Notes on Samford

Watched the game down here this weekend.

Some quick thoughts:

*** Those boys from Samford like to play in the 50s. They win in the 50s. This was the game they wanted to play. AND they got help from Davidson. Foul issues, all kinds of shots missed that almost always are shots made, etc. And Davidson won.

*** Bookish, 58 years old, his school’s all-time winningest coach, absolutely knows what he’s doing. Bob McKillop? Yes. Also: Jimmy Tillette.

*** McKillop and Matheny and the rest of the staff have these literally thick files on all the teams in the Southern Conference. What they do. What works against them. What doesn’t. Longevity has its perks. So much institutional knowledge. So many little bits of earned and accrued wisdom and tricks. Samford’s the new kid. The Samford file’s not as thick.

*** League play is hard. No matter the league. Losses happen. They just haven’t for Davidson for two years and 11 days. And counting. Which is totally insane. Really. It’s preposterous.

*** What Davidson wants at a place like Duke is what every team in the Southern Conference now wants against Davidson. To have the game be a game with under 10 minutes to go. Then you have a chance. Then you see what happens.

*** Not Will’s best game, obviously, but he did draw a charge with under two minutes left.

*** Bryant Barr. Balls.

*** Stephen. Can’t be on all the time. Box score says he was 2-for-11 from three. But he also, twice, drew fouls from behind the line, then hit three free throws. Those are as good as three-pointers made in my book. And that body-control layup under the basket midway through the second half? Put it on the list of No. 30’s top 10 plays so far.

*** But No. 41 came more than anything else because of No. 41.

*** Showed up in my DavidsonCats.com inbox: “Was that THE scare, a game that we never trailed in despite playing horribly?”

*** Moving on. Western Monday.