Article about former Princeton coaching legend, Pete Carril

In case you don't remember, this is the coach that orchestrated the feared "back-door" offense that gave big-time teams FITS in the NCAA tournament a decade ago. He is a great coach.

NOT THE RETIRING KIND
By Harvey Yavener

It has been 10 years since Pete Carril left the Princeton men’s basketball program, but he has hardly disappeared. Carril remains as an assistant coach for the NBA’s Sacramento Kings and keeps close tabs on his protégés, John Thompson III and current Princeton coach Joe Scott.....

Click here for entire article from The Trenton Times

A few more links on the win over Princeton

The Trenton Times (New Jersey): Princeton falls at Davidson

The Charlotte Observer: (2 articles)
Supporting cast spurs Cats
Davidson Observations

From SoCon Sports.com: Davidson Tops Princeton, 65-50, for 19th Straight Home Win Despite Winters' Absence

If you want to listen to the archived Princeton broadcast: click here, then scroll down to the Davidson game on the schedule, then click on "archive". It's interesting to hear what the opposing coach has to say about the Davidson players, etc.

Davidson victorious over Princeton, 65-50

Article from Princeton official website:
Davidson Pulls Away in Second Half, Defeats Princeton 65-50

Article from Davidson official website:
Men's Hoops Tops Princeton, 65-50, for 19th Straight Home Win
(Picture on left from Davidson website)

You like that fancy color-coordination of the school names, don't you?

Click for BOX SCORE

Princeton game tonight at 7 p.m.

Davidson should win this game. Princeton (3-11) is not having a good year. As you may already know, Princeton lost a home game to Carnegie Mellon, a division III school, earlier this year. Davidson just needs to stay focused on this game and play solid defense. If they do that, they should pull this one out without too much trouble. A loss for Davidson in this game would be very disappointing. With that said, I feel pretty certain that the Wildcats will post a "W" tonight, winning by at least 12 points.

Official Princeton Basketball website: click here

Preview from Princeton website:
Back in Black (and Orange): Tigers Visit Davidson in Return From Exam Break

Preview from The Daily Princetonian newspaper: Men's basketball back in action on Sunday

Unofficial Princeton Basketball website: click here

Unofficial Princeton Basketball blog: click here

Game Preview here.

GAME NOTES:
From Princeton website
From Davidson website

Here's an interesting article about how far Princeton Basketball has fallen in the past few years: Princeton Basketball: Great Scott?

Another article about surprisingly bad teams in 2005-06: College Basketball Surprises

*******

Here are a few pictures of the Princeton campus. It's beautiful, isn't it? The last picture reminds me a little of the grassy area in front of Chambers at Davidson.

*********************************************************

They let her speak at Princeton? We really have to beat these guys now. (Oh, relax, people. It's all in good fun. Learn to laugh a little.)

Wildcats crush Elon by 19

Ian got back on track in this one, thank goodness, netting 18 points. No more scoreless games, Ian, OK? Anyway, I think the team really put their foot down and made a statement to the rest of the league. Yes, they lost a couple of games....that's going to happen (you can't go 16-0 in conference every year). Nonetheless, if any other teams have thoughts of winning the regular season or tournament championships, they know that they will have to go through the Davidson Wildcats to get there.....and that is no easy task.

Davidson 79, Elon 60: Box Score

From The Charlotte Observer:
Davidson defends its own court, beats Elon

Article from Davidson website:
Davidson Dumps Elon in Battle of Division Leaders, 79-60

From WFMY News 2:
Elon Streak Ends At Davidson, 79-60

From Greensboro News-Record.com (just the AP wire):
Davidson hands Elon 1st loss in conference play

From ESPN.com (just the AP wire): Click here

From Fox Sports.com (just the AP wire, too): Click here

Here's a partial post from an Elon fan on www.davidsoncats.com message board:
"Congrats on the win. You guys really shut down every aspect of our game. Which proves why McKillop is the best coach in the league. " Click here for the entire thread.

Note: Photos copied from Davidson Basketball website.

Elon Game: This is a big one

From Davidson Website: Game Notes

Matchup Notes from The Charlotte Observer

(I'll try to add more if I have time ......busy day at work today.)

