Last night before the game

Taking another shot

DeCourcy:

It’s amazing how quiet it is now that Davidson is Davidson again.

With Stephen Curry gone to the NBA, the Wildcats finished 16-14, 11-7 in the Southern Conference. So maybe they’re not really Davidson; even before Curry, this wouldn’t have been a vintage finish under Bob McKillop.

His teams have won the Southern’s automatic bid five times. The Wildcats begin their trek toward another NCAA appearance Friday against the Elon Phoenix, whom they defeated on the road in overtime in their final league game.

There’s no more Steph Curry, but Davidson still is one of college basketball’s best programs. The 2010 Southern Conference tournament is another chance to prove it.

Katz on the SCT: Nobody from the Southern Conference has a player like former Davidson guard Stephen Curry. But at least some of these teams have had the experience of beating a high-level opponent and will go into this tournament with confidence. If the semifinals in Charlotte are Western Carolina-Wofford and Charleston-Appalachian State, the league should have a highly competitive final two days. The Observer points out: Brendan McKillop’s assist-to-turnover ratio of 2.7 is the best in conference.

Another view

Davidson 99, Elon 96

AP:

ELON -- Davidson’s Brendan McKillop and Steve Rossiter hit 3-pointers in the last 3 seconds of a double-overtime win over Elon on Saturday night in the regular-season finale for both teams.

The Wildcats (16-14, 11-7 Southern Conference), who overcame a 14-point second-half deficit, trailed by three with 14 seconds left in the second overtime period. McKillop tied the game at 96 and Rossiter knocked down the game-winner 2 seconds later after Elon’s Adam Constantine turned the ball over.

McKillop and Jake Cohen scored a career-high 24 points, while JP Kuhlman’s 24 matched his career-high.

Davidson won its 15th straight against Elon (8-22, 5-13), whose first-year coach Matt Matheny was an assistant for 16 years with the Wildcats.

Burlington: An exhausting classic rocked by wild swings of energy and dripping with emotion seemed destined for a third overtime. ElonPhoenix.com: ... in front of a raucous crowd of 1,934 on Senior Night at Alumni Gym. After a Brendan McKillop three-pointer tied the game with two seconds remaining, Rossiter stole the inbounds pass and let go of a prayer before the final horn sounded. DavidsonWildcats.com: McKillop had a career-high seven 3-pointers. … It was the largest second-half deficit the ‘Cats have come back from this season. … It was Davidson’s third overtime game this season, and the ‘Cats are 2-1. … Cohen also had a career high nine rebounds. Highlights. Hot Click.

The video

Another thing

There’s a bit of cold-blooded in Jake Cohen. JP too. Also Brendan.

Live from Elon

1. That was worth 22 hours in the car.

2. I’d say the same thing had Elon won.

3. Not gonna lie. I feel bad for Matt.

Davidson 60, UNCG 56

AP:

DAVIDSON -- Brendan McKillop's 3-pointer broke a tie with 27.7 seconds left and Davidson held off North Carolina-Greensboro 60-56 on Wednesday night.

The Wildcats (15-14, 10-7 Southern Conference) led 56-52 with 3:29 left after another McKillop 3-pointer. The Spartans (6-22, 5-12) cut it to 56-54 on a basket by Kendall Toney, then tied it with 56 seconds left after a steal and layup by Kyle Randall.

UNC Greensboro led by seven points, 46-39, with 11:19 left in the second half after an 18-5 run that included seven points by Randall.

DavidsonWildcats.com: Freshman JP Kuhlman scored 14 points to help send the Davidson seniors off with a 60-56 SoCon men's basketball victory over UNC Greensboro on Senior Night at Belk Arena Wednesday. With the win in their final home game, the Wildcat senior class of Will Archambault, Bryant Barr, Dan Nelms and Steve Rossiter has now been a part of 100 career victories at Davidson. McKillop: “I'm thrilled that our seniors were able to finish their career here at Belk Arena with a win.” “Observations.”

Chattanooga 78, Davidson 73

AP:

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. -- Ricky Taylor scored 22 points and Ty Patterson added 20 to help Chattanooga defeat Davidson 78-73 on Monday night, snapping a five-game losing streak.

The Mocs (14-15, 6-10 Southern Conference) trailed 35-32 at halftime, and shot 52 percent from the field in the second half (26 of 56), including 5 of 10 from 3-point range.

Chattanooga outscored the Wildcats 8-3 after halftime, taking its first lead since 6:56 left in the first half, 40-38, on Keegan Bell’s 3 with 17:24 to play.

Davidson (14-14, 9-7) would lead again, 52-50 with 10:03 remaining, but the Mocs scored 11 straight. Jeremy Saffore’s layup put Chattanooga up 61-52 with 6:38 left, and the Wildcats wouldn’t get any closer than six points the rest of the way.

