Camels travel to old rival UNCW

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BUIES CREEK, N.C. – Campbell and long-time rival UNC Wilmington square off for the 101st time Monday in an 8 p.m. tip-off at Trask Coliseum.

The Camels (7-4, 1-1 Big South) lost for just the second time in eight outings on Tuesday in an 86-68 decision against the College of Charleston.

CU is off to its best 11-game start since the 2011-12 club began 8-3.

Troy Harper scored a career-high 25 points, while Kyre' Hamer (15), Chris Clemons (14) and D.J. Mason (11) also reached double digits for CU, which couldn't overcome a hot-shooting (58 percent) Cougar team.

UNCW (7-3) won a pair of games in the Billy Minardi Classic at Louisville last week. The Seahawks topped Utah Valley 102-77 then downed UMKC 76-56 on Wednesday.

In a series that began in the 1952 season, Campbell has won four of the last seven meetings with the Seahawks. Each of those games has been won by the home team, including last season's 69-63 Camel victory at Gore Arena.

Notable:

The Camels enter Monday's action ranked second in the Big South Conference in field goal percentage defense (.412), steals (7.42) and turnover margin (+1.9), while ranking 3rd in 3-pointers made per game (7.55) and scoring defense (67.5).
Pre-season All-Big South Conference center D.J. Mason leads the league in rebounding (8.8) and is averaging 10.6 points while shooting 49% from the field.
Over the last 4 games, Troy Harper is averaging 19.8 points per outing, including a career-high 25 vs. Charleston, to raise his average to 13.1 ppg, 14th in the Big South Conference.
Chris Clemons ranks 4th among Big South scoring leaders (17.5) and tops all league freshmen in the category. He leads the league in FT% (.909), is 2nd in steals (2.0) and 3FG/game (3.18). He is the nation's 4th-leading freshman scorer and is 15th overall in free throw accuracy.
On the strength of its pressing defense, UNCW ranks fourth in the country in turnover margin (+6.7), ninth in turnovers forced (18.0), 10th in steals (9.8) and 24th in scoring (84.5).
Campbell has won four of the last seven meetings between the schools with each winning at home.
Campbell is 0-1 vs. Colonial Athletic Association members this season following last week's loss to Charleston.
UNCW stands 0-1 vs. Big South schools this year, a 69-67 setback Dec. 19 at Radford.
In Campbell's last trip to Wilmington (12/3/13), four Seahawks reached double figures and UNCW shot 52 percent from the floor in a 69-50 win. Kyre' Hamer led the Camels with 11 points.
Last year at Buies Creek, the Camels defeated UNCW 69-63 in a game that featured 12 lead changes and seven ties. D.J. Mason, Reco McCarter and Andrew Ryan each scored 15 points for the Camels, who shot 54 percent from the field and held a 22-14 edge in points off turnovers and scored 16 fast-break points against the Seahawk press. Kyre' Hamer added nine points, four assists and four steals, while freshman Troy Harper came off the bench to draw a charge and hit two big shots in the final 2:45. Dylan Sherwood led UNCW with 12 points.
Following Monday's game, the Camels return to Big South Conference action Thursday in a 1 p.m. tip-off at Winthrop.