SoCon trivia answer

"On Nov. 29, 1980, Western Carolina's Ronnie Carr drilled a three-point field goal, the first in the history of college basketball. "

Here's a link to an article about this subject...pretty interesting:
"LONG LIVE THE THREE"

SoCon Weekly release

Here's the link: SoCon Weekly Release

SoCon Trivia

UPDATE: No takers?
________
We don't have a game for a couple of days, so I thought I'd fill the gap with some more pointless trivia.

The Southern Conference was the first conference to have the "3-pointer". It was given a test run in the SoCon before being used throughout the NCAA.

Can you name the player that sank the very first 3 point basket in NCAA history, and the player's team? Extra credit: What was the date of the first 3 point shot? Hint: it was not a Davidson player, but it was a SoCon team.

(No fair cheating with Google or something like that!! Ha! Give it to me right off the top of your head, if you know.)

Lady Wildcat honored by SoCon

Davidson's Brynn Kelly Named Baden SoCon Women's Basketball Player Of The Week

Davidson Trivia Time Again

Can you name this former Davidson Wildcat? This one's going to be a good bit harder than the Mark Donnelly question from earlier.

Update: We had a winner....very quickly I might add. "Wild" correctly answered: James Marsh.

James only played one season at Davidson (1990-91), while Davidson was briefly in the Big South Conference. That is why I thought this might be a bit harder question....but I severely underestimated the Davidson crowd.

James was from Germany and was a hallmate of mine our freshman year on 2nd West Belk. He was going to be my roommate our sophomore year, but he decided not to come back to Davidson. He stayed in Germany and signed a contract to play professional basketball in his home country.

Good call, "Wild". I'm quite impressed that you got that so easily.

Also, James just retired from his basketball career. If you speak German (I don't), you will be able to read this. Here's the link to an article about James' retirement.

Up Next: HUGE Game against Elon (at Davidson)

Elon is 6-0 in the conference and has a victory over Clemson on their list of accomplishments for this year (granted, Clemson is a perennial ACC doormat, but it's an ACC team, nonetheless.....plus, Clemson is not all that bad this year). Elon also just beat Furman (at Elon) while we were losing to UTC. This will be a test for both teams.

I must say that, with all due respect to Elon, I never would have thought that this game would have been so important for Davidson this year. They are a surprise, as far as I'm concerned. I don't say that in a taunting way, but in a complimentary way. They are having a great year so far and are to be congratulated for it. Now, with all that said, the outcome of this game will certainly tell us whether or not Elon is "for real". Even if Davidson wins, Elon can prove its legitimacy by playing a close, tough game.

Ian Johnson held scoreless (???) in road loss to Chattanooga, 59-65

Ian Johnson...scoreless? That is quite a feat by UTC.

However, don't get too down....2 conference losses are not that big a deal. Going undefeated in the SoCon last year was wonderful, but it rarely happens. Keep in mind that Davidson finished tied for first in the division the prior three years, with only an 11-5 conference record each of those three years. The other teams in the division will falter along the way. So the Wildcats may still lose another game or two in conference and have a great shot at a #1 seed in the SoCon tourney.

Great things are still to come......conference tourney time is when it really counts.

NEWS COVERAGE:

Two Articles from The Chattanooga Times Free Press:
1) Mocs swat Davidson, UTC wins 65-59 though Pugh out
2) Different Mocs quicker on defense, better in win over Wildcats

Article from The Chattanoogan.com: Crouch, Mocs Stave Off Davidson

Article from Davidson website:
Men's Basketball Falls On The Road To Chattanooga, 65-59

Article from UTC website: click here

From WDEF.com: click here

From WRCBtv.com: click here

From WTVC.com: click here

The Charlotte Observer article here.

ESPN.com recap here.

FoxSports.com recap here.

SoConsports.com article here.

Box score here.

Two articles from GSU local papers

Article from the Statesboro Herald (I caved in and registered. Here's the article in full, so you don't have to register):

Georgia Southern men, women fall in SoCon play
Men lose 2nd straight in SoCon
Georgia Southern AMR

DAVIDSON, N.C. – Davidson’s Eric Blanchett scored a career high 17 points to lead the Wildcats to an 83-58 win over Georgia Southern Saturday afternoon at Belk Arena. The Wildcats improve to 11-6 on the year, 5-1 in SoCon play, while the Eagles fall to 12-6, 3-2 in SoCon action.

After a quick basket by Davidson’s Boris Meno, the Eagles jumped out to an early 5-2 lead at the 17:51 mark. Elton Nesbitt scored his second three pointer of the game with 14:15 to play in the half to give the Eagles the 10-6 advantage before the Wildcats answered.