Jake Cohen scored 16 points and Brendon McKillop added 15 for the Wildcats.

Uch at the Roundhouse: The win snaps a season-long five game losing streak. It also snaps an eight-game losing streak to Davidson which had NBA rookie of the year candidate Stephen Curry for the last three seasons. DavidsonWildcats.com: Davidson went on to take a 35-32 cushion into halftime as seven of the ‘Cats 14 field goals in the frame were from long distance. The Wildcats return to action Wednesday, Feb. 24, for the home finale against UNC Greensboro. Davidson will honor its four seniors, Archambault, Bryant Barr, Dan Nelms and Rossiter, before the game. Ty Patterson: “It’s great to get a win after we’ve been so down. And to beat Davidson -- when was the last time we beat Davidson?”

Davidson 84, Ga. Southern 74

AP:

DAVIDSON -- JP Kuhlman scored a career-high 24 points to lead Davidson to an 84-74 victory over Georgia Southern on Saturday night.

Kuhlman was 10-for-14 from the free throw line and Jake Cohen added 18 points as the Wildcats (12-11, 7-4 Southern Conference) won their fourth straight game.

DavidsonWildcats.com: Will Archambault collected 12 points and five rebounds, while Brendan McKillop scored 15 points. Freshman Nik Cochran added nine points off the bench. ... Archambault fouled out in the contest, leaving the senior one point shy of 1,000 for his career. ... Davidson is now 6-2 against SoCon South Division opponents. JP: “We knew coming into this season, that we would have an equal opportunity. That is the way we want to play, and we were able to do it again tonight.” McKillop: “We attacked the pressure. If you let the pressure put the brakes on you, then you’re going to be in trouble, because then you play right into the hands of the press. We will always try to attack the press and take advantage of the floor space that opens up as a result of the pressure.” Highlights.

Davidson 67, The Citadel 63

AP:

DAVIDSON -- Jake Cohen scored 18 points and Brendan McKillop had 17 as Davidson overcame an early 15-point deficit to beat The Citadel 67-63 in overtime on Saturday night.

The Wildcats (11-11, 6-4 Southern Conference) trailed 27-12 with 8:05 left in the first half, then used a 21-6 run, capped by a McKillop 3-pointer, to tie the game at 33 at the break.

The second half went back and forth, with the Bulldogs (10-12, 4-6) leading by six and Davidson by four. A McKillop layup with 58 seconds left was the last score in regulation.

The Observer: Whenever time grew short Saturday, point guard Brendan McKillop was there for Davidson’s Wildcats. For starters, McKillop hit Davidson’s go-ahead basket -- a 3-pointer with 55 seconds left in overtime -- in the Wildcats’ 67-63 Southern Conference victory against The Citadel. Ed Conroy: “Brendan McKillop is a heck of a shooter,” Conroy said. “Of his four 3-pointers, three of them were really clutch.” DavidsonWildcats.com: The ‘Cats have won nine of their last 13 games. DavidsonNews.net: Will Archambault, who had a big night last Thursday against College of Charleston, had 8 points and 8 rebounds on Saturday night. His point total brought within 13 points of 1,000 for his 4-year career as a Wildcats. Still: The Wildcats entered the game as the Southern Conference’s home attendance leaders, averaging 3,917 in the 5,223 arena.

Big win

Brendan made ’em when they mattered the most. Gotta go.

Davidson 91, Georgia Southern 87

AP:

STATESBORO, Ga. -- JP Kuhlman scored 18 points as all five Davidson starters scored in double figures in a 91-87 win over Georgia Southern on Saturday.

Steve Rossiter and Brendan McKillop each added 15 points for the Wildcats (9-11, 4-4 Southern Conference). Will Archambault had a double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds, Jake Cohen added 11 points and Ben Allison came off the bench to score 12 for the Wildcats.

Davidson led by nine points at halftime and built a 21-point lead at 82-61 on a 3-pointer by Archambault with 6:46 remaining.

The guys shot 59 percent from the floor and 58 percent from three, which is great, and 55 percent from the free throw line, which is not. First double-double for Will in his career. Brendan was really good today. JP had 18 points on seven shots. Observer. Savannah: “We knew going into the game that 45 percent of their shots are from 3-point range.” DavidsonWildcats.com: Rossiter became the 30th player in school history to record over 500 career points and rebounds.

An oddity?

In some SoCon notes:

Davidson’s recent three-game winning streak -- between Dec. 21-30 -- came with a bit of an oddity. Three Wildcats led the team in scoring in those three games. In the first, against Hofstra, Jake Cohen had 18 points. Brendan McKillop’s 19 points led the way against Pennsylvania. And J.P. Kuhlman scored a team-high 18 against UMass.

