Cats muscle their way into SoCon finals, 82-52

Davidson gets yet another 30-point victory in the Southern Conference Tournament, beating UNC-Greensboro 82-52.

Davidson scored 44 (that's right, 44!) points in the paint and held Greensboro to 8. Hines finished with just 10 points on 3-9 shooting. Davidson's defense forced five turnovers on Hines. On the flip side, Hines' shot blocking did not stifle Davidson's big men as Meno finished 6-6 from the field while Lovedale and Sander both hit several field goals.

"Hines is a great player," Thomas Sander said. "We did a great job as a team getting a quick double, and he got a little frustrated early on. Any time you hold him to 10 points, you can be pretty successful."

The Wildcats recorded 21 second chance points on 13 offensive rebounds. Many of those plays came as a result of double teams on guard penetration that left the forwards open for easy putbacks.

Stephen Curry continued to drive the Davidson bus with 10-17 shooting and 26 points, despite being bodied around for the whole game. Curry continually hit the deck and yet his shot attempts kept going in. Curry passed the 1500-point mark for his career with little fanfare ("I didn't even know about it to be honest.")

The Wildcats did not need to rely on the three pointer throughout the game as they shot 28-46 from two-point land. The Wildcats' physicality shined forth defensively and offensively and the vastly underrated Wildcat frontcourt got their time in the sun on this semifinal night. Rossiter had a strong performance, coming down with seven rebounds and several big forced turnovers on Hines.

"Davidson probably played us harder tonight than they did during the regular season," said UNC-G coach Mike Dement. "Sander did a great job of denying the ball to Kyle [Hines]. They had more to do with the final score than we did. This whole league can learn a lot from how hard they play, especially in the paint."

Davidson's win is their 21st consecutive, a streak that is tops in the country. The Wildcats will look to move up in tomorrow's polls which come out before the championship game begins. Davidson was ranked 25th and 27th in the national AP and Coaches' Polls, respectively. They were also given a nine seed in the latest version of Joe Lunardi's ESPN.com Bracketology.

Davidson will enter their third straight tournament final in Charleston tomorrow night at 9 p.m. and will face seventh-seeded Elon. The Phoenix gave Davidson problems in their game at Alumni Gym earlier in the season. Although this same Greensboro team had Davidson down twenty at one point. These Wildcats are rolling and it will take a few miracles from Elon to stop them.

2008 SoCon Awards

The Southern Conference office announced the 2008 SCSMA All-Conference teams yesterday, with Davidson's Stephen Curry, Bob McKillop and The Citadel's Cameron Wells taking home top honors. On a day before the coaches ballots will be released, I thought I would provide you with my SCSMA ballot and several other awards that I think should be included next year. (Note that I do not include an All-Freshman team, but rather put them into the mix with everyone else).

Player of the Year: Stephen Curry
Coach of the Year: Bob McKillop
Freshman of the Year: Cameron Wells, The Citadel

1st Team
Stephen Curry, Davidson
Jason Richards, Davidson
Kyle Hines, UNC-Greensboro
Donte Minter, Appalachian State
Nicchaeus Doaks, UTC

2nd Team
Louis Graham, Georgia Southern
Brandon Giles, Western Carolina
Cameron Wells, The Citadel
Andrew Goudelock, College of Charleston
Stephen McDowell, UTC

3rd Team
Drew Gibson, Wofford
Jermaine Johnson, College of Charleston
Ola Atoyebi, Elon
Donald Sims, Appalachian State
Thomas Sander, Davidson

All Defensive Team
Max Paulhus Gosselin, Davidson
Stephen Curry, Davidson
Kyle Hines, UNC-Greensboro
Jason Richards, Davidson
Nicchaeus Doaks, UTC

All-Choke Team ("We're playing Davidson?!? Twice?!?")
Louis Graham, GSU - 7 points, 9 TO's, 9 fouls
Tony White, Jr., College of Charleston - 6-16 FG, 8 TO's
Jeremy Clayton, ASU - 4 points, 7 TO's
Stephen McDowell, UTC - 4-19 3PT FGs
Eric Wilson, WCU - 8 fouls, 7 points, 8 TO's

The "Screw You Guys, I'm Going Home" Team
Nick Aldridge, WCU
Tyler Whatley, Wofford
Michael Porrini, WCU
Josh Jackson, College of Charleston
Bobby Cremins, College of Charleston (just wait, it's coming)

The "Man I Wish He Was Wearing A Davidson Uniform" Team (for good performance against Davidson, combined with admirable skill sets and character)
Kyle Hines, UNC-Greensboro
T.J. Douglas, Elon/Montell Watson, Elon
Cameron Wells, The Citadel
Andrew Goudelock, College of Charleston
Shane Nichols, Wofford

2008 Dontaye Draper Award (for excellence in a four-year career that was not enough to carry his team to a championship)
Kyle Hines, UNC-Greensboro

Top Moments of 2008 Conference Season
10. When GSU cheerleaders threw megaphones on court after Davidson run
9. Max Paulhus Gosselin recording career-high 7 steals, including several in-bounds stops, on national television at Belk Arena
8. Wildcats winning big in front of packed crowd on 100th anniversary weekend
7. Every time that Davidson made it to 15 points before the other team scored
6. Every time that Stephen Curry outscored the other team in one half
5. Stephen Curry giving Boris Meno a hug on the bench before every tip-off in 2008
4. Stephen Curry for two...assist from Kyle Hines' back
3. Stephen Curry's mid-air switch to go in front of Elon in final minute
2. Max Paulhus Gosselin steal and Jason Richards' three-point play with cut eyebrow to cap 20-point comeback win at Greensboro
1. Going 20-0 in conference play for the first time ever

Davidson Basketball Seniors 2008

The following was printed in the Davidson-ASU game program from Wednesday, February 27.

In order to let Davidson fans get to know seniors Thomas Sander, Boris Meno and Jason Richards a little better, we thought it would be best if we sat the winningest class in school history down together and let them interview each other. We gave them a little help with questions, and it took off from there. Assistant sports information director Lauren Biggers was there to take it all in.

Jason: What annoys you most about your roommate?
Thomas: Well, first of all, he leaves the TV on when he falls asleep. Just because I can’t fall asleep. And he also snores, so I can’t fall asleep. And he’s dirty, which makes me be dirty. Is it supposed to be one thing?
Jason: Do I get to answer that too? His girlfriend. Don’t put that.
Thomas: No, you write that and see what happens.

Boris: Do you Google yourself? Jason?
Jason: Yeah, who doesn’t? I have. (To Thomas) Do you?
Thomas: I have. There’s nothing on me.
Boris: Do you YouTube yourself?
Thomas: I did YouTube myself one time. When I YouTube myself, Steph usually comes up.

Jason: If you could meet anyone in history, living or dead, who would it be?
Boris: Michael Jackson.
Jason: You like Michael Jackson?
Boris: Never, never land.

