The Charleston loss

A few thoughts:

*** It’s okay to rely heavily on the production of one of the best players in the country. It’s real nice to have him on your team. But you also have to be willing to accept the consequences when for whatever reason he’s not at his best.

*** This was the West Virginia game without the shots from No. 30 at the end.

*** Stephen in the second half last night looked as exhausted as I’ve seen him since the second half of the Kansas game. Maybe ever. He looked … haggard. His actions are usually markedly quick and crisp. Last night, in the second half, and it seemed to happen all of a sudden, they were more slow, more dull.

*** Antwaine Wiggins, by the way, had something to do with that. Kid’s rangy. Kid’s long. That’s not new. He’s given Stephen difficulties before. Remember last year’s game at Charleston? Check out the box score.

*** But the biggest play(s) of the game? Max’s second foul with 59 seconds to go in the first half. Max’s third foul with 38 seconds to go in the first half. That made his early foul in the second half, of course, his fourth foul, and that basically made him a non-factor the rest of the way. So what this game became in the last 20 minutes was in a sense Davidson’s worst-case scenario: The team played a second half not only without Stephen’s offense but without Max’s defense. With Max’s defense, and the stops that come with it, I’m thinking that 14-point lead becomes a 20-point lead and Charleston rolls over. No?

*** There’s no rule that says Davidson can’t lose a Southern Conference game. It’s okay.

*** Davidson has played 58 games league games the last three years and has won 56 of them. Not too bad.

*** Back to Florida.