Davidson went on a 10-0 run to retake the lead for good at 16-10 with 10:36 on the clock. Georgia Southern got within four at 22-18 but the Wildcats put together a 19-3 run over the next five minutes, giving them the 43-23 lead with under a minute remaining in the opening half. Two quick baskets by the Eagles made the halftime score 45-28. Davidson’s Brendan Winters led all scorers at the break with 13 while Nesbitt had 10. Davidson shot 60.0 percent in the first half on 18-of-30 shooting from the floor. Georgia Southern shot 10-of-26 (38.5 percent) and only shot 57.1 percent from the charity stripe. A Sean Olivier layup cut the Wildcat lead to 15 at 45-30 with 18:53 to play in the game, but that was as close as the Eagles would get. Davidson put together a 6-2 spurt to extend its lead to 20 at 60-40 with 14:08 remaining in the game. The Eagles responded, putting together their own 7-3 run to cut their deficit to 16 on a Nesbitt trey with 10:36 on the clock. The Wildcats extended their lead as they went on a 10-0 run, holding the Eagles scoreless for four minutes, putting them up 80-52 with 3:40 to play.
____________

Article from the Augusta Chronicle (it's just the AP wire story)

Davidson pounds Georgia Southern
Davidson 83, Georgia Southern 58

DAVIDSON, N.C. - Eric Blancett scored 17 points to lead Davidson to a 83-58 win over Georgia Southern in the Southern Conference on Saturday.

Davidson (11-6, 5-1) won its 17th straight home game as the Wildcats' bench, led by Blancett, scored 44 points.

Georgia Southern (12-6, 3-2) never got closer than 15 points in the second half. The Eagles shot just 38.3 percent from the floor.

Elton Nesbitt, the conference's leading scorer at 21.4 points per game, led Georgia Southern with 15 points. Donte Gennie had 11.

Davidson finished the game hitting 33-of-65 field goals, or 50.8 percent, including 9-of-22 from 3-point range.

Brendan Winters had 15 points and Ian Johnson added 11 for Davidson.

Davidson Rolls Over Georgia Southern, 83-58

Two words: Eric Blancett. Also, here's a news flash: Boris didn't miss his dunk today!

I thought today's game was a solid, all-around team effort. Nobody went nuts scoring; it was pretty evenly disbursed throughout the roster. What can you say about Eric Blancett's game today? From out of nowhere, back from the injury bug (torn anterior cruciate ligaments in both knees, a broken nose, and foot and ankle injuries), Eric hangs 17 on GSU. I believe he was averaging less than 3 points a game. (see more below) Also, the cheerleaders looked great on TV!


Article from Davidson website: Blancett Scores 17 in 83-58 Victory Over Georgia Southern

Article from GSU website: Men’s Basketball Loses Second Straight, Falls at Davidson 83-58

From SoCon website: Davidson Wins 17th Straight at Home
Box Score: click here.

The Charlotte Observer: Little-used Wildcat wows crowd

The Charlotte Observer: Game Summary

Fox Sports.com: Game summary

The Charlotte Observer: DC vs. GSU preview (better late than never)

Eric Blancett - SoCon Player of the Year?

OK, I'm getting carried away. I know he's obviously not even remotely a candidate for Player of the Year. But he was definitely the Fox Sports South Player of the Game.


Holy Cow. Where did those 17 points come from today? That caught me and probably everybody else by surprise. Maybe McKillop was keeping a "secret weapon" in hiding for all this time?

Seriously, it is my understanding that he has had several knee injuries and other injuries that have plagued his career. Now that he is apparently healthy, I hope he keeps it up. We can always use another scoring threat. Great game, Eric!

Blurb on the game in the Observer

From The Charlotte Observer:

GEORGIA SOUTHERN (12-5, 3-1) at DAVIDSON (10-6, 4-1)

2 p.m., Fox Sports South

"Davidson's 16-game home winning streak will be tested. Eagles guard Elton Nesbitt (21.4 ppg) leads the Southern Conference in scoring. Davidson leads the conference at 81 points a game.
-- Kevin Cary"

Two sentences....WOW. I just love the way the Observer goes out of its way to cover the Wildcats so thoroughly. Don't you?

