Wildcats Pride

Davidson Wildcats (21-4) vs. Furman Paladins (6-18)

The Wildcats take the show on the road for a stop at Furman in a 4 p.m. contest Saturday. Furman is expecting a capacity crowd of 5,000 for the game. If it sells out, it will be the fourth straight game Davidson will play before a sold-out arena on the road.The Wildcats own their best record at this point of the season since the 2006-07 campaign, when Davidson won 13 in a row to post a 29-4 mark before falling 82-70 to Maryland in the NCAA?Tournament at HSBC?Arena in Buffalo, N.Y. Junior guard Stephen Curry needs 95 points to pass John Gerdy and become Davidson’s all-time leading scorer.

Complete Davidson Game Notes

Davidson                       Team Comparison                       Furman 

80.3                              Scoring Average                               61.2

66.2                              Scoring Defense                              70.4

+14.1                           Avg. Scoring Margin                           -9.2

.445                                       FG%                                        .406

.402                                  Opp. FG%                                    .475

.371                                    3-PT%                                      .315

38.8                           Total Rebounds Avg.                           30.6

+2.1                       Avg. Rebounding Margin                       -3.2

14.5                                  Assists Avg.                                 11.6

8.4                                    Steals Avg.                                   5.0

12.2                                Turnovers Avg.                             14.0

2.9                                   Blocks Avg.                                   2.9

Davidson                         Individual Leaders                         Furman

S. Curry   29.1                            Scoring                           J. Miller  13.8

A. Lovedale   8.8                       Rebounds                           B. Barnes  4.8

S. Curry   6.1                              Assists                             D. Evans  3.3

Davidson guard Stephen Curry has been named the Southern Conference Player of the Week for his performance in three Wildcat conference wins last week, the league announced today.

It is the seventh time this season he has won the award, which is voted on by the conference’s sports information directors, and the most times a player has earned the honor in a season. Curry has now earned the accolade 15 times in his career.

Curry helped the Wildcats earn victories over Chattanooga (92-70), Samford (55-52) and Western Carolina (89-65) last week by averaging 26 points, 6.7 assists, five rebounds and 2.3 steals.

He leads nation in scoring (28.9 ppg) and leads the SoCon in assists (6.5 apg) and steals (2.9 spg). Curry has moved into 14th place on the NCAA’s Division I career made three-pointers list (369) and into ninth on the SoCon all-time scoring chart.

Davidson (19-3, 12-0 SoCon) visits UNC Greensboro Thursday night.  Tipoff is set for 7:00 p.m. at the Greensboro Coliseum.

After leading his team to 20 straight wins in the Pennsylvania Central league, Davidson recruit Jake Cohen faced stiff defense, clutch shooting, and the first defeat of the year on Monday.

Cohen’s Conestoga Pioneers faced off against rival Lower Merion with their undefeated season on the line. Conestoga had won the previous three match-ups and looked to be firing on all cylinders again as they jumped out to a 10-0 lead to start the game.

The game was a game of runs for both teams, however, and it was Lower Merion’s Oliver Cohen (no relation) who capped a comeback with a layup to secure the 46-44 win.

One of the keys to Lower Merion’s success was their ability to contain Jake Cohen. The 6′10″ senior was held to only 9 points, well below his season average, by the Ace’s Harley Williamson who admitted that the assignment was “difficult”.

“He is respected in the Central league,” said Williamson, “and he is a great player. It was hard.”

Despite the loss, Conestoga will remain the top seed going into the league championship when they will play Upper Darby at home.

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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As many of you may know, Wildcats Pride is a one man operation.

And while there are not many things that would stop me from reporting on the Davidson Wildcats, there is one particular event that will force me to go on a break.

I am getting married this weekend and spending the next two weeks away on my honeymoon. So, there will be no new postings until February, even though the season is in full swing.

I have truly appreciated everyone’s support so far and hope you will check back with the website again at the end of January.

Just to illustrate my dedication to the Wildcats, I want to introduce the future Mrs. Wildcats Pride…

Thank you for your understanding and enjoy the basketball.

Tuesday on ESPN, legendary coach Bob Knight sat down to talk about the best aspect of Stephen Curry’s game… his passing.

While most people would agree that Curry has become a superstar due to his uncanny ability to put up points, that is not what impresses Knight the most.

According to Knight, Curry is “the best passer in college basketball”.

In analyzing film from this season, the former coach gives Curry high marks for running the teams set offense. He “knows where the cuts going to be… and delivers the cross court pass perfectly.”

However, it is in transition that Knight has even higher praise for Curry. After breaking down a fast break initiated by Curry and finished off with a Ben Allison dunk, Knight comments that “there are very few players who have ever played the game that can make that pass”.

“He’s as good a passer as has ever played college basketball.”

Watch the complete segment below…

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.

Every college basketball fan knows that Davidson has some of the best (if not the best) outside shooters in the college game.

More loyal Davidson fans are excited about a presence down low that Davidson has not had in a long time.

The Big Easy…

Click here for more Davidson video

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.”