UNCW’s first year coach Benny Moss has had two weeks between his team’s last game and this afternoon’s tilt with Sidney Lowe and the Wolfpack. In that time he has studied with them, rested them up, and dealt with the season ending announcement of stand out T.J. Carter following preseason surgery and a lengthy recovery period to mend a debilitating groin condition (yes, the Atsur condition could be much worse Wolfpack fans). Moss would like nothing more then to turn a new page on the season for the 3-6 Seahawks, and doing at the expense of neighboring ACC foe NC State will be added motivation for his team (UNCW is 1-26 lifetime against ACC teams, with a lone victory coming against the Wolfpack on Dec. 1, 1992, when the Seahawks carved out a 96-84 decision at historic Reynolds Coliseum). Tip off is at noon at the RBC center, and ESPNU will televise it.
Some quick hits
-UNCW junior center Vladimir Kuljanin is 16th in the nation at fg shooting (69.1%). He leads the Seahawks in scoring (16.2 ppg) and rebounding (8.2) this season. State counters with two members shooting over 60%, McCauley (62.7), and Costner (60.3) .
-Pace and scoring should revolve heavily around the halfcourt set, with both teams working hard to get good looks. The Seahawks are shooting 52.6% inside the arc while letting their opponents shoot 53.5 % at 2 pt fg’s. By contrast the Wolfpack are making 59.1% of their 2-Point attempts ( 6th best in the nation) while holding opponents to 45.2 % shooting inside the arc.
-Dennis Horner is 9-21 at three pointers so far in his first season playing college ball, and could be in the starting line up again. Trevor Fergueson should be ready for action and will be needed as an extra body as the Wolfpack figure on getting 9-10 different players thrown at them by UNCW this afternoon.