Jason: What’s the craziest thing you’ve ever done? Boris, you are pretty crazy. Have you ever bungee jumped?
Boris: I’ve bungee jumped.
Jason: Have you really?
Boris: Yeah. It was pretty fun, pretty crazy.
Jason: There’s no way I would ever bungee jump. Was it over water or rocks?
Boris: Rocks.
Jason: Wow. No Way.
Boris: It was fun. I would like to go skydiving.
Jason: I’m scared of jumping out of a plane.
Thomas: I’m scared of heights so there’s no way I would do that. I hate heights.
Boris: I heard that doesn’t really matter when you skydive.
Jason: No? I’m scared of dying. How about that?

Thomas: J, what’s your favorite way to spend an off day?
Jason: Sleeping. Probably go see a movie.
Thomas: Yeah, you always go see movies. Play pranks on freshmen.

Boris: What is the best road trip you have taken with the men’s team?
Jason: Can we put Italy in there?
Thomas: Yeah.
Jason: Italy, definitely.
Boris: Not Slovenia.
Thomas: (laughing) Me and J went to Italy. Boris got stopped at the border.
Jason: Boris, did you make it there?
Boris: Yeah I made it there. I couldn’t go to Slovenia.
Jason: Because he’s a French citizen they wouldn’t let him in.
Boris: I needed a visa to go to Slovenia. So Landry (Kosmalski) and I drove back to Italy and spent two days. We had to go to the embassy and everything.
Thomas: How many games did you miss? Two?
Boris: I missed two. And you guys lost.
Thomas: I missed two too actually. One was the Italian national team, and we got blown out by 40.
Boris: Just so you guys know, I was 100 percent. Nothing but wins in Italy.
Thomas: I was too.
Jason: I wasn’t. Ok, I got a good one. Who would play you in a movie? Who would be your love interest?
Boris: The Rock.
Jason: Does it have to be an actor or just a celebrity? I would say Brad Paisley.
Thomas: I would pick Nick Lachey.
Boris: You want Nick Lachey to play you?
Thomas: Yeah, he’s calm and collected. Just a normal guy. Hard working guy.
Jason: And he’s from Cincy. Who would be your love interest?
Thomas: I don’t know. His girlfriend, Vanessa Minnillo?
Boris: My love interest would be the girl from Bad Boys 2.
Jason: Bad Boys 2... Oh I know who you are talking about. I don’t know her name.
Thomas: The one that dates Will Smith?
Jason: Yeah.
Boris: Gabrielle Union.
Jason: I would go with either Jessica Alba or that girl from Heroes. Ali Larter?

Thomas: Hey J, where do you see yourself in 20 years?
Jason: Who picked 20 years? Ten years would be better. In 20 years I’ll be 40.
Thomas: You’ll be the 40-year-old bachelor, man. Living the dream.
Jason: I’ll be in my mansion in Vegas or somewhere. What about you Thomas, where will you be in 20 years?

Thomas: I don’t know. I’ll be somewhere I guess. Hopefully have a family. Some money... What was or is your favorite place to play? ... I love playing in Charleston.
Jason: Yeah. I like the atmosphere there.
Boris: Yeah I like Charleston.
Jason: The Southern Conference tournament in Charleston.
Boris: I don’t like The Citadel though.
Thomas: No, I like playing at the College of Charleston.
Boris: Southwest Missouri State.
Jason: That was fun.
Boris: Yeah, that was good.
Thomas: I didn’t like that one.
Boris: I loved it. It was intense.
Jason: I don’t think any of us played.
Boris: We didn’t.
Thomas: I got in for a minute, and I turned it over.
Jason: I got in for two minutes. I got one steal. That’s all that matters.
Boris: I got in. I think I had a turnover, too.
Thomas: Did you come right out?
Boris: Yeah.

Thomas: If you didn’t play basketball, what sport would you play?
Jason: Golf.
Boris: NASCAR racing. I’d be the first 6-8 black guy.
Jason: (To Thomas) What about you? Football?
Thomas: Yeah. I’d definitely play football.
Boris: Yeah, I’d play football too.
Thomas: Come on Boris. The hands? What are you gonna play? Lineman?
Jason: Lineman?
Thomas: Dude, they are all 6-8. You just have to put some weight on.
Jason: Like 250 pounds.
Boris: Are you serious? I can catch a football. I’ve been practicing with my roommate.
Jason: Yeah, in your apartment right?
Boris: Yeah, and throwing it outside too.

Thomas: I don’t want to answer this question.
Jason: What is it?
Thomas: How long does it take you to get ready to go out? It doesn’t take me that long, but J is already done in like two seconds. And I put something on.
Jason: Thomas is like, “J, Which looks better? This or this?” I’m like (snaps). Boris is always looking good.
Thomas: Boris is always dressed really nice. It must take Boris really long because he’s always late.
Boris: I was never late because I didn’t know what to wear.

Jason: Something about you that people would be surprised to know? ... Not many believe that I dunked in high school.
Thomas: You didn’t.
Jason: I did. I have it on videotape.

Thomas: Worst question you’ve ever been asked by a media member? Steph, come here and answer this one.
Boris: So, what does Steph think right now?
Thomas: Somebody didn’t ask me about Steph. That was weird. I kind of expected it. I’m sorry, are you just trying to make me feel good?

Boris: Three people you would like to go to dinner with?
Jason: Michael Jackson? You said you wanted to meet him.
Boris: Yeah, but he wouldn’t be invited to dinner.
Jason: Bob McKillop.
Thomas: Let’s do that tonight.
Jason: Oh, for that other question, people would be surprised to know that Boris actually gave me the cut above my eye. We slowed the tape down. It was you.

Jason: Here is a good one. What is the funniest thing Coach McKillop ever said to you?
Thomas: How about weird?
Jason: Coach wanted to call Thomas “The Colonel.” Colonel Sander. But Thomas didn’t want him to.
Thomas: I thought it was clever.
Boris: We had to vote.
Jason: We had a thing in the locker room that said Colonel or General for Thomas.
Boris: All of the players picked Colonel, but somehow it was General.

Thomas: Coach listens to me... Oh, favorite muscle to work on? If I had to choose one, I’d probably say pectoral muscles. I like that.
Jason: I’d say bis.
Boris: I’d say tris.
Thomas: Together we could win a competition.

Jason: Yeah, together we would be huge. What’s your favorite basketball memory?
Thomas: Italy was fun. Also winning SoCon last year was cool.
Jason: Yeah, because no one expected us to do it. Going 16-0 was nice.
Thomas: Yeah. It lost a lot of luster though because the other stuff.
Jason: Winning the Arizona State thing last year.
Boris: Steph Curry.
Jason: Steph Curry committing to Davidson College.

Boris: Most memorable shot you made? A lot of Steph Curry shots that I was close to.
Thomas: Mine was definitely my first three against Charlotte, sophomore year. First three I had ever made. No one expected it, and we were up like three.
Boris: What about the dunk in Charlotte, sophomore year?
Jason: The one you blew up the picture of and put on our wall. We had this huge picture of Thomas dunking on our wall.
Thomas: I gave that to my dad. I got self-conscious.
Jason: (To Boris) What was yours?
Boris: I have two. The alley oop from Kenny. I almost made Top 10... And Jason’s out of bounds play.
Jason: Oh, this year? I don’t have any memorable shots. I have memorable assists.

