Know Thy Opponent: UNC Wilmington

  • 11/20/2007 6:00 am in

th_23666_knowthyopponent_122_866lo.jpgThe Hoosiers will continue play in the Chicago Invitational Challenge tonight against the UNC Wilmington Seahawks. Indiana is 2-0 all-time against UNC-Wilmington and beat the Seahawks 76-67 on the road to the Final Four back in 2002.

Wilmington, a member of the Colonial Athletic Association, is 1-1 this season. They beat the College of Charleston in their season opener and lost on Sunday at Illinois State in the Chicago Invitational Challenge.

In the preseason coaches poll, Wilmington was picked to finish sixth in the CAA behind George Mason, VCU, Old Dominion, Drexel and Hofstra.

Benny Moss is in his second year as the head coach at Wilmington. Moss took over for Brad Brownell who left for Wright State after leading Wilmington to the 2006 NCAA Tournament. Before taking over at Wilmington, Moss was the top assistant for six seasons at UNC-Charlotte for Bobby Lutz.

Much of Wilmington’s success will be dependent on the play of T.J. Carter. The Seahawks were 7-22 a season ago as Carter missed the entire season with a hernia. Carter, the MVP of the 2006 CAA Conference Tournament, is now 100% and is averaging 16.5 points on the young season.

“As a player, T.J. has the ability to win a game when it’s on the line. That’s something we missed last year,” Moss said before the season. “A lot will fall on his shoulders, but everyone else has to step up also.”

Two other seniors, 6-10 Vladimir Kuljanin and 6-4 Daniel Fountain, will play prominent roles for Wilmington. Kuljanin was fourth in field goal percentage in the NCAA last season. Fountain is currently leading the team in scoring at 21.5 ppg.

Others Seahawks to key an eye on: Todd Hendley, Montez Downey, Chad Tomko and Dominique Lacy.

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