On Saturday, the Wolves (4-4) dropped a 26-point game to go to 0-3 on the road, but return home where they are 4-1 early in the season.
"On Saturday, everything was bad. It will be nice [Tuesday] to be back home and in friendlier confines," UWG coach Michael Cooney said. "We've played well at home and we hope we can continue. You want to get off to a good start against them and get that bad taste out of your mouth from Saturday."
Home has been much kinder to UWG, but it is welcoming in a tough St. Augustine's (6-3) that is very similar to the Paine team it just faced.
The Falcons are led by Joel Kindred's 15.6 points a game, while Percy Woods (14.9), Tyquan Stroman (11.3) and Jordan Jones (10.0) are all threats to score. As a team, St. Augustine's averages 75.7 points per game and have a plus-12.1 scoring margin on the season. The Falcons also outrebound their opponents by almost nine boards per contest.
"They're really huge, physical and they can shoot the ball," Cooney said. "Great size at the forward spots, big physical guards that can shoot the ball. There are a lot of similarities, so we're glad we played Paine to get ready for St. Augustine's."
One of the positives to take from Saturday's loss was the play of guard Taylor Cochran. The sophomore tied his career high with 17 points, shooting 5-of-9 from the 3-point line and showing the offense and play the UWG coaching staff has come to expect.
The focus for tonight's contest is finishing off the first half of the schedule strong. The Wolves won't play again until a Dec. 30 trip to Columbus State and then will have a week before getting back to Gulf South Conference play.
"These guys have the dates circled. They know they have a big vacation coming up here where they get to go home. But I do think they want to play well. I know they were disappointed in themselves Saturday and they are going to give a great effort [tonight]. Then whatever happens, they have a couple weeks to gather themselves and then come back and go to work," Cooney said.
UWG women
For the second time in as many games, the UWG women's basketball team will welcome a quality NAIA opponent to The Coliseum, as Coastal Georgia visits for a 5:30 p.m. tip-off today.
The Wolves (6-3) won their third straight game on Saturday, but know they can't take anything for granted with the Mariners (9-2) coming to Carrollton.
"They're a really solid team. They're 9-2 now and, kind of like us, before coming into this week they hadn't played in nine or 10 days. They're a very, very athletic, good rebounding team. They've got a good balance. They've got some small kids that can shoot and they've got some bigs that can go get it. We're going to have to play well to hang in there with them," UWG coach Scott Groninger said.
The Mariners are led by three double-figure scorers, as Crystal Chaney averages 11.6 points per game, while Maria Marshall and Madel Madden add 10.5 and 10.2 points per game, respectively.
After an up-and-down start, the Wolves are beginning to find their identity. That was obvious in Saturday's win, where the defense forced more than 20 turnovers and UWG had four players score in double figures, with another just missing the mark. For UWG, defense and rebounding has led to offense.
"I think that the formula has taken a while. We talked about that before the season and even into the first couple of games that we weren't really sure, chemistry-wise. I think the chemistry is starting to come together. I think for us to win games, we have to really do a good job on the defensive end of the floor. I think that's the most important indicator," Groninger said. "Then the second most important indicator is how we're going to rebound. If we guard and rebound, we've got good enough players and good enough shooters that we're going to score."
While there won't be much of a momentum factor with the next game not being played until Jan. 5, there is still a mental advantage to winning the final game before going on a break.
"We're on the third game in six days, there's no one on campus, we're going to be playing in front of blue seats again. There's a lot of reasons why we're tired, but the biggest thing is everything is magnified. We can go home and everybody says, 'How are you doing?' We can say, 'We're 7-4 and have won four straight.' That sounds a whole lot better than being 6-4 and coming off a loss. That's the thing. You're only as good as your last game. All those other games are over with. We just want to win this game. We're a little bit on fumes," Groninger said.
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