Thomas: Steph or Dell Curry?
Boris: I never played with Dell Curry so I have to take Steph.
Jason: (Nodding to SID office) Is Steph in there?
Thomas: I would pick Seth.

Jason: I’d take Steph. He’s my teammate. What’s your favorite thing on the menu at the Brickhouse? (To Thomas) I know yours. Quesadillas?
Thomas: I like the quesadillas. Those are good.
Boris: Chicken parm.
Jason: Yeah, you always get that. I like the flounder. The flounder sandwich.

Thomas: What’s your favorite meal at Commons? ... Chicken parm.
Jason: Chicken parm. It’s everybody’s favorite.

Thomas: What’s your favorite non-basketball memory at Davidson? ... Going out on the boat.
Jason: Yeah, hanging out at Lake Campus.
Boris: I’d say hanging out with the football guys this summer.
Thomas: It’s definitely interesting.
Jason: Very.

Boris: If you could do it again, what would you do differently?
Thomas: I wouldn’t get hurt so often.
Jason: College, or just basketball? I wouldn’t do anything differently.
Thomas: It panned out pretty well. I’d still be an econ major, unfortunately.
Boris: I wouldn’t lose to UNCG freshman year.
Thomas: I would have lifted more. In-season. I lift a lot out of season.

Jason: Favorite Davidson professor? Favorite Davidson class?
Boris: Oh, for the other one. I would try to come on time. Not that I didn’t try.
Jason: Favorite class? I would say the Vietnam Experience. What professor do I have now that I need help with?
Thomas: I’d say Dr. Appleyard. And Dr. Roberts. And Dr. Smith.
Jason: I like Dr. McMillen. My thesis professor.
Boris: I would say Dr. Yoder, my French advisor. Favorite class I would say that sociology class...
Jason: Gender and Society.

Thomas: Thing you can’t live without?
Boris: Steph Curry’s jump shot.
Jason: Can we all say Steph Curry?

Thoughts from Greensboro

-The stars were aligned for Davidson to lose tonight. Greensboro had been underperforming...Davidson had been blowing people out...Sander was on the bench. The Spartans scorched the nets shooting 9-12 from three in the first half. Their intensity and home crowd helped ignite a first half blitz that found Greensboro sitting right below their average offensive output of the last week: at halftime. But Davidson won by five. Their defiance of the basketball gods tonight was extraordinary to say the least.

-Boris and Andrew played very gutsy basketball against the league's reigning POY. Rossiter also played very physical all night long. However, it seemed like the close quarters and frenetic pace of the game led the forwards to start dropping the ball again as they had earlier in the season. Several good offensive looks turned into turnovers while defensive rebounds turned into loose balls and second chance opportunities. That being said, Lovedale's late game free throws and d rebound combined with Meno's three-point play helped put Davidson over the top after they had caught the Spartans.

-The heart of this team literally came spilling out on the court tonight. Richards' eyebrow was split open in an ugly way, bleeding all over everything...yet he came back to make the game-winning drive and free throw. Max Paulhus Gosselin recovered from endless "air ball" jeering to make the game-saving steal leading to Richards' drive. Andrew Lovedale overcame foul trouble to bring down the rebound with a scream after Greensboro's late attempt to tie the game. Thomas Sander did not let his sidelining keep him from supporting the team...he was the first one on the court at every timeout and was never quiet on the sidelines even when the Wildcats trailed big. And then, of course, there was Stephen Curry.

-After the game, Max Paulhus Gosselin was asked: "So, do you think that Stephen Curry is an All-American." Gosselin answered honestly. "I actually only care about Davidson basketball, so I don't really watch other teams or sports on ESPN. I don't know who else is really good. But yeah, Steph is an All-American in my book."

-Although Curry recalled that he thought the turning point of the game came in the end of the first half when the Wildcats cut the lead to 15, I would argue that Davidson knew they were coming back much later, when they were trailing by more than 10 in the second half. Curry and Gosselin double-teamed a Spartan and forced a loose ball out of bounds. Although the official rewarded Greensboro the ball, Curry turned to Max with a big smile and winked at him. 2 seconds later, Curry had stolen the inbounds pass and gone the length of the court for a layup.

-Curry only hit 1 three in the first half. Some might say that could have had something to do with his shorts. He broke the drawstring in warmups and was forced to don an XL pair which he tied tightly and rolled down a few times, exposing the white waistband. It was a good look for Curry, maybe he should do it more often.

-I had the privilege of sitting next to a fellow blogger who was writing about UNC-Greensboro. Will Brinson is a regular contributor to AOL's Fanzone and did his own live blog over here.

-The more I think about it, the more that I really don't mind Kyle Hines winning last year's SoCon Player of the Year honor. He truly is a remarkable player at this level, especially for his height. He had several incredible hustle plays that put Greensboro ahead late after the Wildcats caught them, while his first-half dunks and blocks were things of beauty. I say that I don't mind because I know that this year's real POY was outmatching Hines throughout the entire second half. Curry's constant toughness and "next play" attitude were put on display at Fleming. The country's fifth-leading scorer led his team to another win because of his knack for hunting the mid-range shot. At a time when all college players either shoot threes or layups, Curry has perfected the mid-range two which makes him such a unique basketball player. He was absolutely phenomenal.

-Davidson's attitude in the second half was definitely one of a team finally kicking it into overdrive. The several hundred fans in attendance got into a shouting match with Spartan supporters while Davidson was not unwilling to show a ton of emotion on the court. This was probably the first time that I have seen Davidson win a game and have the team run out to celebrate in a very long time. It felt like a game one more time.

-We almost got lost driving back to Davidson as the snow covered all of the street signs in Greensboro and our directions weren't retraceable because of one-way streets. Wildcat blogger Lauren Biggers escaped with ticket office guru April Albritton while Davidson's SID and myself were stuck going around in circles. We finally found the highway and a Wendy's. The only times I have traveled to away games with our SID department, I have come home in the snow. Maybe I can make it snow in Charleston in March if I keep this up.

'Cats win big in front of alums, 85-58

***photo by Marty Price***

Davidson extended its conference winning streak to 18 games on Saturday afternoon by defeating North Division leader Chattanooga 85-58. The Wildcats have now started the conference season at 8-0. Davidson has only opened the conference season with eight straight in three different seasons: they finished undefeated each time.

Davidson was led by the incredible talent of Stephen Curry. Curry fed off the raucous crowd of 5,361 to lead Davidson from the opening tip. The crowd had an especially emotional feel as scores of Davidson basketball alumni, including Lefty Driesell, were in town for Davidson's 100th anniversary celebration.

Curry hit three-pointers from all parts of the court, scoring 27 points in the first half. That was one point short of Fred Hetzel's Davidson record of 28 set back in the 1964. Curry finished with 37 points, one short of a career high, with eight three-pointers. His last three came from well beyond the three-point arc with a hand in his face.

