UNC Basketball: Getting to know the Wagner Seahawks

On Tuesday night, the NCAA Tournament got underway, as the First Four round tipped off.

For the UNC basketball program, these games were important, as the Tar Heels were waiting to find out who their first round matchup was going to be. Now that Tuesday night's action is complete, we now know who will be on the opposite side of the court on Thursday afternoon in Charlotte, North Carolina.

The Wagner Seahawks defeated the Howard Bison, 71-68, in a First Four matchup Tuesday at UD Arena in Dayton, Ohio. Wagner got off to a fast start and led by as many as 17 points in the first half, but Howard was able to cut the lead to just one with 17 seconds remaining (mostly due to some costly Wagner turnovers over the final minutes of action.

Down three, Howard had three opportunities to tie the game on the final possession but couldn't convert, as the Seahawks live to see another day in the NCAA Tournament.

So, you probably don't know much about Wagner in general, so we decided to provide you with some key information:

Wagner College

-Private Liberal Arts School in Staten Island, New York
-Founded in 1883
-Current Enrollment- 2,200 students

Now that you know a little about the college as a whole, it's time to focus on the basketball side of things:

Despite finishing the regular season with a 14-15 record, Wagner made a strong run in the Northeast Conference Tournament to defeat Merrimack in the finals. With the win, Wagner clinched its first NCAA Tournament berth in 21 years.

The Seahawks don't possess a lot of depth, as they currently have just seven players on their active roster. In the win against Howard, three starters play the entire 40 minutes, as the guys available will be tasked with playing a significant amount of minutes once again when they matchup with the UNC basketball program.

As mentioned earlier, this is Wagner's first NCAA Tournament appearance since 2003. As a No. 15-seed, the Seahawks were defeated by No. 2 seeded Pittsburgh in the opening round of the tournament. This appearance in the NCAA Tournament will be the second ever for the small liberal arts school.

Players to Know

Melvin Council Jr. (Guard)- 14.8 ppg, 5.7 rpg, 3.5 apg
Tahron Allen (Guard)- 10.7 ppg, 5.1 rpg, 1.0 apg
Julian Brown (Guard)- 9.7 ppg, 3.0 rpg, 1.7 apg