Davidson beats Illinois-Chicago, 100-89

First Half passing thoughts:

The streaming video on SoCon TV is OK, but not great. It's better than nothing, but the audio feed is horrible....almost unbearable....too much crackling and popping. Maybe they will get it right for the next game. Anyway, I tried muting the audio feed and playing the streaming radio broadcast separately, but there was about a 10 second delay, so it was pointless.

Theme for the Widcats in the first half: turnover. The ball was all over the place, it seemed.

Curry's shot is off. Sander is tough as always.....and hitting 3-pointers?? (When did that start happening?) Sander left holding his head...worried about the concussion? I'm liking Will Archambault more and more....he seems like a player; hitting some good shots. Boris had a nice block on that attempted dunk, but doesn't need to shoot that 3...keep it inside the arc, Boris. UIC hitting 3 pointers like crazy, it seems. Had a good lead 30-22, but let it slip away. This group is clearly still trying to figure out just what this is all about, but that's to be expected this early in the season with two freshman playing so much.

Tied at half. I'll take it.


Second half passing thoughts:

Another Sander 3 pointer? When did Thomas Sander turn into Larry Bird? Another Boris block....Curry gets his shot going, and going. Mayo for UIC will shoot from anywhere...and hit it. Archambault not afraid to match Mayo's 3. Curry needs to hit his layups. Archambault needs a nickname, because I can't type that name over and over for the next 4 years. UIC hits yet another 3 from way behind the line....Archambault comes right back and fires another 3 at them. That Mayo guy is shooting from 90 feet, it seems. Curry really getting it going from outside. UIC won't go away.....13 point lead cut to 8 real fast. Boris HITS a 3? OK, I guess I stand corrected on my first half comment Boris staying inside the arc. Archambault hits from seeminly 30 feet....still liking that guy more and more. The Cats are going to probably eclipse 100 points against a decent D-1 team....and need to in order to keep the lead....UIC is scoring in a ton, too. Cats playing sloppy down the stretch....sign of a young team that hasn't played together much. Mayo continues to amaze me....hitting from 30 feet. Curry hits again. Wildcats win 100-89.

Post game thoughts:

When was the last time we gave up 89 points to a D-1 school and won? On the flip side, when was the last time we scored 100, and only won by 11? Good win for Davidson. UIC is tough.

Thomas Sander is the heart and soul of the team...he is really stepping up this year with his scoring. Along with Sander, the freshmen are turning out to do a great job filling in the gaps for the 7 seniors we lost from last year. Is Steph Curry an early leader in the SoCon Freshman of the Year race? Could be, but let's not get ahead of things.....long way to go. Archambault is right there with him. I have a feeeling that Barr will be making some much needed contributions as well. Overall things are looking much better than I had anticipated for this year, or at least for this early in the year. McKillop is obviously coaching his tail off, and has done a great job of recruiting talent to come in this year.

On the negative side, this young team is going to have some let-downs, most likely. As young as they are, and as sloppy as they can get at times....it's going to happen. However, once they have the season to get more and more familiar with one another, they could be very dangerous by SoCon Tournament time.

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