Wildcats Pride

DAVIDSON, N.C. -Jake Cohen scored 14 points including four late free throws to ice a charging Furman and secure a 61-58 win on Saturday.

The Wildcats (14-13, 9-8 Southern Conference) led 57-55 with 1:24 to go, and the Paladins missed a shot and had another blocked by Cohen with 9 seconds left. Cohen was quickly fouled and made both free throws for a 59-55 advantage.

Justin Dehm then hit a 3-pointer with 4 seconds left to pull the Paladins (12-15, 6-10) within 59-58. They then fouled Cohen again, who made both shots for the final margin.

Davidson led 53-41 with 5:50 remaining, but Furman went on a 16-2 run to pull within 57-55 on Bryan Barnes’ 3 with 1:24 left.

Cohen was half of a strong showing from Davidson’s star freshmen. Fellow classmate J.P. Kuhlman scored 10 points and pulled down 7 boards.

Davidson started the game with a strong inside presense scoring 9 of their first 11 from the paint and blanking Furman in that same period.

Will Archambault scored 12 points, and the Wildcats scored 22 points off 19 turnovers.

Davidson’s depth was demonstrated through contributions from Will Reigel, who scored a couple of points and dished out two assits, and Dan Nelms who came up with a rejection.

Dehm finished with 22 points for Furman, and leading scorer Amu Saaka (16.4 points per game), was held to nine. The Paladins lost their second straight and fourth in five games.

Game Highlights:

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.

Davidson arrived with a new starting lineup which paid huge early returns for head coach Bob McKillop. Freshmen, Cohen and J.P. Kuhlman started the first games of their careers and combined for 39 points against The Citadel.

The visiting team was hitting shots from everywhere in the gym.

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. Kuhlman sank three from long range. 

The Citadel (5-4, 0-1) finished 6-for-25 from 3-point range. 

The Bulldogs jumped out to a 3-0 lead on a layup and a free throw from Cameron Wells. 

But Archambault got the 3-point parade going early for the Wildcats, hitting a pair from beyond the arc to put Davidson up 6-3 3 minutes into the game. They led the rest of the way. 

Zach Urbanus and Wells scored 23 apiece to lead the Bulldogs. 

Davidson has won two of three since dropping the season’s first four games. When asked about the new additions the Wildcats have made, Citadel coach Ed Conroy called the pair of starting freshmen “sensational”.

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) – Maybe Butler had opening-day jitters.
Or perhaps the problem was just facing another strong mid-major program so early in the season.

Whatever the explanation, the Bulldogs (No. 10 ESPN/USA Today, No. 11 AP) strung together a 15-4 closing run to pull away from Davidson 73-62 on Saturday.

“It’s a lot of fun, but I’m sure there are some anxious moments and that’s OK,” Butler coach Brad Stevens said. “This game is not going to define who you are, win or lose, but it gives you a lot to work on.”

Clearly, the Bulldogs (1-0) have plenty of things to clean up before heading to Northwestern on Wednesday.

Butler, which has gone to three straight NCAA tournaments and came into the game with the highest preseason ranking in school history, has built its reputation on playing almost flawless basketball.

It has consistently ranked among the national leaders in fewest turnovers, points allowed, 3-pointers and free-throw differential. On Saturday, the Bulldogs struggled with all of those facets early.

The Bulldogs committed seven of their 10 turnovers in the first half, a span in which it also committed 11 fouls and was shooting only 31.8 percent through the first 16 1/2 minutes.
Eventually, the players started playing Butler basketball.

Gordon Hayward finished with 17 points and eight rebounds, Willie Veasley added 15 points and Matt Howard and first-time starter Shawn Vanzant each scored 10.

 Each contributed to the two key runs that changed the game — the first late in the first half, the other coming midway through the second half.

 ”I don’t know about the expectations, I just think we had so much time playing against one another, we were just excited for the season to start,” Veasley said. “As a group, we were ready. You could tell with our fight throughout the game, we were just anxious.”

Davidson took advantage of the miscues but eventually wore down.

The Wildcats, playing their first game since losing Stephen Curry to the NBA, were led by Ben Allison with 13 points and Brendan McKillop with 11.

They jumped to a quick 20-10 lead in the first half and still led by 10 with 3 1/2 minutes to go in the half. Then, after falling behind early in the second half, they rallied to take a 58-56 lead with 9:37 left before succumbing to Butler’s decisive run but didn’t have enough to close it out.

After losing 59 percent of its scoring and 44 percent of its rebounding from last season, coach Bob McKillop called it an encouraging start.