Next up: Home Game vs. Georgia Southern, Saturday at 2 pm

TV Coverage: Fox Sports South (FSN) @ 2:00 p.m.

I had planned to attend the game with my son, but it appears that I will have to settle for watching it on TV. I am coming down with the flu, darnit!

Game Notes: from Davidson website

Game Notes: from GSU website (unavailable)
- you have to be a subscriber to get the game notes from them. What a crock. (GSU message board link here)

Article from Davidson website:
Wildcats Aiming for 17th Straight Victory in Belk Arena

Incidentally, there will be no posts of articles from the Statesboro Herald, since you also have to be a subscriber to access the articles. I quote from their site: "This is only a free sampling of the news you get in the Statesboro Herald. Get it all in print or online with your paid subscription!" That is ridiculous! You'd think that paper would like a little exposure, wouldn't you?

OK, same problem with the Savannah Morning News as well as the Augusta Chronicle. Feel free to register if you like. I refuse to do so.

Radio Coverage:

Davidson network
WFNA, 1660 AM
WHIP, 1350 AM

Ga Southern network:
WMCD, 107.3 FM, Statesboro, Ga.
WZBX, 106.5 FM, Sylvania, Ga.


Davidson Trivia Time: Can you name the Davidson player in the picture below? The first correct answer gets a "well done" from me. (I am about 99% sure I know the answer.)

Update: And we have a winner.....Username "Johnston Gym" had the correct answer, Mark Donnelly.

Mark was a few years behind me at Davdison. I never had the opportunity go know him. He was a great shooter and an All-Southern Conference performer. He is also 5th on Davdison's all-time "3 pointers made" list.

Here's the list:

Three-Point Leaders
1. Brendan Winters ’06 240
2. Matt McKillop ’06 197
3. Pete Anderer ’03 190
4. Jason Zimmerman ’94 184
5. Mark Donnelly ’98 177
6. Derek Rucker ’88 154
7. Wayne Bernard ’03 143
8. Janko Narat ’94 136
9. Brandon Williams ’96 131
10. Davor Halbauer ’00 128

Janko Narat was a friend of mine/hall mate/classmate (94) on 2nd West Belk our freshman year. He had a smooth shot. Brandon Williams is probably the most athletic player I have ever seen at Davidson; he could jump out of the gym (I never saw Derek Rucker play, so I can't comment on him; I hear he was pretty darn good). Brandon Williams did kick around the NBA off and on until recently.

Odds and Ends

From CBS Sportsline.com:
1. Wildcats report: Notes, quotes
2. Wildcats report: Getting inside
3. Wildcats report: Strategy and personnel

College Insider.com Mid-Major Top 25 Poll
Davidson at 34th in the voting. Hopefully moving up soon. I believe that DC started out the year at about 9th or so.

ALSO:
From SoCon official website:
Southern Conference Men's Basketball weekly release

"One Streak Remains: Even though Davidson’s consecutive league wins stopped at 27 last weekend, the Wildcats still have one win streak intact. Davidson has won 16 straight games at Belk Arena, the longest active home winning streak in the conference. The Wildcats host Georgia Southern on Saturday in a contest of two of the top three teams currently in the South Division."

"McKillop Three Treys Shy of 200: Davidson’s Matt McKillop enters Saturday’s game with Georgia Southern three 3-pointers shy of becoming the third active SoCon player to record 200 treys for his career. McKillop would become only the second Wildcat to reach 200 career 3-pointers, joining teammate Brendan Winters who has 240."

"Winters Nears Top Five at Davidson: Brendan Winters is presently sixth at Davidson with 1,652 career points. He needs 10 points to move into fifth place in school history and 42 away from fourth. Winters is also 48 points shy of becoming only the fourth player in school annals to score 1,700 points in a career."

"SoCon Television Schedule: The SoCon’s eight-game television package on FSN South continues Saturday with Davidson hosting Georgia Southern at 2 p.m. Also this Saturday is a CSS broadcast between Wofford and College of Charleston. The next scheduled game on FSN South is Saturday, January 28 as College of Charleston hosts Chattanooga, while the next CSS telecast is Monday, January 23 as Western Carolina entertains College of Charleston."

Here's a link to the entire article. It has a good bit of info on other teams in the league. I just cherry-picked the Davidson bits.
________________

Non-Davidson post:
Put this in the holy cow category....Division III Carnegie Mellon Tartans defeat Princton Tigers, 51-46 (at Princeton)

Furman: Contender or Pretender?

