Wake Up People!

The defining moment in Davidson's 12th straight victory and 14th conference win came at a stoppage in play late in the second half. Elon trailed by only seven and had the ball. I glanced over to the opposite corner of the arena to find President Ross and his wife let out simultaneous deep yawns. Then, as if compelled by some higher god of yawns, I watched an Atlanta Braves-like wave of them just roll down the opposite sideline, make its way back up the sideline behind me and culminate with five students plopping down into their seats in the middle of the student section.

Elon came out of the timeout to hit a three and cut the lead to four.

Davidson has one of the nation's longest conference winning streaks right now (23 games in the regular season, 26 counting the tournament). The Wildcats have only lost two home conference games in five years and have not lost a night conference game in Belk Arena since February 2003.

But here were the Wildcats, struggling to put away these pesky Phoenix with their zones and long possessions and 6-7 three-point shooters, and their own fanbase could only yawn.

And here's the problem. Stephen Curry won't let anyone worry about the outcome. After Elon cut the lead to four, Curry came down and hit a three. The Phoenix responded by hitting another three. After then after some free throws from Jason Richards, Curry split a double team and hit a driving lean-in jumper to put the lead at nine and get all of the 3424 on hand to stand up and give a golf clap.

The Davidson ticket office had just put on one of the best student ticket pickups ever on Monday morning as they gave away record numbers of tickets to the Elon and "blackout" College of Charleston games. But, for whatever reason, most of those students did not show up on Wednesday night, and the ones who did seemed preoccupied with Physics equations running through their heads. Many of Davidson's season ticket holders also did not make it to the game because of threatening weather and the 9 p.m. tipoff of the Duke-North Carolina game. The official attendance of 3424 was extremely optimistic, at best.

Now there were many problems in last night's 10-point home win over a 7-14 team that did not directly stem from the lethargic fan support. Richards seemed a little flustered at the point of the Wildcats' offense, only recording one assist in the first twenty minutes of play (he finished with an uncharacteristically low four assists against four turnovers). The Wildcats did not execute their offense when faced with high-ball pressure in the 1-3-1 zone. Lovedale and Meno were off on their interior shooting, combining to go just 3-12 from the field. And somehow everyone misread the scouting report on 6-8 forward T.J. Douglas who went 4-9 from the field, all of which were three-point shots. Davidson did not guard him as a shooter until he had already made his fourth three.

But dangit if Stephen Curry doesn't always seem to sweep in for the rescue and forego the punishment of a loss that Davidson fans probably deserved last night. Curry hauled in seven defensive rebounds and had four steals, which, considering how few possessions Elon had, means that Curry ended more Phoenix possessions on his own than most of his teammates combined. The sophomore guard scored 23 points in the second half to finish with 36, including a stellar 9-9 performance from the free throw line.

Although the team did not play its best ball in the least, I would be remiss not to qualify this critique with the observation that Jason Richards always seems to turn struggling personal performances into gutsy offensive production and that Andrew Lovedale probably would have looked more natural than Brad Pitt in that opening scene from Troy where Achilles thrusts the sword into the giant's shoulder.

As the game remained close, Richards continued to attack the paint where he was rewarded with free throws and layup opportunities (he hit 8-10 FTs to finish with 16 points). Lovedale set a new personal season high with 13 rebounds, many of which had him beating guards out to the sideline to chase down the ball. Although he had early foul trouble and missed his patented turnaround jumpers, Lovedale's pure adrenaline on the glass kept Elon from getting even more second chance points than they did (Elon had 18 to Davidson's 3).

By nine 0' clock last night, Davidson had pulled out conference win number fourteen, 74-64. But these Wildcats' efforts were far more deserving than just another tick mark on the big board for conference perfection. Their hustle was worthy of more than just blanket criticism for letting a SoCon cellar-dweller take them to the final minute at home. And ultimately the willpower of all of the coaches and players was far more worthy than just a yawn and a golf clap. We fans have become spoiled with success. If we don't wake up and start recognizing the greatness of these Wildcats, then our hubris might just catch up with us around the ninth or tenth of March.