Curry was not alone in harnessing the fever pulse of the crowd. Boris Meno finished with 12 points off the bench, including several big thunder dunks that brought the crowd to its feet.

"It was good to get the crowd going and my team going," said Meno. "Steph was making shots like crazy, so I had to do something."

"The crowd was extraordinary," said Coach McKillop. "It was emotional for me to have all these people assembled that have allowed me to be here. They built the foundation of this program, and I wanted us to play well in front of them. I was incredibly proud of our guys because it was such a special day."

Andrew Lovedale and Thomas Sander joined Meno in dominating Chattanooga in the frontcourt. Lovedale made several fallaway jumpers to finish with 12 points in his sixth game as a starter. Sander set several impenetrable ball screens to set up Curry threes. He finished with six assists and six steals, leading Davidson's defense all night.

"Sander was flawless out there today," said McKillop.

McKillop and his players had the opportunity to interact with Davidson basketball alums at Friday's practice and Saturday's dinner.

"Those guys are proud to be a part of a program that has the excitement we have now. They are all part of that foundation," said McKillop.

On Saturday afternoon, that foundation seemed impenetrable.

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."

Thoughts from Saturday's games against WCU

-Davidson women's basketball team is inching closer and closer to joining the elite squads of the Southern Conference. Although Western was playing without their star forward, sharpshooter Lauren Powell put forth another fantastic performance (7-12 FG). Davidson led the Catamounts throughout most of the first half and did not let WCU pull away when they went on a second half run. If Halbersleben's last second shot would have fallen, the Cats would have had five more minutes to pull out a victory and get a huge conference victory against a top team.

-Although she only played limited minutes, Katie Hamilton showed why she was such a dominant SoCon player for her first few years. She plays with great balance and patience, taking good shots when they are there and setting up her teammates perfectly. The Wildcat offense had more flow when she was in the game.

-Davidson guards Kelly Gassie and Alex Thompson were thrown off a little bit by Western's second half press. The Wildcats struggled to score throughout most of the half and a lot of that had to do with the Catamount press throwing off their offensive timing and making them race against the shot clock on every possession.

-Mercedes Robinson is easily the most consistent and talented scorer on Davidson's squad (at least until Hamilton gets back to full strength). Robinson rarely misses close shots and she has an uncanny ability to control the ball in traffic and get off an accurate shot. While I used to think that she was one of those quiet scorers who made double figures without you noticing, I now believe that she is just flat out one of the top players in this program in recent years.

-In the Belk Arena nightcap, Western Carolina laid down the plan for how to beat Davidson in conference play: don't let Davidson beat you from outside, bump the Wildcats to keep them off-rhythm, shoot a high percentage from the field. Unfortunately for Western, the referees decided to call the game close and Davidson set a new season high with 31 free throw attempts.

-Boris Meno had a really nice performance as he came off the bench for the second night in a row. Meno scored nine points and three boards, including an impressive thunder jam on a fastbreak. The forward from Paris seemed to be more intent on limiting his turnovers and converting touches into points or opportunities for his teammates. With Sander reemerging as a potent force inside (he had nine points and 10 boards tonight), Meno has the opportunity to shore up a veteran frontcourt that was exposed in non-conference play.

-For the second straight game, Max Paulhus Gosselin had a huge game full of energy and offensive production. The junior forward scored nine points including an impressive steal and slam with a foul. He had several defensive plays where his presence altered shots threw the Catamounts out of rhythm. I was really happy to see coach put MPG and Will Archambault in the game together at the two and three. As both players have regained some effectiveness with their offensive production, they become less of a confidence liability on both ends of the court.

-Stephen Curry is so good that he can suffer through the worst shooting game that he has had all season and still contribute 19 points. He and Richards combined for a problematic 10 turnovers and 3-18 shooting night from the perimeter. Yet both players got their points elsewhere integrated the rest of the team into the gameplan.

Davidson goes 3-0 with 92-67 win over Georgia Southern

The Wildcats opened with an 11-0 run and never let up en route to a 92-67 conference win over Georgia Southern. Curry led all scorers with 24 points and scored his 1,000th point in a Wildcat uniform. Curry is the 38th Wildcat to score that many in a career.

"It feels great to get that, but I'm just more focused on what's next," Curry said afterward.

The Wildcats won the battle in the trenches with a 48-38 rebounding edge. Thomas Sander had a break-out game with 18 points and the Wildcats held Georgia Southern's star forward Louis Graham to only seven points. Davidson outscored the Eagles 38-30 with points in the paint.

"We hadn't been that emotional over the last few weeks. But Coach has been working us to be more emotional on the court which showed tonight," Sander said.

Gosselin echoed that sentiment. "We are all having fun now. That's why I came here, to have fun playing basketball. And that's what we're trying to do right now."

Gosselin finished with a season-high seven points, all of which came in the first half.

"We hit singles tonight which was great. We really needed what Sander gave us tonight. Richards and Curry gave us their usual performance, but Sander and Gosselin gave us a sense of urgency," said Coach McKillop.

Curry and Richards had their typical nights as both players finished with double-doubles. Curry's 10 rebounds matched a career-high that he set last year against Chattanooga. Richards' double-double was the seventh of his career. Curry overcame a 3-10 shooting performance in the first half to go 8-19 on the game. Davidson shot 47% from the field on the game.

"We are confident. We have played a tough schedule and we have learned a lot. We are trying to get our swagger back now in the conference," Curry said.

McKillop went with a new lineup tonight as he started Andrew Lovedale in place of senior forward Boris Meno. Meno responded by scoring seven points, while Lovedale had several great hustle plays despite only being credited with four rebounds.

The Wildcats had gone through a form of boot-camp in the days of practice after Christmas. The practices were meant to lift the energy of the team and get them having fun again.

"The fire was still there, but I wanted to spark it a little," McKillop said.

Thoughts from Raleigh

-I had the privilege of getting to see Friday's game from yet a new vantage point: the N.C. State student section. My roommate got tickets from an N.C. State friend and we were able to sneak in with his I.D. While I know that it was a holiday break game, I was mostly unimpressed with State's fans, especially their students. The crowd was pretty silent for most of the game and the N.C. State students in front of us never did figure out that we were Davidson fans. They projected their taunts after the game to the couple sitting in the row behind us. After Curry air-balled his first shot, they yelled "air ball" every time he touched the ball. When he broke the 20-point barrier, one student loudly exclaimed that maybe their strategy was not working. The line of the night came in our pre-game Bojangles tailgate when one of my senior friends said that "just because we're here doesn't mean we should act like idiots."

-The connections that have been forged through Davidson basketball are really quite amazing. I found an old friend that I hadn't seen in years in the arena concourse while the Davidsonian editor from my freshman year ended up sitting right behind me. This basketball team has been the emotional and physical rallying point of Davidson friendships for many years and I hope that it will continue that way.