Is Furman a legtimate threat this year in the SoCon? At this point, I would say they are. They upset Davidson, and then turned around and beat Georgia Southern on the road. GSU had a win streak of their own going at the time.

Random commentary: Furman has not really had a good team in at least 20 years, to the best of my recollection. The last good team they had was some time in the early-mid 80s, when I was a Furman fan (in high school in Greenville....I used to go to just about every Furman home game, and a few away games, too). They had a couple of guys named George Singleton and Mel Daniel that were very good (they were both drafted by NBA teams). Of course, those two guys are now in their mid 40s. But I digress.

Anyway, I have no doubt that Davidson is a better team than Furman, despite the loss last Saturday. DC will prove it over the course of the season.

Davidson 80, College of Charleston 70

The Wildcats pick up a BIG road win against a division foe. Charleston may be down a little right now, but a win in their arena is still extremely important. In my opinion, they have been our biggest rival since they joined the conference.....a game that both schools look forward to playing.
Here's a good article from the Charleston Post and Courier:
"Double Trouble: Davidson's Johnson, Winters Too Much for Cougs"
"Davidson may have finally lost a Southern Conference game, but the Wildcats haven't lost their punch. They're the only team in the league that can send you reeling with one player of the year candidate, and then knock you out with another...."

Article from The Charlotte Observer:
Winters lifts Davidson to win: Guard leads team with game-high 25 points
(Of course the article isn't but a few paragraphs long....thanks so much for that in-depth coverage, Observer!)

Article from the C of C website:
Late Surge Lifts Davidson Past CofC, 80-70
(this link takes you to the main page for C of C men's basketball....had trouble linking directly to the article for some reason)

Article from the Davidson website:
Men Get Back to Winning Ways with 80-70 Triumph at Charleston

Article from the Southern Conference official website:
Davidson and Furman Grab Road Wins Tuesday

Fox Sports.com article: click here

This is all the ESPN.com has: click here

The Mid Majority.com game info: click here

BOX SCORE from the game: click here.

Photo by Max Turner

What they are saying about McKillop and Davidson in Charleston tonight

These are a few comments about Davidson and McKillop on the College of Charleston message board......very complimentary. It's good to know that others recongnize what McKillop is doing (and has been for 17 years) and that he is going about it the right way.

From a C of C fan:
"sometimes it all comes down to coaching and y'all have one of the best -if not the best- in the conference"

Response from a DC fan (not a grad, but apparently a Davidson resident):
"I agree. I would not trade Bob for any coach in the conference, not even close. We worry every year that he will leave. But if you drive through Davidson, and see Bob's and Kathy's beautiful white frame house across from campus, and see how he interacts with our community support, we keep alive this notion that he will stay. Admittedly,we know he could coach anywhere, and he could leave any week. But he really is an honorable person who I am pleased to support. (For what it's worth, I am not a Davidson grad, but a Davidson resident, and I support DC basketball because of the quality of the people on the team and in the program.) I suspect Bob's program infuriates every fan and coach in the SoCon. But he has done it honorably, with the most difficult admissions standards in the SoCon."

Response to DC fan from same C of C fan:
"I hold no grudge against DC or Bob Mckillop. Both are class acts and great competitors and credit to Davidson NC. Before our present sideline sideshow, we had a pretty classy thing going on here in Charleston as well. I hate losing to anyone but, can stomach a loss to you guys because I know ya'll are doing it the right way."

Response to DC fan from another C of C fan:
"Davidson's program is probably admired by most Cougar fans. Can not speak for all, but the ones I know have the utmost respect for McKillop and the school (Davidson)."
(emphasis added to these quotes)

In Game comment

Thomas Sander hits a clutch 3 pointer with 2 minutes left in the game against C of C??? Are you kidding me???

That was probably one of those shots where McKillop says "NOOOOOOO"........then "YESSSSS!" after it goes in.

Good shot, Thomas.

Humorous comment by John Kilgo during the Charleston game

Boris Meno just missed a dunk (but he did get fouled, so cut him some slack). Kilgo commented that Boris may have the record for the total number of missed dunks by one player.

I saw Boris miss a wide open dunk under the basket against Missouri, so I thought that comment by Kilgo was pretty funny.

Davidson leads 22-15............now, back to the game.

