WMU upsets 25th-ranked Wildcats

Photo by Tim Cowie

A national ranking. A stirring story in the Charlotte Magazine. The optimism could not have been as ripe as it was at 7 p.m. on Wednesday.

But everything quickly came crashing back down to earth as the Davidson Wildcats fell to Western Michigan, 83-76. Davidson trailed from the very beginning as the Broncos shot a blazing 12-22 from the three-point line. Derrick Drews hit five of those threes to finish with a team-high 18 points.

Stephen Curry proved to be a non-factor for many key moments of the game as he was hampered by foul trouble. Davidson was whistled for 24 total fouls, but the most important one came in the final minutes. With the Wildcats mounting a late comeback on the shoulders of Curry and Richards, Stephen was whistled for a foul away from the ball at the top of the key. It was the end of a series of dubious fouls on Curry, the first of which came on a charge after Curry made a steal in the first half. Curry finished the game with 25 points on 9-16 shooting (5-11 from three land).

Throughout the game, the refs continually disrupted play with ticky-tack fouls away from the basket, and at one point Davidson had five second half fouls before Western Michigan was whistled for one.

Davidson's player of the game was definitely Jason Richards, who finished with a personal season-best 23 points. He played a full 40 minutes and also tallied eight assists on the contest. Throughout the game, Richards seemed to be the only Wildcat with his head screwed on straight. He stayed home on defense and continually attacked the Broncos at the heart of their defense.

Davidson was largely beaten because of their inability to stop WMU's penetration. The Broncos beat Davidson off the dribble and were able to kick out for open threes or take it to the hoop for the finish. On offense, the Wildcats were plagued by several shooting droughts and the lack of any offensive potency from players outside of Curry or Richards.

The 25th ranked Wildcats should be given credit, however, for not quitting despite being outshot for most of the game. With 5:14 remaining, Davidson found themselves down by nine points at 67-58. But Stephen Curry connected on a layup, Jason Richards hit a pair of free throws and a three, and then Curry converted on a jumper in a transition opportunity off a steal. Thirty seconds later, Curry hit a three pointer to cut the game to 71-70.

But then David Kool answered for WMU to extend the lead to 74-70 and Curry then fouled out on the next defensive possession. Davidson was unable to hit threes in the final minute despite several opportunities.

Markedly absent from the final stat sheet was Will Archambault. Despite being second on the team last year in three-pointers behind Stephen Curry, Archambault has done relatively little so far this season as he was held scoreless tonight. His counterpart at the three position, Max Paulhus Gosselin, finished 1-5 from the field, but did come up with several big stops and rebounds.

This loss will be a tough pill to swallow for Wildcat fans who were just getting used to being the nation's small-school wonder. Western Michigan seemed to win because of dubious officiating and spectacular shots. But I'm sure that many of Davidson's opponents have whined about the same thing over the last few seasons. This is only the second Davidson loss to a non-BCS school since February of 2006.

During the game broadcast, John Kilgo used every opportunity he could to mention Davidson's national ranking. It might be his last opportunity to do that in quite a while.

Davidson heads to Kalamazoo to take on WMU

When the Davidson Wildcats take the floor tonight against the Broncos of Western Michigan, they will be in a pretty unique situation. For the first time since 1970, they will be the focus of an underdog opponent trying to knock off a Top 25 team.

The Wildcats were voted into the Coaches Top 25 poll on Monday, edging out Wisconsin by a mere 5 points.

But while the Wildcats have spent a lot of time focusing on the Big Four of their out-of-conference schedule (#1 UNC, #9 Duke, #1 UCLA, #33 NC State), games at Western Michigan and Charlotte will be tough, must-win tests for Davidson.

Davidson played WMU for the first time ever last year when the Broncos traveled to Belk Arena. Hailing from the MAC conference, WMU played a very physical style of play and overcame a 14-point halftime deficit to make the game interesting in the final minutes. Davidson only hit six field goals in the second half, and the Wildcats needed a late steal from Max Paulhus Gosselin to pull out the victory.

The Broncos are led by 6-7 center Joe Reitz. The undersized big man led all rebounders in last year's matchup with 15, and he has been a big part of WMU's success early this season. Named the MAC Player of the Week last week, Reitz is averaging 15.0 points per game and just over six rebounds a game.

Davidson has been led by the preseason AP All-American sophomore Stephen Curry. Curry leads the team with 25.5 points per game to go along with 11 total rebounds. Jason Richards is once again on a tear through the national record books as he averaging 9.0 assists per game, with 2:1 assist to turnover ratio.

Although the Wildcats nearly knocked off the nation's best team last Wednesday, they struggled with the bread-and-butter part of their offense: three-point shooting. The team went 4-22 from behind the three-point arc while Curry only managed two trifectas all game.

The biggest Wildcat story of the last week concerns the left hand of Curry. The Charlotte Observer released a story last Friday saying that Curry needed surgery, but that he would wait until the end of the season to get it. The Wildcats should be fully rested for this game, but the Broncos do play very physically (they committed 30 fouls in last year's matchup). We will see if Curry goes out of his way to protect his hand a little bit.

You can find links to Live Stats and Live Audio at Davidson's official athletics web site.

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.