College of Charleston Preview

As I will once again be spending the next few days out of town, I will present some pre-game thoughts and a few highlight vids to remind fans what Davidson has done against the Cougars in the last few years.

This game arguably holds more significance for the Cougars right now. The Wildcats are 8-2 in the last 10 meetings, and the Cougars are due for a couple of lucky bounces in this rivalry. The College of Charleston entered this year as the near unanimous favorite to win the Southern Conference and because of their mediocre performances in November and December, the moniker has now shifted to the streaking Wildcats. The Cougars are beginning to find an identity with the return of Josh Jackson from suspension and the elevated play of Jermaine Johnson in the frontcourt. Dontaye Draper seems to be finding some rhythm despite a cold stretch when Coach Cremmins moved the pre-season POY to point guard.

Davidson will be outmatched in terms of experience and lbs inside, but they will make up for it through coaching, outside shooting and a knack for the free throw line. The Wildcats pretty much did in the visiting WMU Broncos last week only by getting to the line 27 more times and hitting 85%. The Cougars might have a straight up mismatch in the paint, but the Wildcat big men will extend the defense and force some interesting matchups.

Going into this game, everyone is talking about the matchup between Draper and Stephen Curry. Perhaps a more intriguing and ultimately influential matchup will occur within the Dontaye Draper/Tony White Jr. vs. Stephen Curry/Jason Richards rotation. All four players have seen time at the 1 and 2 positions and it will be interesting to see where the coaches line them up at different points in the game. Both White and Curry have shown some freshman lapses throughout the early part of the season, but show a knack for shooting the ball. While Curry has been called on to be more of a primary scorer, White's play is just as critical to the success of the Cougars.

The more experienced leaders in Richards and Draper will be tested as they are battered and harassed up and down the court. Draper possesses a game-breaking mentality that always wants the ball. Richards, on the other hand, knows that he must continually keep the team together and keep the offense flowing. Whichever duo can play more effectively will certainly affect the outcome of this one.

Final Prediction: Davidson 75 CofC 73

Videos:
Morton Downs CofC

BSU is Living the Dream

Throughout the past month, prognosticators have been trying to figure out the best combination of bowl outcomes to continue to put pressure on the powers that be to create a playoff system for college football. These scenarios often involved some sort of crazy blowout in the Rose or BCS title games, convincing everyone that Florida, Michigan, Ohio State and USC should have had the chance to decide it on the field. USC didn't have too much of an argument after losing to UCLA and Oregon State, while Michigan had already lost to Ohio State once and is now twice beaten on the season. Ohio State is assuredly the best team in the country and Florida gets their shot at them. Right?

Well, Boise State had a little bit to say about that last night. At the end of a remarkable OT triumph over the venerable OU Sooners who were playing with the one-time Heisman candidate Adrian Peterson, the Broncos made us question the BCS system in a whole new way. If you don't lose to anybody, how can you end the season without being the champion?

Two years ago, the similarly situated Davidson Wildcats went undefeated in their conference schedule, but did not receive a bid to the NCAA tournament after losing to UNC-Greensboro in the conference tourney. Meanwhile, many BCS schools got the opportunity to keep on playing despite losing 5 or 6 conference games and bowing out of their respective conference tournaments. The same argument made for Davidson's inclusion in the tourney could seemingly be applied to Boise State's inclusion in national title talk: undefeated teams should get to keep playing. Except for one thing: playoffs.

When Davidson entered the Southern Conference tournament two years ago, there was no question that they were the best team in the conference. They had beaten everyone in the conference. Surely they deserved the championship crown. But they entered the tourney knowing the rules of engagement: lose and go home with nothing.

For Boise State, there are no rules of engagement. Stuck in the WAC conference, they can only play the teams that schedule them. They can only beat them by so much. At the end of last night, they had beaten every team that was thrust at them, and they had done it in style, no less. But for the Broncos, the season is over and a bowl trophy and a final ranking in the Top 5 is all they get. That would be the equivalent of telling George Mason that they wouldn't get a chance to play Florida in the Final Four because everyone knows they are going to lose. The beauty of the playoff system is that, at the end of the day, only one team is left unbeaten. There is one undisputed champion.