 ”When you see 18 points off [our] turnovers, that’s the story of the game to me, their ability to create some chaos on the catch, I would say led to eight to 10 points,” said McKillop, who has five straight 20-wins seasons. “But it’s a new experience for all of us. Everyone is adapting to new roles.”

Butler is the exception. It didn’t lose anybody from last season’s team, which made its third straight trip to the NCAA tournament.

With the Bulldogs out of sync, the Wildcats still had a 31-21 lead with 3 1/2 minutes to go in the half. That’s when things began to unravel.

Shelvin Mack started the closing flurry with two free throws, and Vanzant hit a 3. After Mack drove in for a layup, then connected on 1 of 2 free throws, Veasley hit back-to-back 3s to give the Bulldogs a 35-33 lead.

Hayward closed out the half with two more free throws to make it 37-35 and suddenly Davidson was in trouble.

“We let our guard down a little bit, I think it came a little too easy, we took shots too early and they capitalized on every one,” McKillop said.

The Bulldogs were only getting started.

Veasley opened the second half with another and two free throws from Howard made it 42-35.

Davidson, however, hung around, closing to 54-52 with 11:33 to go and finally taking a 55-54 lead when JP Kuhlman hit a 3 with 10:42 left.

After trading a basket for another Davidson 3, Butler finally took charge.

Hayward’s layup with 9:20 to go ignited a 12-0 run that sealed the outcome.

“It’s great opening against a team like this,” Stevens said. “You have to do everything well to compete against them. I’m talking about entering the ball out of bounds, moving from side-to-side. I’m a real admirer of the program. These are two good teams.”

MORAGA, Calif. – Davidson guard Stephen Curry tallied 26 points, nine rebounds and five assists, but the Wildcats fell 80-68 in the second round of the NIT at Saint Mary’s Monday night.

Davidson ends the season with a 27-8 record, and the senior class of Can Civi, Andrew Lovedale and Max Paulhus Gosselin finishes their careers with 105 victories, the most in school history. The 2008-09 campaign was the fifth straight season Davidson topped the 20-win mark and the ‘Cats’ fifth consecutive postseason appearance.

Patrick Mills led the Gaels (28-6) with 23 points and 10 assists, while Omar Samhan posted 18 points and nine rebounds. Diamon Simpson collected 12 points, a game-high 15 rebounds and four steals, and Wayne Hunter posted 12 points and six rebounds.

Will Archambault had 10 points and five rebounds for Davidson, and Lovedale collected nine points and 10 boards.Steve Rossiter had eight points, five rebounds and three blocked shots.

The Wildcats shot 11-of-24 from 3-point range in the game but hit for just 36.8 percent from the field overall. Meanwhile the Gaels shot 47 percent for the contest and outscored Davidson 40-20 in the paint.

The ‘Cats whittled a 13-point Saint Mary’s lead down to seven following a Brendan McKillop 3-pointer with 2:07 to go. Davidson got a defensive stop, and McKillop drew a foul going to the basket. The sophomore missed both free throws, but Davidson got the rebound. Carlin Hughes stole a pass intended for Curry spotted up from 3-point range on the wing, and the ‘Cats would get no closer. The Gaels went 5-of-6 from the free-throw line inside the last 46 seconds to seal the win.

Davidson trailed 36-33 at halftime, and a Curry 3-pointer on the first possession of the second half tied the game. After a Curry trey made the margin 49-47 in favor of Saint Mary’s, the Gaels used a 14-5 run to pull ahead 63-52 with 9:31 to go. The ‘Cats got the margin down to seven on a Curry jumper with 5:52 remaining, but the Gaels answered by scoring the next six points, to make the margin 73-60 with 4:44 to play.

DAVIDSON, N.C. – Stephen Curry scored 26 points and Davidson extended its Southern Conference winning streak by beating Western Carolina 89-65 on Monday night.

Curry lead the Wildcats in every statistical category outside of Andrew Lovedale’s 4 blocks, with 8 rebounds, 8 assists and 2 steals.

Lovedale, BrendanMcKillop and Bryant Barr had 14 points each and Max Paulhus Gosselin added 10 for the Wildcats (19-3, 12-0), who have now won 42 consecutive regular-season league games. 

That leaves Davidson just two short of the Southern Conference record of 44 straight wins, set by West Virginia between 1956-1960. 

Harouna Mutombo scored 15 points and Brandon Giles had 11 for the Catamounts (11-10, 6-5), who turned the ball over 20 times — leading to 20 Davidson points — and shot less that 40 percent from the field (21 of 53) for the fourth time this season. 

Curry, scored 20 points in the first half, staking the Wildcats to a 49-31 halftime lead.