-Boris Meno has been scrutinized to a T this year for his less-than-stellar performances. Many, including the FSN announcing crew, have already taken their shots at Boris for his 0-5 night from the three-point land. "That's not his shot," goes the outcry. While Meno's three-point percentage is significantly lower this year, most of that does not come from what plagued him on Friday. Against UCLA, Meno took shots off the elbow and in the corner which were not in his license. However, Meno is fully licensed and encouraged to shoot the open three from the top of the key. That shot opens the lane for backcuts and gets taller defenders out of rebounding position. Meno was simply long and off his touch. I was more disappointed in Meno's several missed opportunities right under the basket, when he didn't feel the defense to know when to go up, or when he let simple passes go through his hands. Those are mental mistakes that exams, brutal competition, and expectations have made more common.

-Stephen Curry "looks" like a ball-hog....or an NBA player. It is hard to criticize a guy that consistently scores 20+ and responds to hecklers chanting "air ball" by hitting go-ahead threes in the final minutes...so I won't. Everytime, he steps on the floor, Curry has to decide how to attack without being a ball-hog...how to lead without hurting his team. The line between freedom and responsibility is thinner than ever before. But I'm putting the "Curry" problem on the shoulders of the only man whose shoulders are big enough to handle it: Jason Richards. The fact of the matter is that Stephen Curry can score 30 points every night if he always has the ball in his hands. And yet, his scoring proficiency has not translated into success because it hasn't been supplemented by offensive production and threats elsewhere. Being the undisputed leader of this team, Richards has the responsibility of getting Steph his twenty, pulling down 10-15 for himself and finding those all-important baskets from everyone else that will ultimately put Davidson back in the wins column. I felt like Richards did an excellent job of that in the second half...but once again, it takes a full 40 minutes for Davidson to beat an ACC team.

-The saddest part of watching Davidson so far this year has been seeing what Thomas Sander has gone through. Sander is only averaging 3.5 field goals a game and is shooting 53% from the free throw line. He seems to have lost his defensive discipline at times this year as he has constantly been in foul trouble (he leads the team with 30 fouls and has fouled out twice). Last season, McKillop called Sander the General of the defense because he played relentlessly and was consistently disciplined, always drawing charges and forcing big men into bad shots. This year, he is jumping and reaching for blocks instead playing for the charge or the rebounding position. As we saw against N.C. State, this strategy is failing badly.

'Cats fell short, but answered important questions

Published in The Davidsonian on Dec. 5, 2007. Photos by Evan Mintz.

Now it is December, and the Wildcats are 3-3. Davidson has seemingly been on a rollercoaster of momentum beginning with the start of the second half against North Carolina, dipping into despair after losing at Western Michigan, rising up to new heights with a convincing road conference victory at Appalachian State and then coming to rest somewhere in the middle with a frustratingly close loss to Duke. The Wildcats have been ranked in the nation’s top 25, dropped out of the vote-getting all-together and then climbed back into the “also receiving votes” category this past week.

Going into the season, Davidson fans had high expectations for success. The media has projected such things as a Wildcat appearance in the Sweet Sixteen, and Stephen Curry ’10 has been mentioned in most experts’ list as one of the best shooting guards in the country.

Heading into the second half of the team’s out-of-conference slate, this team still faces several unanswered questions. I, however, want to pause and point out exactly what we have learned so far in this topsy-turvy start to the season.

We all knew that Curry was a great talent, but after seeing him against both Duke and North Carolina, I was convinced that he was the best player on the court both times. Curry was the game’s leading scorer against North Carolina (24), even though he shot a horrendous 2-12 from three-point land. Against Duke, Curry was hampered by foul trouble on several dubious charging penalties, yet the sophomore still managed to score 20 points and keep Davidson within striking distance. Curry even showed his potential for the torrential destruction that could be unleashed on the Southern Conference when he scored 38 points against Appalachian State. The only thing stopping him in that game was fatigue. Averaging 25 points a game, Curry ranks sixth nationally.

Although Curry has been unstoppable against opposing defenses, he has not been able to lead Davidson above .500 through these first six games. We have seen that most of the burden of leadership actually falls on the shoulders of stud point guard Jason Richards ’08. While no one player or play can ever be totally blamed for any one team loss, one could easily look to Richards’ poor first half (0-5 FT shooting) against Duke or his uncharacteristic six turnovers against North Carolina to see that his play could have been the tipping point in the ’Cats’ favor. Heck, Curry scored 38 points against Appalachian State, and the Wildcats still only won by 11 (Richards went 1-9 from the field).

Although Richards has displayed a few lapses in consistency so far, his hand in leading the Wildcats can be seen from every angle. Richards’ 12-point, five-assist effort in the second half against Duke kept the Wildcats close while Curry rode the bench with foul trouble. Richards’ assist numbers (9.0 per game) are tops in the country by a large margin and his average of 33.5 minutes per game shows how indispensable he is.

The Wildcat frontcourt is vastly underrated. While Curry and Richards get all the press in the national media, the Wildcat frontcourt of Boris Meno ’08, Thomas Sander ’08, Andrew Lovedale ’09 and Steve Rossiter ’10 have played extremely well thus far. Although fans like to remember a missed dunk here or there, they often forget the innumerable displays of athleticism that this group has displayed against some of the nation’s top talents.

Last year against Maryland, this group was outscored 36-15 and outrebounded 30-19. The Wildcats had no answer for the Terps’ interior attack and the final result showed the discrepancy. However, against North Carolina this season, this group held Preseason Player of the Year Tyler Hansbrough without a field goal for the entire second half. They outscored Duke’s frontcourt 38-19 and they helped give Davidson the edge on the offensive glass. In Southern Conference play, they held Appalachian State’s Jeremy Clayton and Donte Minter to a combined 11 points and made them turn the ball over seven times. Although they are mostly undersized in comparison to many BCS teams, this group has shown that they can battle with the best and come out on top.


Finally, we have learned how far the seriousness of this program has come. There once was a day when Davidson reveled in the opportunity to play on television and the TV game was always circled on the calendar. This year, the Wildcats play 15 of their 29 regular season games on TV, with a chance that regional networks might pick up a few more games during the season. There was also a time when Davidson fans came home and celebrated losses to Duke and North Carolina when Davidson was within a possession or two in the final minute. Now fans expect Davidson to beat ACC teams and are unwilling to accept anything less than a victory…as a victory. However, the expectations of fans extend beyond message boards and water-cooler talk. Over 3,000 fans showed up at Belk Arena on holiday break to see the Wildcats wallop N.C. Central. Bobcats Arena was filled to its capacity as North Carolina and Duke fans witnessed a proverbial sea of red nearly overcome the venue with Wildcat cheering.

We have learned a lot about this team and this program in these first few weeks of basketball. The Wildcat players and fans have a remarkable seriousness of purpose this season, and that has shown through against the traditional powers on a national stage. The Wildcats still have many questions to answer in this next stretch of schedule, but they have fulfilled many expectations so far.