The college football playoff argument cannot get caught up in whether or not a team is good enough to have been a national champion. Boise State wasn't good enough to beat Oklahoma. Even now, they have little calculable evidence to prove that they are better than Ohio State. The playoffs system is a matter of process more than anything else. The process of the playoffs gives the champion its legitimacy. It is not about the way it plays, or the caliber of its players, or its strength of schedule. Those might determine seeds, but at least teams have to defend their own seeding. And ultimately, you can't be undefeated and not be the champion.

At the end of the day, money might produce a champion from the SEC or Big 10, even within a playoff system. Elitism might keep the best players at the richest schools. But, money and power should be a little less insecure. They should give up their precious bowl rights and TV contracts. This country knows who to pull for, and they know how to make their voices heard. Live on Boise States and George Masons! They can't keep ignoring you for long.

Tragedy for the Davidson Family

The Davidson College family has once again suffered an emotional blow as one of its beloved members have been tragically and suddenly taken from us once again. Jay Chitty, a senior captain on the Men's Tennis team died in a plane crash Sunday morning in West Charlotte. The plane was a single engine and Chitty's parents and younger brother also died in the crash. They are survived by 25 year old Haley Chitty. The college is planning a memorial service once students return from break.

Chitty had a remarkable spirit about him, and his enthusiasm, passion and graciousness will be sorely missed. Our thoughts and prayers go out to Haley, friends and family, the Men's tennis team and the community at large.

http://www.charlotte.com/mld/charlotte/16363035.htm

New Wildcat Report Out

The December Issue of the Wildcat Report is now available on the Davidson website. If you have any comments or ideas for future articles, be sure to send them along. Feedback is always welcomed.

http://www2.davidson.edu/athletics/prog_mv/mvbsk/wcatreport.asp

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.

Out of town

I will be out of town for the next few days as we travel up to see Clemson take on Kentucky in the Music City Bowl. I will be attending Saturday's game against Western Michigan so there will be no previews or in-game notes this time. Look for some recap and thoughts on Sunday night.

Davidson moves up in polls

On this Christmas Day eve, the Davidson Wildcats got a little love for their efforts in the ASU Sleep America Classic as they moved up to #9 on the Mid Major Top 25 poll. The poll is run by CollegeInsider.com, and is voted on by respective mid-major coaches. Fellow Southern Conference team, Appalachian State, made their first poll appearance of the season at #24 after defeating Vanderbilt and UVA in the San Juan Shootout.

Click here to see the rest of the Top 25.

Davidson 75 ASU 70

The Wildcats are shooting over 50% here in the first part of the first half. That is really good news when thinking about fatigue and opportunities and so forth. Unfortunately, ASU has also hit a few shots of late. Like to see Coach going to the bench so early, although we need to do better with rebounding. It's also good to see Max scoring a little bit early.
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Arizona State is dominating Davidson on the boards (18-6), and foul trouble has Curry, Sander and Boris in a little bit of a pickle. Once again, it's good to see Barr and Gosselin getting some points on the offensive end.
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Jason Richards just made a big-time drive and teardrop to help build the Cats' nine-point lead. After a Gosselin block in the interior, Archambault found himself open for another three-pointer. I have a feeling that Arizona State is not going to be able to score very quickly, although they are getting a lot of second-chance points. This lead has been built, by the way, with Curry on the bench with two fouls.
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Arizona State hit two free throws to end the half as Archambault picked up a foul with the buzzer expiring. Quick half-time stats show Sander leading all Davidson scorers with 12 points, followed by Richards with 9. Meno and Curry have as many combined fouls as they do points (4). Although our assist/turnover ratio is a cool 3.00 (9:3), the Wildcats are getting outrebounded by a margin of 23-7. ASU has 10 offensive rebounds so far. Davidson is shooting 52% from the field while ASU is only shooting 37%. ASU has been to the line five more times than Davidson, hitting 10-11.