Photo Credit: Tim Cowie

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Stephen Curry scored 16 points to lead Davidson in a 70-52 win over Appalachian State on Monday night.

Curry, averaging 29.4 points per game, picked up his fourth foul defending Eduardo Bermudez’s drive early in the second half, limiting his minutes to 18.

“They exposed the ball a couple times and I got a little greedy trying to get the ball,” said Curry, who managed 16 points in a season-low 18 minutes. “Got in quick foul trouble but in that situation my teammates stepped up.”

Max Paulhus Gosselin and Will Archambault added 14 each for Davidson (12-3, 4-0 Southern Conference). In a lineup that lacked the wow-factor of Curry’s presence, Davidson made up for it with strong interior defense early and timely perimeter shooting late.

Paulhus Gosselin said of the Curry-less lineup, “I feel like it’s important for our team’s confidence and for each one of us individually to step up and take the role of a scorer, of a key defender at different points in different games.”

Brendan McKillop also added 13 for Davidson, which won in front of the largest crowd in Holmes Center history (8,350).

“Brendan is playing to have fun and to win, rather than not to make mistakes,” said Bob McKillop, Davidson’s coach and the sophomore’s father.

Kellen Brand led Appalachian State (6-7, 3-2) with 21 points, and Isaac Butts and Ryann Abraham added 10 each. Marcus Wright left the game in the first half after aggravating an ankle injury.

Stephen Curry scored a game-high 32 points as he led the Davidson Wildcats to an 84-69 win over the Bulldogs of The Citadel in Southern Conference play at McAlister Field House.

Curry knocked down 4-of-8 behind the three-point line for Davidson (11-3, 4-0 SoCon) as the squad won for the third time in the last four outings. Curry, who shot 12-of-14 at the free-throw line, added six rebounds, five assists and five steals to complete his all-around effort. Will Archambault contributed 11 points off the bench.

Andrew Lovedale led Davidson’s big guys with 10 points and five rebounds before fouling out. Steve Rossiter added seven points, while Ben Allison had six rebounds and Frank Ben-Eze two blocks off the bench. Archambault scored 11 points.

“I’m delighted that our big guys are starting to emerge, in all phases of the year,” Wildcats coach Bob McKillop said. “Andrew is the leading big guy we’ve had, but since coming back from Christmas, Steve Rossiter has had four or five outstanding outings. And now you have Allison showing some skills and Ben-Eze showing a totally new dimension. And with Dan Nelms, you’ve got five bodies out there really helping us.”

Cameron Wells accounted for 25 points and six rebounds for the Bulldogs (7-8, 2-2) as they had a two-game win streak snapped. Demetrius Nelson added 18 points and Zach Urbanus 10 points.

Both teams shot just over 45 percent from the field in the first half, but thanks to a 6-of-12 effort beyond the arc it was Davidson that maintained a 43-35 edge at the break.

In the second half the Wildcats sank to only 3-of-11 behind the three-point line, yet still played well enough to earn the 15-point win.

The Citadel turned the ball over 19 times and made just 3-of-9 shots behind the three-point line.

“Davidson is a lot more than just Steph Curry,” said Citadel coach Ed Conroy, whose team dropped to 7-8 overall and 2-2 in the conference. “Their other players are good players who are physical and play really hard. And their defense was really the story of the game, because they got us to stand around a lot, and that’s not characteristic of us.”

The crowd at McAlister Field House was about five times The Citadel’s season average, and kids thronged outside the Wildcats’ locker room, shouting “I love you, Steph!” and hoping for an autograph.

“This is fun,” Curry said. “We really appreciate all the attention we are getting, and are happy that people come out and watch us play. We’re not going to take it for granted, or get caught up in it.

“We’re going to keep working hard and just cherish the fact that everyone is excited about Davidson basketball.”

Jon Scheyer and Kyle Singler each logged 22 points, as the second-ranked Duke Blue Devils fended off a late Davidson rally to top the Wildcats, 79-67, at Cameron Indoor Stadium.

Scheyer also dished out four assists while Singler added six rebounds for Duke (13-1), which won its fifth straight game and moved to 9-0 at home. Gerald Henderson contributed 11 points and seven boards to the winning effort.

The nation’s leading scorer, Stephen Curry, posted a game-high 29 points to go with eight rebounds and six assists. But the sharpshooter went just 1-for-8 from three-point range and had seven of Davidson’s 17 turnovers in the loss. Andrew Lovedale finished with 15 points while pulling down seven boards for the Wildcats (10-3), whose three losses this season have come against ranked opponents.

Both teams committed numerous turnovers in a sloppy start to the game. Davidson had seven giveaways in the opening seven minutes and trailed 16-10 after Greg Paulus hit a three-pointer around the 12-minute mark.