Wildcats fall to #7 Duke, 79-73

Photo by Tim Cowie

Wildcat fans might be going home today with continued frustration about Davidson's inability to knock off a Top 25 team despite coming so close. However, today's 79-73 loss to no. 7 Duke was Davidson's best showing as a team all season.

The Wildcats took then top-seeded UNC to its final possession back in November before Wayne Ellington hit the game-sealing field goal to hold off Davidson. Today, Greg Paulus hit a baseline jumper with under a minute to go to extend Duke's lead to seven. The Wildcats were unable to pull it closer than four in the final minute despite a late three pointer from Stephen Curry.

The Wildcats answered several important questions today that were still lingering in many people's minds after the Western Michigan and Appalachian State games, despite nearly letting the game get away in the first half.

Jason Richards played poorly in the first half scoring only two points and going 0-5 from the free throw line. Thomas Sander was only 1-5 from the field and Curry had two fouls and four turnovers. The Blue Devils had their largest lead at 16 after Jon Scheyer hit three free throws for being fouled on a three-point attempt with 3:33 remaining. With Curry in foul trouble, the Wildcats were on the verge of letting the game get away from them, much like they did in the teams' last two meetings in Durham. But Davidson finished the half with eight straight points in the paint and cut Duke's lead to 11 at the break.

Like they did against UNC two weeks ago, the Wildcats opened the second half on a 11-3 run, capped off by a Jason Richards three pointer. This happened despite Stephen Curry picking up his third foul on a dubious charging call to start the half. The Blue Devils never let Davidson pull even, however, as they continued to create open shots and answer every Wildcat run with a three-pointer or a big play.

Duke nearly broke the game open again with 10 minutes remaining when Kyle Singler found DeMarcus Nelson for an alley-oop dunk that put Duke up 13. But Davidson battled back once again kept the game close until the very end.

Although Davidson had yet another agonizing "close but no cigar" game, this one was different than most. The Wildcats were actually outmatched by a superior team that played a terrific game. Any spectator that would argue that Duke did not play well is insulting both Davidson and Duke themselves. The Blue Devils played like a championship team and never faltered, even when Davidson made runs. The Wildcats, conversely, proved to be one of few teams that didn't let the patented "Duke mo" take them out of the game. Davidson never quit and the final score represented that.

Davidson played this game very well as they learned to find offense through schemes that didn't involve Stephen Curry. Jason Richards found his shooting touch in the second half as he finished with a monster line of 14 points (12 in the second stanza) and 11 assists. Boris Meno and Andrew Lovedale combined for 22 points and 14 rebounds, while Thomas Sander contributed seven points despite his foul trouble. Duke only outrebounded Davidson by 1, and the Wildcats had the edge on the offensive glass (13-10). Even though Duke had several monster blocks that shifted momentum to their favor, the Wildcats were credited with two more on the game, showing how far Davidson has come in terms of having an athletic post presence.

Not only did Davidson respond well to the momentum swings that Duke produced, they also showed poise when several important calls didn't go their way. Stephen Curry was put in foul trouble early on for several charging calls (all four of his fouls were charges) that might not have needed to be called. Curry was twisting his body on the way to the basket in order to create less contact than a full on drive, and yet the referees seemed to fault him for being out of control. The refs mostly came under fire for an erroneous possession call when Paulus knocked out a loose ball under Davidson's basket and the ref changed his initial call to give it to Duke. The stadium officials replayed the play on the video board showing Paulus touch it, and the entire lower bowl clad in red went apey. But even with the poor officiating, Davidson played hard and played well, making several big shots when they needed to.

If the four-point loss to UNC was a profound statement about how far this program has come, then today's six-point loss to Duke was an exclamation point.

The Davidson fans showed incredible emotion throughout the game and continued to elevate the aspirations of Davidson's program. While many might have written the Cats off for losing to Western Michigan, today's contest showed that great basketball teams cannot truly be measured by a single forty-minute contest. The entire season is played for a reason. The NCAA tournament has six rounds for a reason. This isn't college football where they handpick two storied programs to show down in one game with all of the marbles on the table. Davidson again proved that they deserve to be a part of the national conversation of 2007-2008 college basketball.

Observations from Boone

-My party had a pre-game meal in a nice Greek restaurant right across the street from the arena. The food was really good and we enjoyed eavesdropping on several App Fans conversations about Mountaineer sports. I was dismayed that the restaurant was totally decked out in football stuff without any reference to a winter sport. Then we found a basketball poster in the corner...for the women. No wonder this basketball team has had a hard time becoming a winning program.

-I admit that I was really looking forward to seeing the Holmes Center and experiencing one of the best SoCon basketball environments outside of Charleston or Davidson. But I was pretty disappointed in the Apps for several reasons. First off, they turned off the lights for their pre-game intros which was cool...except for the fact that they turned them off before our intro, which we did in pitch blackness. Then the announcer pronounced Steee-ven Curry which got all of the Davidson fans really riled up. After Steph outscored ASU throughout most of the first half, the announcer started saying Stef-ahhn. What is this, Family Matters? At this point, there is no excuse for any school in the SoCon to pronounce his name wrong. I guess I just didn't believe that the ASU athletic department would stoop so low as to try to rattle him by intentionally mispronouncing his name. That wasn't so classy.

-Appalachian State seems to be having some identity issues when it comes to their success as an athletic program. One poster in a local Subway celebrated the Mountaineers' 2005-2006 D-I Football National Championship. Hey now, I think an A or two might be needed for that one. Also, this year's basketball team media guide has a picture of a 2006-2007 Regular Season Champions ring. First off, who gets rings for winning the regular season and then putting an NIT logo. And second of all, ASU DIDN'T WIN THE REGULAR SEASON! They won the SoCon's North Division and lost as a 2 seed in the conference tournament semis before getting blasted in the play-in round of the NIT. I guess people will buy rings for anything these days.

-This rivalry is probably one of the cleanest amongst SoCon foes. I know that Georgia Southern-CofC has gotten heated over the years and so has Georgia Southern-ASU in football. Every year there are some pretty frustrated CofC fans and overzealous Davidson fans who don't always get along. But I felt like everything was pretty calm in the Holmes Center tonight. The App students and administration did their part to try to rattle Steph, and the Wildcats were very intentional in their silencing of the crowd. It could have gotten uglier than it did.

-It seems like opponents are going to be getting open looks from the corners for the rest of the season. Davidson doubled down on the post and trapped near the perimeter a few times. App. State was very effective in their rotation early on, and they kept the score close by hitting some wide open three-pointers. Thankfully, they cooled off after a while. I guess the defense makes sense most of the time because ASU had untold numbers of missed layups, charges and travels while being doubled in the paint, and several of their players could not hit wide open threes if their life depended on it. But that is something we are giving up right now and it looks like it will continue.

-Davidson hit 12 three-pointers tonight, nine of them coming from Curry (Curry finished with a career-high 38, setting a new Holmes Center record). Some people might worry that we are relying on him too much, but there were a few moments when either Steph wasn't in the game or he was tired and the rest of the offense just sensed that they needed to step up. The Bryant Barr three-pointer to break ASU's late run came as a result of too much defensive attention being spent on Steph. It was a perfect example of how such a great player made his teammates better.

