Davidson records 17th straight conference victory, 73-51 over Furman

The Davidson Wildcats hit their first eight of nine shots to open up a 24-13 lead over the Furman Paladins Wednesday night before cruising to a 73-51 victory. The win puts Bob McKillop's Wildcats at a perfect 7-0 in the conference. It is the second consecutive season that Davidson has opened the league slate with seven victories.

Stephen Curry once again led all scorers with 14 points. However, Curry was off of his game on this night, hitting only 1-8 three-pointers and turning the ball over four times. He made up for his poor offensive performance by playing very aggressive defense, blocking one shot and collecting a team-high seven rebounds.

Boris Meno and Will Archambault turned in solid performances off the bench. Each scored in double figures in less than 20 minutes of play. Archambault attacked the basket off the dribble on several possessions and showed his ability to score from different looks. Andrew Lovedale started his fifth consecutive game and put together another solid performance with eight points and five rebounds.

Although Davidson got off to another quick start, they hit a slump halfway through the first period. Several costly turnovers by Davidson's guards found Jason Richards sitting on the bench and Furman trying to pull within single digits. Although Richards started with a couple of big three-pointers, he played most of the game out of sync. He played through the trash time at the end to finish with eight assists and 11 points. The nation's leading assist man now has over 500 assists for his career.

Davidson's defense played well for the night, forcing 16 turnovers and holding Furman to 4-19 shooting from three-point land. Six different players were credited with steals while the Wildcats challenged many Paladin shots around the rim.

Thomas Sander continued to provide a strong presence inside, pounding the Paladin forwards on every possession. The physical strain seemed to get to him a little in the second half though. He was visibly tired on the free throw line, missing two freebies off the front rim and going 1-4 from the FT line on the night.

The Furman student contingent tried to get in the Wildcats' heads all night by referring to players' siblings and past history.

"We have all learned to tune that stuff out pretty well," said Sander afterwards. "But that's probably the first time that people have brought up my sister."

As Davidson was leaving the Timmons Arena, the players were greeted by the first falling snow of the season. Native Canadian Max Paulhus Gosselin was grinning from ear to ear.

"It feels just like home."