The Wildcats certainly need to find Boris and Andrew for a few points inside, and have to make up the rebounding margin by not letting the Sun Devils get second chances. It will also be interesting to see how aggressively Stephen Curry plays after fouling out last night and having two quick fouls in the first half.
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Boris Meno starts the second half out strong with a turn-around jumper and a dunk. Curry gets the sixth point and Herb Sendek has had enough.
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16:44 to play, and Curry gets his fourth foul. We need to get back to the east coast when they let Stephen play his style of defense. Sander picked up his third foul. This is going to be a long hard 16 minutes.
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We have outscored them by 10 in the second half and have outrebounded the Sun Devils. Jason Richards has really stepped up with Curry on the bench. He now has 14 points.
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Sander now has 4 fouls and Lovedale finally gets his first points of the game. Both teams are now in the bonus with 10:47 to play. With an 18 point lead, I feel pretty confident right now. The Sun Devils don't seem to be able to score quickly at all. We can't slow down the game by fouling.
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I like our defensive strategy right now. Our 1-3-1 zone with the bigs really has ASU worried about every pass they make. Richards now has 19 points. And Archambault gets a steal and a basket. This is looking good.
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Arizona State making a little bit of a run. One interesting stat right now is points off turnovers: 19 for Davidson, and 7 for ASU.
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Check that. Make it a terrifying run. 10-0 run after a 3-pointer, turnover and an offensive rebound. Thankfully they can't shoot free throws.
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Richards is having a big game with 21 points, but after an ASU 3-pointer, they have some confidence. It's about time to see some Sander and Curry. And here they come. This one is going to come down to it.
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Jason Richards hits a big-time three pointer. I propose a marketing plan to call us "Dagga Nation!"
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Sun Devils refuse to give in. Meno fouls out after a turnover and Sendek's full court press is reaking havoc. I should not have said anything about having this thing in hand. What a game so far. Davidson has really choked at the free throw line at the end of this one. That's not usual for us.
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What a huge win for Davidson. That 16-0 team from two years ago won most of their games after giving up a lead and holding on at the end. If we would have shot a little better from the FT line (14-23), things wouldn't have been so dicey.

Incredible game for Richards who finished with 25 points, 3 assists. Stephen Curry and Thomas Sander both got double figures with 10 and 14 respectively. Otherwise, there weren't too many good statlines as far as rebounding, FT shooting and fouls. But you have to win the ugly games. This was a big win for the program and it's time for Christmas.

Davidson at Arizona State

Countdown is under two hours now for the championship game of the Sleep America Classic between the Davidson Wildcats and the Arizona State Sun Devils. ASU is coached by Herb Sendek who instituted a Princeton-style offense while at N.C. State. In the past few seasons, some of Davidson's toughest games have been against teams that have slowed down the offensive flow of the game and limited the Wildcats to fewer shot attempts. Davidson will either have to go crazy on the offensive boards, create transition points off of turnovers, or raise their shooting percentage. They won't be scoring anywhere near 80 points in this game if they shoot under 40% from the field.

The Wildcats showed some fatigue during last night's game as there were stretches in the first and second halves when they allowed Ohio to work their way back into the game through turnovers and missed rebounding opportunities. Davidson can't afford to be sloppy against a team that slows the game down and limits opportunities to score. It will be interesting to see how fatigue affects this one.

Look for increased minutes from Steve Rossiter, Bryant Barr, Andrew Lovedale and Will Archambault as the Wildcats try to use their depth to counteract fatigue and (if we get the same whistle-happy refs as yesterday) foul trouble. While Coach McKillop might try some pressure defense to create turnovers in the passing lanes, don't be surprised to see the Wildcats briefly come out in zone looks after timeouts. They have been very effective in messing with set plays and keeping the offenses off guard.

