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.

Those that braved the snow

Tonight at Belk

Game notes: The Wildcats played the first contest of each of their two-game series against SoCon South Division opponents on the road and went 3-2. ... After Thursday’s 86-71 win over College of Charleston, the ‘Cats are 4-2 against South Division foes. ... Davidson will play five of its final nine regular-season games at home. All remaining games are SoCon contests. Earlier this year down there in the Lowcountry. Last year in Charleston. Last year in Davidson.

Reading the game notes

1. Brendan’s eight assists the other night at The Citadel were a career high.

2. As of Dec. 4, the combined record of the teams Davidson has lost to this season is 26-8.

3. The Wildcats played their first four games away from home. It’s the first time they’ve started a season with four road games since 2000-01.

These two rookies

Were the guys hanging their heads at 1-5? JP: “Coach doesn’t let us do that.” Jake: “It isn’t a possibility.” JP: “He’s got his ways.” Will: “They know the system. They’re real smart players. That’s the key.”

Three thoughts left from last night

1. The Southern Conference Freshman of the Year is going to be a Davidson Wildcat.

2. Having your two starting guards play a combined 68 minutes and commit zero turnovers usually means good things.

3. Really nice showing for Will obviously. He always looks good when his shot’s going in. Funny, then, that I thought one of the best, most telling moments of his evening was a shot he missed. A few minutes into the second half, he created this little twisting up-and-under jumper near the foul line, and it rimmed out, but it was a good look and a good shot. It was a move made by a player playing and not thinking.

Will on the kids

At McAlister after the game: “At the beginning, man, they were freshmen. Right now they don’t act like freshmen.”

The Citadel win

AP:

CHARLESTON, S.C. -- Will Archambault scored 21 points and Jake Cohen added 20, leading Davidson to a 74-63 win over The Citadel in the Southern Conference opener for both teams on Thursday night.

Archambault connected on six 3-pointers and Cohen hit four for the Wildcats (2-5, 1-0), who finished 15-for-27 from beyond the arc. J.P. Kuhlman, who finished with 19 points, sank three from long range.

JP. It’s JP. McKillop: “We were patient with our shot selection, and that got us those opportunities. In the past, people have stood around and watched, and said, 'Geez, let Steph take it.’ That happened a lot last year, but now we’ve gone through a very rough November and have learned a lot of lessons.” Conroy: “They were sensational. They moved the ball well, had a lot of energy and knocked down big shots, timely shots and shots at the end of the shot clock. I was impressed.” Davidson.

Gonna be good?

Is good.

Davidson 74, The Citadel 63

That felt like the beginning of something.

Thoughts at the half at McAlister

1. I like it when those big guys take (and make) threes. Or even just take them. 1. Because they’re good shots. 2. Because it feels like Davidson basketball. Makes me think of Landry shooting them, or Stephen Marshall, or Martin Ides, or ...

2. McKillop: “Steve! Singles!”

3. About two and a half minutes before the break: McKillop calls timeout. Draws something up. Two-man game on the left side with JP and Jake. Turns into two points. Ken came over to say that those two scored 16 of the Wildcats’ last 19 points. Noted.

4. That’s a pretty good half against a pretty good team in this league.

5. Also: nice little turnout in red here for a Thursday in the Lowcountry. Spotted in the stands: Hobby Cobb, Danny Smith, Lee Sargent, Big Steve Rossiter, the Barrs, the Archambaults, Will Bryan’s folks ...

My view

JP and Jake

Starting.

Reading The Citadel game notes

A line: “Stephen Curry, now in Golden State and far removed from McAlister Field House ...” Another line: 32 points, six rebounds, five assists, five steals. That’s what Stephen did here last year. Funny. I was here and I don’t remember that. I just remember him ... playing. That kid. Nobody made 32-6-5-and-5 look quite so quiet. Anyway. Tip time.

Game! Of! The! Night!

Kyle:

Davidson (1-5) has struggled to find its bearings since Stephen Curry left early to become a fundamental redundancy for the Golden State Warriors. Nearly a month into the season, all they have to show in the win column is a virtual mulligan against Fredonia State, and have gone oh-fer against Division I. While it’s easy to offer some off-hand analysis and say that Curry would have performed a three-superheroes-in-one act and won a few of those games on his own, the truth is that his absence has thrown some of the existing fissures in bold relief. The other Wildcats had issues shooting and rebounding last season, and even with three seniors with Elite 8 experience (William Archambault, Bryant Barr and Stephen Rossiter), the team has shot 41.2 percent for the season and averages just 31 boards per contest -- both figures in the lower third of D-I.

Good point. But ... a fundamental redundancy?

At The Citadel

Life after Stephen (and Andrew, and Max, and ...)

Jeff Hartsell in Charleston:

But as Davidson comes to McAlister Field House tonight, Citadel coach Ed Conroy expects a team that’s much better adjusted to life without Curry, now playing for pay with the NBA’s Golden State Warriors.

“From what I’ve seen on tape so far, they are a typical Bob McKillop-coached team,” Conroy said. “They have a lot of talented players. Maybe they haven’t found their perfect chemistry and mix yet, but they will. And they will have a heck of a season, I believe.”

I appreciated this story because it did something a lot of stories so far this year have not. It at least alluded to the reality that the first year of the post-Stephen Curry era for Davidson is also the first year of the post-Andrew Lovedale era and the post-Max Paulhus Gosselin era. I’ll add, too, that this is the second year of the post-Jason Richards era and the post-Thomas Sander era. All these guys for the Davidson College basketball program were historically good.

Leaving now for Charleston

Gas in the car. Thank you.

Tonight in Charleston

Game notes: The Wildcats have won five straight SoCon openers. Three of those have come on the road. They also have won 14 of the last 15 against The Citadel. Last time at McAlister. Last time at Belk.