-I was a bit worried about the lack of entry passes that we put into the paint in the first half. Thomas "The General" Sander converted on several nice back-to-the-basket opportunities later on, but our frontcourt struggled during much of the early going. All of the bigs, Sander especially, seemed very tentative about taking their shot. They almost just expected Jeremy Clayton to come swat their shot on every attempt. There were several times where they had open layups or dunks, but their hesitation allowed the defense to recover. One stat that really displayed this tentativeness was FT shooting. Davidson had absolutely none until the final minutes of the game.

-Will Archambault seems to be in the slump of a lifetime. This thing is beginning to get to those proportions where in baseball, players would completely change their pregame rituals, sleep on the other side of the bed or switch the order in which they eat their pregame meal. Coach McKillop didn't force the issue tonight as he allowed Bryant Barr to come in and play the 3 position alongside J-Rich and Stephen. Jason also had a tough game. He missed several open threes and his patented drives seemed to have been a tad off. He was visibly frustrated with his lack of offensive output.

-The biggest part of this game was the fire with which Davidson played. ASU tried to slow the game down and deflate Davidson's emotion by running a 2-3 zone defense, but it ultimately didn't shut us down completely. From the first tip to the final whistle MPG, The Big Cat, Boris and, of course Steph, created loose balls, crashed the boards and answered every run made by the Mountaineers. They pulled out a victory on the road against a very formidable SoCon opponent. That is no small accomplishment for November.

Wildcats open centennial season with 120 points over Emory

Boris Meno and Jason Richards recorded double-doubles while Stephen Curry scored a game-high 27 points to lead Davidson to a 120-56 victory over D-III Emory in the season's opener. The 120 points were the highest Davidson basketball output since the 2002-2003 season when the Wildcats dropped 125 on Washington & Jefferson.

The Wildcats overmatched Emory in most aspects of the game and they never let up. Davidson opened up a 20-2 lead in the first five minutes of the game behind seven quick points from Thomas Sander.

Emory struggled all night with the 'Cats two-man full court pressure and trapping defense. Trying to beat the Davidson press, the Eagles penetrated to the paint only to find the Wildcats in wait. Davidson finished with nine blocks and twelve steals on the contest.

Meno finished the game with 12 points and 13 rebounds for his first double-double of the season. Richards also recorded a double-double, tallying 14 points and 10 assists in only 20 minutes of play. Richards finished last season second in the country with 7.32 assists per game.

Curry also had a big game as he scored 27 points on 10-15 shooting, including 5-8 from three-point land. The sensational sophomore had a game-high three blocks, including one on a three-point attempt that started a transition scoring opportunity.

Brendan McKillop scored his first points in a Wildcat uniform as the freshman converted three out of seven three-point attempts for a total of 11 points. Bryant Barr scored 17 points off the bench, hitting five three-pointers. It was Barr's second-highest career point output. He scored a game-high 21 points against The Citadel at the end of last season.

The biggest storyline of this game, however, was the homecoming of Jason Zimmerman and Matt McKillop. The first-year head and assistant coaches of Emory obviously have very strong ties to Davidson, and despite the enjoyment of getting to open their coaching careers in a familiar environment, the game seemed pretty mentally and emotionally challenging for all those in Eagles colors.

After the game, lingerers witnessed a touching scene at half-court. Coach Zimmerman's son, wearing an Emory basketball t-shirt, stood on the empty court with tears welling up. Coach McKillop came up behind him, put his arm around him and whispered something in his ear as father, Jason, and Matt McKillop looked on.

The Eagles will now go back and looked to challenge in the D-III UAA, while Davidson looks forward to their biggest game of the season against the top-ranked North Carolina Tar Heels on Wednesday.

Cats overcome slow first half to win exhibition, 82-58

"We are climbing a different mountain this year. But we still know that we have to take it one step at a time." -Coach McKillop

Boris Meno led all scorers with 21 points as the Wildcats overcame a paltry first half to beat Lenoir-Rhyne 82-58 in the season-opening exhibition game. Meno had a monster second half on both sides of the floor as he helped the Wildcats spark an offensive explosion with defensive blocks and big plays in the paint. Meno was only credited with 2 blocks, but he had more than that.

Jason Richards and Stephen Curry also had strong moments in the second half as they led the Wildcat fast break and the defensive pressure. The Cats forced 11 second half turnovers and Richards and Curry accounted for four of them. The Cats finished well at the end of the break with nice layups and kickouts.

Richards finished only one assist and one rebound away from a triple-double while Curry put up 13 points, despite 6 turnovers.

"We definitely used our defensive pressure to our advantage," Curry said afterward. "It said a lot about our team to respond to adversity and open up a big lead."

The Wildcat bench also showed some spark as Rossiter, Barr and Archambault contributed key minutes and big shots. Archambault found the lane on several ball drives and was effective at breaking down the defense with his athleticism. He finished with seven points while Barr had nine.

The Wildcats could not pull away from the quick Lenoir-Rhyne squad in the first half. Many of the three-point attempts fell way short and the 'Cats looked slow off the ball.

"We were definitely playing with cement in our shoes," said McKillop. "But that's what these games are meant to do. Show you how to deal with adversity and give you experience with playing in the spotlight with the crowd."

A full post-game writeup can be found on www.davidsonwildcats.com.

Player Profiles: #5 Boris Meno

There have not been many Davidson players in the last few years that have had their own cheers, complete with hand motions. It has been even longer since the Wildcats had a player for whom they could call a baseline OB alley-oop play. Despite his notoriously low percentage of hits, the dunks and high-flying blocks of Boris Meno have become a constant point of excitement for Davidson fans everywhere.

Meno came to Davidson with high expectations after turning down the likes of Tom Izzo and Michigan State. Although Meno’s talent was still very raw throughout his first year, his propensity for making big plays made him an immediate celebrity. It didn’t hurt that his name was also very chant-able. In one of the Wildcats’ key home games against the College of Charleston, Meno came in to spell Logan Kosmalski and picked up two huge back-to-back blocks on CofC big man, Stanley Jackson. Belk Arena erupted and the Wildcats pushed their momentum to an all-new level.

“Baww-rrriss” was born.

Entering his senior year at Davidson, Meno can look back and see an excellent career filled with incredible moments. He led the team in rebounds over the last two seasons, averaging 8.2 a game last year. Meno has had several signature dunks including an alley-oop in the waning minutes of Davidson’s 2006 SoCon championship, and an in-bounds alley-oop slam in the first half of Davidson’s emotional victory over rival Charlotte. Meno’s double-double in the 2007 SoCon championship game helped pushed Davidson over the top against College of Charleston.

And yet, Meno still has endured three years of talk about potential, missed opportunities, and criticism that he’s biting off more than he can chew. Despite having one of the most recognizable names on Davidson’s roster, Meno has often disappeared on the basketball court. His offensive game lacks the moves necessary to consistently score with his back to the basket. The Meno three-pointer always evinces a collective gasp from the Belk Arena crowd as the ball leaves Boris’ hand. Please no, Boris!