Scheyer followed Curry’s first basket of the game with a three-point play with roughly six minutes left in the half to push the Duke’s margin to 25-14.

Curry and Lovedale were able to keep the Wildcats close, but Brian Zoubek’s tip-in just before the halftime buzzer gave Duke a 37-24 edge at the break.Henderson’s dunk off the halftime inbounds pass set the tone for a great start to the second half for the Blue Devils. Singler and Scheyer followed Henderson’s throw-down with consecutive treys, and Duke was suddenly ahead 45-24 roughly 90 seconds into the half.

The difference moved to 57-31 behind back-to-back threes from Henderson and Scheyer, the latter coming with 14 1/2 minutes remaining.

The Wildcats finally stepped up their defense as Lovedale and Curry each forced a turnover and converted on the other end to highlight an 11-0 run for the visitors. Curry’s three capped the flurry, and the Davidson deficit was cut to 63-49 with under 10 minutes to play.

A Scheyer three-point play with 8:05 remaining gave Duke a 16-point lead, but the hosts failed to net a field goal over the next seven minutes.

Eight straight Davidson points, capped by Curry and Lovedale layups, made it a 69-61 game with 3:53 to play.

Scheyer then came up with a big offensive rebound to extend a Duke possession, and Lance Thomas was fouled pulling down another Duke miss. His two free throws moved the margin back to double digits with 2:41 to play.

Will Archambault missed a three from the corner on the next Davidson touch, and Scheyer’s straightaway triple with under a minute left sealed the win for the No. 2 team in the country.

PHOTOS:

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DAVIDSON, N.C. – Stephen Curry scored 21 points, surpassing 2,000 in his career, and Davidson beat Samford 76-55 on Saturday to continue its dominance in the Southern Conference.

Curry is the third player in Davidson history to hit the 2,o00 point plateau, joining legends John Gerdy and Fred Hetzel in the record books.

Davidson’s star guard hit 5 of 6 3-pointers, added eight assists and got plenty of help from his teammates as the Wildcats (10-2, 3-0) cruised to their 33rd straight league win.

Will Archambault and Ben Allison added 12 points apiece for Davidson in a tuneup for Wednesday’s game at No. 5 Duke. The scoring spark off of the bench came with a flourish as Archambault scored three 3-pointers in four possessions and Allison continued to attack the basket with strength.

Bryan Friday scored 10 points for the Bulldogs (5-6), who shot 36 percent and fell to 0-2 in their first season in the Southern Conference. 

Curry became the third player in school history to surpass 2,000 points when he hit a 3-pointer in transition with 3:35 left in the first half. It came in just the junior’s 82nd game, another remarkable accomplishment for the Wildcat star.

The victory was also a milestone for Davidson head coach Bob McKillop who picked up his 350th win building on his record as the Wildcats’ and Southern Conference’s winningest coach.

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CHARLESTON, S.C. – Stephen Curry registered 29 points, nine assists and seven rebounds, and Davidson held off a late-game rally by the College of Charleston to earn a 79-75 Southern Conference victory at Carolina First Arena Monday night.

It was Davidson’s 32nd consecutive league victory. Will Archambault collected 14 points and seven rebounds for the ‘Cats (9-2, 2-0 SoCon), and Steve Rossiter tallied 11 points and eight rebounds. Andrew Lovedale finished with nine points and seven boards.

Andrew Goudelock led the Cougars (10-2, 2-1 SoCon) with 22 points to go along with seven rebounds. Jermaine Johnson posted 16 points and 13 boards, and Marcus Hammond scored 11. Tony White Jr. added 10 points.

The Wildcats used a 14-2 run to break a 63-63 tie and take a 77-65 cushion on a dunk by Max Paulhus Gosselin with 3:45 remaining in the contest.

Charleston came roaring back, and a Goudelock runner from the baseline made the margin 77-75 with 51 seconds left. Curry was fouled in the act of shooting on Davidson’s next possession but connected on 1-of-2 free throws, leaving the score at 78-75.

The Cougars’ Goudelock got a good look at a 3-pointer from the top of the key, but it would not go down. Curry hit 1-of-2 from the foul line with five seconds left for the final margin.

The Wildcats pushed a one-point lead to 11 at halftime by capping the first frame with a 12-2 run. Rossiter and Curry each had four points during the stretch.

Trailing by 10 early in the second half, Charleston used a 14-6 spurt to trim the margin to 52-50 on a 3-pointer by White with 14:19 to play. The game went back and forth from there with three ties and two lead changes.

The Wildcats return to action at Belk Arena Saturday when they host Samford at 2 p.m.

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