More like a necessary part of the plan. (Also, note to AP, ESPN, etc.: It’s not J.P. It’s JP. JP JP JP.)

Davidson 66, Samford 56

AP:

DAVIDSON -- Brendan McKillop scored 20 points and Davidson rallied to defeat Samford 66-56 on Monday night.

The Wildcats (7-8, 2-1 Southern Conference) trailed 41-37 with 11:33 left but scored nine unanswered points to lead 46-41 on JP Kuhlman’s 3-pointer with 7:18 remaining.

The Observer: Utter embraces the confusion, and adds to it. Observations. DavidsonWildcats.com: Brendan McKillop scored a career-high 20 points, and Davidson held Samford to 23.5 percent shooting from the field in the second half to post a 66-56 Southern Conference victory over the Bulldogs in Belk Arena Monday night. On DavidsonNews.net: “I’ve very, very pleased with the victory. We played great offense.”

Samford thoughts from snowy New England

1. Samford’s been in the league long enough now, all of a year and change, to know how they play. It’s excruciating. Against those guys, a win is a win is a win, and then get the hell out of there.

2. Davidson basketball is a better, more enjoyable thing when a McKillop is doing well, and right now Brendan is doing very, very well. Since the Gonzaga game, McKillop the father said postgame on the radio, McKillop the son has shot “as well as any player we’ve had.” As well. As any player. We’ve had.

3. Loved Ben’s game tonight. Who didn’t? This group is more than capable when Ben does stuff like 13 and 9. It was mostly just how he looked before the numbers started to catch up. Alert and energetic. With it. McKillop: “He’s just getting better and better and better.”

4. That’s a tight little stat sheet. The slower the game, the more mistakes cost, and the number that jumps off the page tonight is seven turnovers. You’ll only give us 46 shots? Fine. We’ll do this then. Goodwingoodwingoodwin.

5. Get well Jake.

Some thoughts from Davidson

1. Brendan is playing very fine basketball, and really hitting right now on those beautiful, backspun parabolas of his.

2. Another mostly unshowy but very effective night for Will: 10 points, 8 rebounds, 5 assists, zero turnovers.

3. The offensive statistics from last night were indicative of not only a capable offense but also an unbothered offense -- 47.5 percent from the floor, 43.3 percent from three, and both those numbers were higher for most of the game, and then of course the 21-to-9 assist-to-turnover ratio. At one point it was 21 to 6.

4. Those guys are better than their record. Doesn’t it feel like you keep hearing that from opposing players and coaches? Last night it was Penn guard Zack Rosen: “They’ve got confidence in what they do, and they stick to it. I don’t think they’ve lost to any chumps.”

5. McKillop: “Roles have been defined.”

Davidson 79, Penn 50

AP from last night:

DAVIDSON -- Brendan McKillop scored 19 points to lead Davidson to a 79-50 win over Penn on Monday night.

McKillop led four players in double figures for Davidson (5-8). Jake Cohen scored 12 points, while Will Archambault and Ben Allison scored 10 each.

Davidson jumped out to an early 8-0 lead, and then went on an 11-1 run for a 24-8 advantage with 9:43 to play in the first half.

Charlotte: Against a team trying to turn around an 0-8 season, Davidson was not an ideal foe for Allen’s first game. Philly Daily News: Thrust into the coaching duties after the Quakers fired Glen Miller 2 weeks ago, Allen fell into a perfect storm of chaos in his debut last night. Davidson: The advantage never dipped below 20 points in the second half and reached as high as 34 on three occasions. Penn: Reality quickly set in, however, as the Wildcats were patient, athletic, and accurate on offense in the first half. David Boraks (with Tim Cowie photos) at DavidsonNews.net: Two games do not make a long winning streak, but since the Wildcats’ 103-91 loss to Gonzaga in Seattle, the team has been shooting more reliably and playing more aggressively, McKillop said.

From DavidsonCats.com

McKillop The Youngest is becoming the heart and soul of this team.

‘Connections across the country’

Claire:

I like watching JP drive and being reminded of JRich. I LOVE watching Brendan hit threes and talk to his teammates. I’m proud that they play like they do, not saying I like it when they make stupid TOs or miss FTs, but I can see them starting to play like a team, moving fast and working hard and clumping into huddles and not stopping. Bob roaring on the sidelines, Kilgo in the background of the screen, cocking his head, chatting away in that sandpaper south voice of his that I can’t hear but I know it’s there, Kruse with laptop up and eyes on the court. I love connections across the country, sending texts to Sarah and knowing that her phone is ringing in the same building that I’m watching on tv thousands of miles away (and she called me afterwards, and I could hear the smile in her voice). I love starting to understand how the freshmen play, and realizing that I will get to watch them go and grow through the ups and downs of four years of Davidson basketball.