The criticism isn’t new to Meno,however. When he first started playing basketball in late middle school, he thought that his height would grant him sufficient ability to dominate his opponents. He quickly found out how wrong he was. His opponents razed him about his game; they laughed at his inability to do certain things on the court.

But Meno used the criticism as fuel for improvement. He transformed himself from a tall, awkward student into a legitimate Division I prospect. By his senior year of high school, most of his opponents were too intimidated to heckle Meno in the least.

Knowing his ability to overcome adversity and criticism in the past, I continue to believe that the forward gives Davidson a very dangerous weapon, both potentially and actually. Despite what most people perceive, Meno actually had a nearly identical three-point shooting percentage with fellow big man Thomas Sander. Even though Meno did not put up block numbers comparable to All-SoCon forward Kyle Hines, Boris’ leaping ability always factored into opponents’ minds when they enter the lane. Meno’s ability to elevate over opponents, even when they had better position, led Davidson to outrebound its competition by 220 boards over the course of the 2006-2007 season.

Also, Boris plays the game in a way that is authentically exciting. He works on his dunks after practice. He knows how valuable big plays are to a team’s momentum and a crowd’s excitement level.

When this whole four-year experiment is done with next May, we might be able to say that Meno did bite off more than he could chew. Maybe the talk of potential was just a little too premature for a player that has only been playing the game of basketball since the end of middle school. But maybe Meno will overcome the occasional groans about a botched play and finally fill every single inch of his massive 6’8” frame. He has one more season to elevate his game and work towards his ultimate goals of winning in the NCAA tournament and playing professional basketball. Don’t sleep on Boris.

Meno finds his touch, Richards battles for his life, Steph gets on TV

I had a bad feeling yesterday. As the pep band played their familiar tune and the Wildcats jogged to their locker room at halftime, I had a bad feeling. Davidson trailed UNC-Greensboro by four at halftime, and yet somehow the gap felt wider. The situation felt just like January 20th when Davidson trailed Appalachian State by 7 at halftime. I felt like the Wildcats were still one step behind. For all of the fundamentals and great coaching and hard work and incredible athleticism, I felt like we Davidson fans were overestimating this team.

Somewhere in the second half, this team decided to prove me wrong. In one eight-second sequence late in the second half, Stephen Curry hit an incredible three-point shot to extend the Davidson lead to nine points. He then raced down the court anticipating a long pass, intercepted it, and raced back up the court eyeing the three-point stripe. He hit another one. UNC-Greensboro was effectively dead.

The story of this game goes far beyond Stephen Curry, however. Jason Richards put up an equally remarkable performance as he took the beating of his lifetime taking the ball right at the heart of the Spartans frontcourt. Richards remembered the App State game and he knew that Davidson could not get comfortable in shooting three-pointers in the last seven minutes of the contest, no matter their lead. Although he had already picked up several charging fouls on the game, Richards never backed down from his attack. He only made it better. By manipulating his body around the defenders, Richards was able to draw some blocking fouls and get himself in position for easy layups.

The other remarkable story of this game involved the seemingly abrupt coming-of-age of Boris Meno. Although he has developed into an effective shot-blocker and rebounder throughout the season, Meno's offensive capabilities have been in flux all season. Against the Spartans, Meno found himself with opportunity after opportunity to score easy baskets inside. He hit his first nine shots and finished the game with 20 points. From the stands, it seemed as if Meno was finally learning the steps to effective inside manuevering, as he continually used a second step to get under his defender and create a short layup opportunity. Instead of moving away from the basket or forcing a tough hook jumper, Meno seemed comfortable in attacking the glass and making the ball bounce right in. While this might seem obvious and inane for me to be saying about a 6'8" starter, those who have seen Boris Meno know why this game seemed to be such an accomplishment.

It is hard to really believe that Davidson has escaped from its fate of being a well-coached team that just isn't athletic enough to beat everyone all the time. I have to believe, however, that this team wants to escape. This team wants to overcome a few stereotypes on the way. White guys can jump, and be quick and dunk the ball. Black guys can be smart and coachable and hard-working. Davidson can win the Southern Conference in an odd year. Welcome to February, we have 24 days and counting.

**photo by Richard Shayegan**

Davidson Finishes December Unbeaten

For the first time since the famed 1968-69 season, the Davidson Wildcats went undefeated in the month of December. Led by a group of excellent free shooters, aggressive defenders, lights-out three-point snipers, courageous rebounders and leaders that are seemingly playing over their heads, the Wildcats have slipped into the Top 10 of the Mid-Major Top 25 poll, and different RPI estimates have them ranked in the Top 35 in the country.

The Wildcats are averaging 81.9 points per game, and their leading scorer, freshman Stephen Curry, is 21st among mid-majors with an average of 19.3 points per game. That number is 3 points higher than Brendan Winters' four-year average of 16.0 points per game. As a team, the Wildcats are sixth in the country with a clutch FT % of 76.9, and Jason Richards ranks third in the country with an average of 7.1 assists per game.

The highlights of December have come in the form of a tremendous trubbing of rival Charlotte in front of a record crowd in Davidson, key road SoCon road wins in the homes of conference contenders UNC-Greensboro and Chattanooga, and a tremendous effort to win the ASU Sleep America Classic with wins over Ohio University and Arizona State. The icing on the cake came this past Saturday as the Wildcats' defense forced 26 turnovers to pull past Western Michigan, despite shooting only 33% from the floor.

Although detractors might claim that Davidson's claim to success is undermined by the less-challenging scheduling that was formed this year due to the Wildcats' loss of 4 starters, Davidson has shown remarkable maturity as they had chances to beat both Michigan and Missouri in the final seconds. This team has played a very tough schedule and has responded in kind.

This year's early success has been the result of a combination of Wildcat staples and new ingredients in the milkshake of success. Hanging their hat on every players' ability to shoot from anywhere on the court, Davidson has maintained a wide open offense that relies on screening, passing, spacing and shooting. When big guys Thomas Sander and Boris Meno have shown the ability to hit the outside three-pointer, defenses have been less willing to double team and leave anyone open anywhere. It also helps when you have players like Curry and Archambault who can hit jumpers when double-teamed falling backwards out of bounds.

But Davidson has also been much more effective in the transition game as they have the guard and small forward speed to grab loose balls, contest every pass and dribble, and run the fast break. All of a sudden, half-court defense is not enough to slow down one of the program's highest scoring offenses in recent history. Davidson's 7.5 steals per game is enhanced by their +1.6 turnover differential in a defense that has held opponents to only 42% shooting and an average of 70 points a game. The offense starts with the defense, and this defense is good.

With remarkable spikes in attendance, media attention, and game success, this Davidson Wildcat basketball program is heading to new heights. Starting in next week's showdown against the College of Charleston, the Wildcats will now have to prove that they are the best in the Southern Conference. If they don't, then this December will become a passing memory.