Showing posts with label samford. Show all posts
Showing posts with label samford. Show all posts

1.05.2010

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.”

1.04.2010

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.

First half at Belk

Samford tonight at Belk

Game notes: Davidson’s bench has outscored its opponent in all but two games and owns a 329-202 cumulative edge on the season. Players coming off the projected bench for today’s game are averaging a combined 20.6 points a contest. ... As of Jan. 2, the non-conference opponents that defeated the Wildcats have a combined record of 68-23, and all seven have a winning record. ... Steve Rossiter needs 42 points and 19 rebounds to become the 30th Davidson player to tally 500 points and 500 rebounds. Stephen: Headed to Denver. Gonna grab some food then sit on the laptop and watch the Davidson Wildcats take on Samford. Not HD but itll do. Last year at Belk. Last year down there.

2.01.2009

Everywhere they go

This morning’s papers

Charlotte:

The Stephen Curry road show attracted the first sellout crowd in the two-year history of Samford's 5,000-seat Pete Hanna Center. But what the fans witnessed Saturday afternoon was a Davidson squad that showed it is far from a one-man team.


Birmingham:

The Samford Bulldogs almost hustled themselves into history on Saturday in front of a standing-room only crowd at the Pete Hanna Center.

The Bulldogs came within an off-balance fall-away 3-pointer and just one more free throw of upsetting Davidson College and ending a 40-game Southern Conference win streak. But Josh Bedwell's jumper with two ticks left on the clock bounced off the front of the rim and Davidson escaped with a 55-52 victory in front of 5,116 fans -- the largest crowd to see a game at Samford.

More Birmingham:

No doubt many of them showed up to watch Davidson star Stephen Curry, the leading scorer in college basketball, but they were treated to so much more.

They saw a Davidson team that, even with Curry struggling to find his shot, showed why it's to the Southern Conference what Memphis is to Conference USA.

At NCAA Tournament time, pick the Wildcats to win at least one game.


McKillop in the Birmingham gamer: “They play as a team of defenders. There’s no greater compliment than I can pay a team than that particular comment. You couldn’t just beat one of them; you have to beat their team.”

And Stephen: “I don’t have to do anything special for us to be good.”

Also: photos and slide show. Local TV too. And be sure to go read Tim Cowie.

1.31.2009

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.

The Samford board

Doing some math: Tomorrow it will have been 742 days since Davidson last lost a SoCon game. Let that sink in. It has been 106 weeks since Davidson College lost a SoCon game. The Streak is more than one million minutes old.

Today at Samford

The Birmingham News:

A lot of people who have never seen a Samford University men’s basketball game at the Pete Hanna Center will be there today.

Like, for example, the fire marshal and Stephen Curry.

The fire marshal will be there to make sure the 2-year-old facility won’t be packed with too many more people than its 5,000-seat capacity. Curry is there because Southern Conference powerhouse Davidson will be playing Samford in the 2 p.m. game.

Samford students have been allotted 1,000 spots in the gym on a first-come, first-swipe your activity card to get in basis. Some were already in line at 2 Friday afternoon.


Also: Davidson. Samford. Charlotte. The Sports Network. Last time. At Belk.

1.30.2009

In Birmingham ...

Jimmy Tillette: “We’re getting better and better. Just to have a chance on Saturday, though, we need to be that good or better.”

1.28.2009

Saturday at Samford

First sellout ever. Which is to say: 4,341 more fans than the average there.

1.18.2009

Jan. 31 in Birmingham

Samford: Wear White, Inspire Fright. Suit up for Samford’s first-ever “White Out” against this 2008 Elite Eight team. Chattanooga too. And also Elon.

1.04.2009

And then this ...

Jeanette Scire came into the press room before the game Saturday afternoon and said she had seen a man outside holding a sign saying he needed tickets. Scott Fowler said on press row he had seen a father with his redheaded toddler daughter standing outside, and both of them, the man and his little girl, were holding up two fingers, looking for a way in. Tripp Cherry said after the game that he had seen the same things.

For a game against Samford.

On Jan. 3.

Over Christmas break.

With no students on campus.

Not a seat to be had.

Jeanette’s been at Davidson for a while, almost 20 years, and so she remembers on game days in the early ‘90s going around town with Susan Mercer and trying to give people tickets.

Here.

Just take them.

Just please come.

Sometimes these days, like yesterday, when I sit there and I look around at 5,223 at Belk, crammed in, all those people making all that noise all the way up to the roof, I think of something good fan Danny Smith told me last summer when we talked for the book. I don’t have my notes with me, so I hope I’m remembering this right, but he said he brought his family to Belk in December 1995 to watch Davidson play N.C. State. It was their first game ever.

They enjoyed it so much they decided to buy season tickets, Danny said, so he came back to campus the following week and found Lee Sargent, the ticket man at the time, and asked about maybe getting some seats.

Lee took Danny into the arena.

He walked toward center court.

He took a right and started to walk down the steps, and he kept walking, and he didn’t stop until he was standing in the front row.

Lee looked at Danny.

“How about these?”

That was 13 years ago.

1.03.2009

Today at Belk

The Samford coach: “They’ve won 31 straight league games, come on. I’m not going to put the pressure on our guys to turn this into a must-win or anything.” Also: Davidson. Samford. Charlotte. Wildcats Pride.