BUIES CREEK, N.C. – Campbell meets in-state rival Gardner-Webb Wednesday at 7:00 p.m. in the Camels' Big South home opener.
 
The Camels (6-7, 0-1) are coming off an 85-79 loss Saturday at pre-season favorite UNC Asheville.  Gardner-Webb (6-8, 1-0) defeated Liberty 58-53 Saturday at Boiling Springs.
 
One of the nation's top shooting teams, Campbell enters Wedneday's game leading the Big South Conference in overall (.503) and 3-point (.417) field goal percentage.  CU rates 11th in the country in 3-point percentage and 23rd in overall shooting accuracy.
 
Junior G Chris Clemons, the pre-season Big South player of the year, sits on top of the Big South (23.4) scoring charts and rates 10th nationally.  Clemons owns the nation's longest active double-figure scoring streak (61 games). Sophomore G Marcus Burk is 3rd in the league scoring race (18.2) and also tops the Big South in field goal (.550) and 3-point (.458) percentage. He has scored at least 20 points 7 times in the last 11 outings.
 
Campbell's seven losses have come by an average of 6.1 points.  Five of those setbacks have come by 6, or fewer, points.
 
CU stands 5-2 at home this year, while Gardner-Webb is 1-6 on the road.
 
The Runnin' Bulldogs are led by guards David Efianayi (16.3 ppg) and Liam O'Reilly (13.6) and forward DJ Laster (14.2), all of whom rank among the Big South's top-11 scorers.
 
Last Time Out:
Campbell – Ahmad Thomas scored 24 points and UNC Asheville held off a late Campbell rally to claim an 85-79 win Saturday iat Kimmel Arena.  Chris Clemons scored a game-high 25 points and the Camels twice cut the lead to 2 in the final 1:52.  However, UNCA twice connected on both ends of ones-and-ones in the last 25.4 seconds to help Asheville hang on.  Marcus Burk added 18 points, Andrew Eudy scored a career-high 16 while dealing five assists, and Cory Gensler chipped in 11 for the Camels (6-7, 0-1), who shot 53.6 percent (15-28) in the final period, 50.8 percent (30-59) on the day.  CU knocked down 7-of-20 threes (.350) and made 12-of-18 from the stripe (.667).
Gardner-Webb - Liam O'Reilly scored 22 of his career-high 27 points in the second half, including a key three-pointer with 55 seconds left to push Gardner-Webb to a 58-55 win over Liberty Saturday. Gardner-Webb won its third in a row in the process and remained unbeaten in Paul Porter Arena this season (5-0).  O'Reilly made 7-of-11 threes for GWU, which held Liberty to just 37 percent shooting.
 
Notable:

• Last year Campbell and Gardner-Webb split a pair of games with each winning on the other's home floor.  After losing in its first four trips to Gore Arena, Gardner-Webb has won its last two games in Buies Creek, including a 79-69 victory in the quarterfinal round of the 2016 Big South Championship.
• Chris Clemons was held to a career-low 9 points in Campbell's 71-68 loss on Jan. 6, 2016 in Boiling Springs.  However, the Big South pre-season player of the year has reached double digits in each outing since - a streak of 61 games - longest in NCAA Division I.
• Campbell and Gardner-Webb have played each other on three different levels.  The teams squared off twice as junior college members in the '50s, then played 3 times as NAIA members in the late '60s-early '70s.
• Seven Gardner-Webb standouts have gone on to play in the NBA, including Hall of Famer Artis Gilmore and All-Star John Drew.
• Campbell and Gardner-Webb have faced one common opponent this season - USC Upstate, which will join the Big South in 2018-19.  The Camels shot 62.5% from the floor and defeated the Spartans 93-74 on Nov. 26 at Buies Creek.  GWU downed the Spartans 87-66 on Dec. 2 in Boiling Springs.
• GWU went 2-0 in non-league play this year against future Big South opponents USC Upstate (87-66) and Hampton (80-79).
• The Runnin' Bulldogs non-conference strength of schedule rates No.-21 nationally according to the Sagarin Rankings.  GWU has faced a pair of nationally-ranked teams in No.-12 Miami (L 45-77 on Nov. 10), No.-7 Florida (L 74-116 on Nov. 13), plus SEC member Auburn (L 55-80 Dec. 6) and Big Ten power Maryland (L 60-82 on Dec. 9).
• While seven of the 15 players on Campbell's roster hail from North Carolina, only one of the 15 members on Gardner-Webb's team - freshman walk-on Kaleb Hewitt - is a Tar Heel State native.
• After finishing fourth in the 2017 Big South race (19-14, 11-7), Gardner-Webb was picked to finish fifth in the 2017-18 league pre-season poll of head coaches and media.
• Following Wednesday's game, the Camels host defending Big South champ Winthrop Saturday at 2:00 p.m.