Final Prediction: Davidson 70 Arizona State 62

Davidson 83 Ohio University 74

OK, so I caved. I'm young and have no reason to get up before noon tomorrow. So here we go, we'll have up-to-date comments during the game tonight.
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It seems that we have Dick Snyder on for the halftime show. Let's hope I can stay awake til 1 AM. Kilgo has also talked about some travel problems with getting the team flown out to Arizona. I'd be interested to know if Ohio ran into the same bad weather.
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Only on Davidson Basketball radio do we get to hear Alien Ant Farm introduce John Kilgo from a commercial break. Pretty sweet. It feels really cool to think that most everyone on the east coast is sleeping right now, while we have a nice little group of Davidson diehards on the internet here.

In the pre-game interview, Coach McKillop talked about the offensive prowess of Ohio. He also mentioned the need for Davidson to use a little zone tonight. I'm hoping that we utilize it a little bit in the first half. For the first time in many years, we have a group of guys that are long enough to make passing very difficult when we are in a zone. It also makes scouting a little more difficult when SoCon squads have to put in a zone offense in their short weeks of practice.
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Things seem to be going pretty well for the Wildcats right now. We have been strong on the rebounds and defensive pressure as Ohio has missed quite a few shots. Big man Leon Williams already has two fouls for the Bobcats and is now on the bench. We have turned the ball over 4 times so far, but without seeing the action, it is kind of hard to know how they happened.
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Ohio seems to be having a lot of trouble inside against our big guys. With the junior Leon Williams with 2 fouls, and 6-9 freshman von Kempen now with 3 fouls, let's look to see Sander get some looks on the blocks. We have already hit 4 three-pointers, but I would like to see us continue to attack the paint. Curry leads all scorers with 6 points. Coach seems to be rotating Steph and Jason at point. That's an interesting arrangement, especially this early in the game. Bobcats just picked up their seventh team foul.
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With 7:54 left in the first half, you have to love the depth that this team is displaying. Steph has become a pretty solid backup PG, which was a point of weakness earlier in the season. Barr has hit a three for Davidson, Lovedale, "the Big Cat" (I guess it's better than Anthony Lovedale) has been very strong inside and Archambault continues to provide speed on the wings. Ohio is in some major foul trouble right now with van Kempen and Williams both having 3 fouls inside. I am a little surprised that Sander hasn't been seen more on the offensive side of the court so far. These refs aren't scared to blow their whistles tonight. Double bonus already for Davidson.
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Davis has been very good for Ohio so far. He has 13 points right now. Turnovers are really hurting us right now as the Bobcats are being able to get some transition points and keep their size disadvantage minimized. They seem to be doubling down inside, and Davidson needs to continue to work their inside-out game. Barr got open on the last possession and hit a three off of an inside feed. Over 17 total fouls in the first half.
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Pretty good first half for the Cats. They always go through a stretch of offensive inefficiency, but the Bobcats couldn't get closer than 5 points. It is always important to be able to hold off runs when you aren't getting points on offense. This team looks to be headed towards another 80+ point performance tonight. Although Kilgo might not completely testify to it, I think that these players are really playing loose right now, which is something that we struggled with last year. Playing loose allows you to be a little more aggressive on defense and relaxes the offense to a point where they are not pressing to create baskets.
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Good to see that we're attacking the paint so far in the second half. Although our 14 turnovers are beginning to get on my nerves. Ohio is finding some scoring on the inside right now too. The Bobcats can score quickly. Kilgo hasn't mentioned it yet, but I wonder if we utilized any zone tonight. McKillop might put it in right after this timeout.
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HAHA! I called it. The Wildcats come out in the 1-3-1 zone, before switching back to man.
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"Curry's in a hurry!" Wow, there are some real Kilgo moments tonight. Like to see Archambault get a nice basket inside and seeing Curry run transition.
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The offense seems to be slowing up just a little bit in the last few minutes. Ohio refuses to relent in the frontcourt and the three-pointers are not falling like they might for Davidson. However, our depth still seems to be causing them problems.
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Curry just picked up his fourth foul with 10.5 minutes to play. This might not be so good. We'll see how this affects our offensive flow. Meno and Sander might be getting some more looks inside. Gosselin just committed our 16th team turnover. Momentum is definitely in the favor of the Bobcats. We need to do more than just hold on. We need to be keeping the pressure on.
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Both teams are really starting to feel some major foul trouble. Ohio has hit some big time shots, and have pulled this thing close. In these last few minutes of the game, Davidson needs to be careful about fatigue. Ohio has a lot of momentum and have been beating Davidson to the glass on the offensive end. The Wildcats need to take some pride in their defense.
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With Curry on the bench, Sander steps up big. With two three-pointers and some big rebounds on the defensive glass, he's going to have lead this team in the next five minutes.
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Curry comes back in to hit a big three. Then subsequently fouls out. A little over 3 minutes to play, and Davidson will need to look to its big juniors to carry this team for 3:18 more. But after a Meno turnover, Ohio pulled the game to within five under 2:30 to play.
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Sander hits a clutch basket with under a minute to play. Williams fouls out and this game looks to be in hand. You gotta love the play of Sander and Richards late in this game. Boris finished with a double-double on 17 points and 16 rebounds. Juniors stepped up big tonight.
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Big win tonight. I'm going to bed. Whew. It's a great night to be a Wildcat.

