BUIES CREEK, N.C. – Off to the program's best start (9-3) since the 1993-94 campaign, Campbell begins defense of its Big South Conference regular season title Thursday when it hosts Gardner-Webb (4-8) at in a 7:00 p.m. tip at Gore Arena.
 
The Camels have won three straight and five of their last six games, most recently a 63-55 victory Sunday at MAC member Ohio.  
 
In their last five wins, the Camels have held each of their foes below 60 points and to less than 46 percent shooting.  On Sunday at Athens, Ohio, CU finished with a 22-7 edge in points off turnovers and limited the Bobcats to 36.5 percent shooting.
 
Cedric Henderson scored 12 of his 17 points in the second half for the Camels, who rode a late 13-2 run to secure their fourth true road victory.  Trey Spencer (12), Cory Gensler (10) and LaDarius Knight (10) also hit double figures in Kevin McGeehan's 100th coaching win at Campbell.
 
Picked second in the Big South preseason poll, Gardner-Webb (4-8) has faced a daunting non-conference schedule that has included North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia Tech.
 
The defending Big South tournament champion Runnin' Bulldogs are led by senior forward Eric Jamison, Jr., who ranks sixth among Big South scoring leaders (14.8) and sophomore wing Jose Perez, the league's 9th-leading scorer (14.1).
 
NOTES:

• Campbell ranks 9th in the nation in 3-point FG defense (.261), 17th in turnover margin (+5.1) 19th in free throw percentage (.778) and 24th in turnovers forced (17.67).
• Paced by Henderson (12.3), and Cory Gensler (9.1), eight Camels are averaging at least 6.1 points per outing, while 11 are playing double-figure minutes.
• Campbell is unbeaten (4-0) at home this season, while Gardner-Webb is winless (0-7) in true road games.
• The Runnin' Bulldogs defeated both top-seeded Campbell (79-74) and second-seeded Radford (76-65) on the road en route to claiming their first Big South title and NCAA tournament appearance in 2019.  GWU fell to number one seed and eventual national champion Virginia 71-56 in the first round of the Big Dance.
• Campbell and Gardner-Webb split a pair of games last year.  The Camels defeated the Runnin' Bulldogs 72-61 at Buies Creek in the only regular season match up, while GWU claimed a 79-74 victory over CU in the semifinal round of the Big South Championship at Gore Arena.
• Under head coach Tim Craft, the Runnin' Bulldogs have not endured a losing season in Big South Conference play in his six seasons. Craft is 60-44 in the Big South, reaching at least 10 wins in five of his six seasons.
• Over the last seven seasons, Gardner-Webb has five wins over Power 5 Conference schools - Clemson, Purdue, Nebraska, Georgia Tech (Dec. 17, 2018) and Wake Forest (Dec. 29, 2018).
• 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.  The teams also met as rivals in the Atlantic Sun Conference before GWU joined the Big South in 2008-09.  Campbell, which was a Big South charter member from 1984-94, returned to the league in 2011-12.
• Seven Gardner-Webb standouts have gone on to play in the NBA, including Hall of Famer Artis Gilmore and All-Star John Drew.
• Through its first 12 games, Campbell has produced 11 different double-figure scorers, while six different Camels have led the team on a given night.  Cory Gensler (16) topped the club in the opener at Coastal Carolina, while LaDarius Knight (13) led CU vs. Central Penn. Ja'Cor Nelson scored 18 in back-to-back games at UNCW and The Citadel.  Knight (11) led the team vs. Jacksonville.  Austin McCullough had a season-high 16 vs. Georgia Southern.  Trey Spencer and Cedric Henderson, Jr. both tallied 10 vs. Florida Gulf Coast, while Henderson tallied a season-best 16 vs. North Dakota, 18 at East Carolina 15 vs. Elon and 17 at Ohio.  Knight topped the club with 15 vs. Johnson & Wales.
• Through 12 games, Campbell's bench is averaging 28.2 points per outing, compared to 15.4 for CU opponents.
• Through its first 12 games, Campbell stands 2nd among Big South Conference teams in assist-turnover ratio (1.2), turnover margin (+5.1) and steals (8.8).
• Campbell leads the Big South in scoring defense (63.1), defensive FG% (.410) and 3-point FG% defense (.261).  Only one Camel opponent – UNCW (.521) – has shot better than 50% from the floor through 12 games.
• On the year, Campbell owns a 7-0 record when limited its opponents to fewer than 70 points.
• Following Thursday's game, the Camels host Winthrop Saturday at 2:00 p.m.