UNCW coach Takayo Siddle said after the game. "I felt like (Kentucky) were on their heels a little bit, and we stayed aggressive throughout the game, and it paid off for us."

Siddle, who signed a contract extension in April to remain with the Seahawks through the 2027-28 season, is no stranger to upsets. A member of the 2007-08 Gardner-Webb basketball team that defeated Kentucky 84-68, Siddle's advice for his team was simple.

"Our message was believe," he said. "Anything can happen. Little old Gardner-Webb came in here back in 2007 and we had the same outcome."

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With Saturday's win, Siddle became only the third person to topple UK at Rupp as both a player and head coach, per the Kentucky statistical database maintained by BigBlueHistory.net. The others who accomplished that since Rupp Arena opened in 1976 were Mark Gottfried and Mike White.

Taking a 41-33 lead at the half, the Seahawks kept their poise in the second after Kentucky went up 46-44 with 15:38 left to play. Graduate student Shykeim Phillips came alive in the final four minutes on his way to 13 points on the day.

Senior Donovan Newby scored 15 points. UNCW shot 43% from the field and 35.5% from 3, a marked increase from the 13% from behind the arc in Thursday's loss to ECU.

Along with its first win over Kentucky, UNCW also earns a coveted road victory over a ranked opponent for the first time in program history.

The Seahawks return home to host their first game in more than two weeks as Montreat (4-4) visits Wilmington on Dec. 10.

"We came in here, and we believed that we could win a game," Siddle said. "We know how talented and good we are as a ball club, and our guys did a tremendous job executing."

This article originally appeared on Wilmington StarNews: UNCW basketball stuns Kentucky in first road win over ranked team