No updates tonight

As fun as it was to provide blog updates during Monday's win over Chattanooga, I won't be doing that tonight due to the 11 p.m. start on the east coast. For those that are up at that hour on the internet, you can just as easily tune in to John Kilgo. Although, I can't guarantee you that he will provide cursory bits of information to your liking. "Grant to Winters. Winters to McKillop. McKillop to Grant. Johnson Scores!"

Stephen Curry on ESPN.com

Although it won't remain there too long, Stephen Curry and the Davidson Wildcats are the front page article on ESPN.com's Men's Basketball page. The article, written by Midmajority.com's Kyle Whelliston, is a testament to the success and integrity of the program. Although I'd wish that Curry's arrival at Davidson wouldn't always have to be constructed as a result of Virginia Tech's mistake, I will take the press.

See here for story.

Davidson vs. Ohio University

Coming off of an impressive 12 point victory at Chattanooga on Monday, the Davidson Wildcats will travel out to Tempe, AZ to play in the Arizona State Sleep America Classic. Their first round matchup on Thursday comes against a top mid-major program in the form of the Ohio Bobcats. The Bobcats are currently ranked 27th on the Mid-Major Top 25 poll (yes, 27th). Their last NCAA tournament appearance came in 2004-2005, when they lost their first-round matchup to fourth-seeded Florida by a mere 5 points.

This year's team enters this game at 6-2 and, like the Davidson Wildcats, have five players averaging in double digits for points scored. They are led by 6-6 senior forward Sonny Troutman who has been averaging 16 points and four assists per game. They have been shooting lights-out on their home floor, including a 60.4% shooting performance in their most recent win over St. Josephs.

Ohio has very good depth with eight players averaging over 20 minutes played per game. This team also knows how to draw the fouls, as they have gotten to the free throw line nearly 100 more times than their opponents this season. The Bobcats only have one top scorer over 6 feet 6 inches which would imply some sort of height advantage for Davidson. The 6-8 junior starter Leon Williams looks to be the Bobcats' main threat in the paint with 13.3 ppg and 7.5 rpg.

In order for the Wildcats to be successful in this one, they must learn from several of the things that Chattanooga did to them. The Mocs upset nearly all of our post offense by doubling down and applying pressure to our perimeter passing game. Instead of being patient and finding the open man, our bigs routinely dribbled to the sideline and gave up position, and sometimes possession. We have to do a better job of feeling the pressure, anticipating where it's coming from and executing our inside-outside offense. We cannot be content with passing the ball on the perimeter and jacking treys the entire game.

I also think that Davidson needs to be more ready to switch to a zone defense. The Mocs exposed our man defense by making simple screens and executing the entry passes. Ohio doesn't seem to shoot nearly as many three-pointers as Davidson or even Chattanooga, so we should force them to make skip passes and to shoot one-timers (no opportunity for rebounds).

Both teams will be traveling a good distance for this one, so expect a little bit of offensive sluggishness in the first half.

Prediction: Davidson 85 Ohio 78

A Word on Refereeing

Call it an immature act of showmanship, but I sometimes like to look at message boards the morning after Davidson beats a team. Overall, the fans over at Chattanooga Mocs were pretty gracious. There was a little bit of McKillop hating and ref hating, but that is very understandable. If you watched the game, I think that you would say that the refs were not very accurate overall. Thomas' last two fouls were obviously not on him, and the Mocs got away with some huge pressure pushes early on in the contest. What's even more unfortunate was that the refs seemed to be making up for those calls late in the game by allowing Davidson to literally barrel roll anyone that lept into the air. There were some horrible no-calls that should have gone the Mocs' way.

I spent the last two summers coaching basketball camp, and have a feel for what it is to be referee. It is never easy to know that you missed a call and have everyone tell you about it. It is easy to start second guessing yourself and to try to find a way to make up for your mistake. I did this once or twice and found that it made matters much worse. I'm a firm believer in not attempting to call things fairly, but rather trying to be accurate throughout the game. If you miss a bad call, that should not make you call another bad call to even things out. You only begin to start cheating both sets of players out of playing the game they love.

So refs out there. No matter what coaches and fans might yell at you, call what you see in front of you. Don't make things up, and don't ignore what you see in order to make the game even. To do that is to violate the honor code of all referees and make the game about your performance, instead of the players and coaches.

Davidson wins big conference road game

When analyzing a big win like this one, it is always helpful to look at the pre-game points of emphasis and rate Davidson's performance in those areas. Regardless of the opponent, Coach McKillop always stresses the need to rebound and take care of the basketball.

Quantitatively, Davidson won the game in all aspects of the stat sheet. They outrebounded the Mocs 44-42, and the team assist/turnover ratio of nearly 1.5:1 completely outdid Chattanooga's 1:1 performance.

The Cats benefitted from a scoring outburst from Max Paulhus Gosselin who put in 22 points on 9-15 shooting, including 4-5 from behind the arc. They were led by the unflappable freshman Stephen Curry who finished with 30 points, 11 rebounds, and six assists. The second half also saw Jason Richards heat up, as he hit 3 second half treys along with 8-9 FT shooting to end with 19 points.

But, this victory cannot be summed up in quantitative measurement. The Wildcats mostly played without one of their captains in Thomas Sander, and went for a stretch without either Sander or Meno in the game because of foul trouble. They withstood several offensive runs by the home team and continued to mature in their "trial by fire." It is not often that the term is associated with a winning team, but I would contend that these wins are just as torturous and educational for these young players. McKillop has let his young guys take some lumps and they are maturing quickly as a result.

On the ride back to North Carolina, this group needs to think a little bit about some places for improvement:

They need to be a little more aware with offensive time management and game situation. Veteran teams don't fire first-look three-pointers with a single digit lead in the final minutes of a road game.

They are going to need work on communicating on defense and calling out screens. This is usually a plus for the Wildcats, but sometimes the Mocs would get ridiculously open as Davidson players were caught out of position.

Finally, although Thomas and Boris were both in foul trouble a lot, Davidson needs to not abandon the inside game. When a team can score from the perimeter and from the block, they are very difficult to stop. If a few of those second half threes hadn't fallen, we could have been in trouble.

Overall, though, you always take a conference win on the road. Davidson has already vanquished two North division opponents early in the season and we will be very happy about those victories come February.