Davidson at College of Charleston - 7:00 p.m.

Brief preview of the game in the Charleston Post and Courier.
_______________
Brief preview of the game in The Charlotte Observer. Of course, since Davidson is not exactly in downtown Charlotte, the Observer gives the game a tiny little blurb, as usual. I wish the Observer gave the team better coverage; they deserve better.
_______________

Radio coverage:
Davidson: WFNA - 1660 AM, WAGI - 105.3 FM
C of C: WTMZ - 910 AM

Game Notes: From College of Charleston Website

Game Notes: From Davidson Website

Link to C of C Basketball website

More info a couple of posts below.
__________

Coaches Dislike Late-Night Hoops

Article about Southern Conference Basketball in the Charleston Post and Courier....not really focused on Davidson, but rather the conference as a whole.

Davidson Wildcat Message Board & Radio Show

DavidsonCats.com

Discuss Davidson College Athletics

An All-Davidson message board was just brought to my attention. It's great to see a real Davidson message board, instead of those generic ones that ESPN.com, etc. have (nobody ever posts anything on those generic message boards, at least not the Davidson ones).

Please click over to www.davidsoncats.com and let your thoughts about Davidson athletics be known! (As always, please use good judgment with your posts. As Davidsonians, we like to hold ourselves to a little higher standard, don't we?)

_____________

WALT - Davidson Sports Network Radio Show

with Will Bryan and Blake Poole

Also, here's a link to the WALT Davidson Sports Network radio show. The programs are downloadable in mp3 format, or you can just listen over the internet. The show highlights Davdison athletics of all types. The hosts are two Davidson students, Will Bryan and Blake Poole.

FYI: I will have a permanent link for both of these below on the right under "Related Links".

_____________

Here's a link to a good article in the Chattanooga paper about Davidson basketball. It has been posted on the Davidson message board.

Doin' the Charleston

Here's an interesting article from the Charleston Post and Courier about the C of C basketball program, the expectations, and the (relatively) new coach. There's nothing about Davidson, but it's interesting, nonetheless.

Hopefully we'll be "doin' the Davidson" in Charleston on Tuesday night.
________________

By the way:
"Southern Conference Reprimands College of Charleston Men’s Basketball Coach"

"SPARTANBURG, SC -- The Southern Conference issued a public reprimand Wednesday, January 11, to College of Charleston Men’s Basketball Head Coach Tom Herrion for comments made regarding officiating following the Cougars’ loss to Georgia Southern Monday in Statesboro, GA...."

________________

Here's a link to a good (unofficial) C of C message board. www.CofCFans.com

Wildcats Look Ahead to Game At College of Charleston

Since C of C joined the Southern Conference, this game has traditionally been a very anticipated, big game. It will, as always, be a tough road game for Davidson this year. Last year ended in a last second shot, with Davidson winning. [Random thought: If I am not mistaken, I think I watched the game on television, but don't quote me on that...I also remember being excited about the win (television or not).]

Game Notes: From College of Charleston Website

Game Notes: From Davidson Website

Link to C of C Basketball website

Link to a C of C alum's blog (somewhat basketball related)

"'Cats Look to Start New Win Streak at Charleston on Tuesday": "After having its nation-leading 27-game conference winning streak snapped on Saturday at Furman, Davidson is looking to start a new streak this evening at College of Charleston and avoid losing two straight league contests for the first time in almost exactly two years. The Wildcats have won three of their four games in Charleston's Kresse Arena, including a 76-74 victory last year on a buzzer-beater by Jason Morton." Click here for full article (from Davidson website).

Thoughts on the Cheerleading Program

During my time at Davidson, the cheerleading program was almost non-existent. In fact, if memory serves correctly, there was no cheerleading squad when I started my freshman year. It developed very slowly during my 4 years. While I was a student, there was almost an "anti-cheerleader" mentality amongst the students. In the time since I graduated in 1994, it appears that the cheerleading program has become very respectable. It is clear that a great deal of hard work goes into practice for the stunts and other routines. I want to commend the cheerleaders and those leading the cheerleading squad. You have all done a great job. I am very impressed with the progress the program has made.

Furman upsets Davidson, 70 - 66

Furman shot well, Davidson didn't. It just wasn't Davidson's day. End of story. Ian didn't play well; Brendan didn't play particularly well either. Without those two horses pulling the load, Davidson simply wasn't able to pull it out. I guess the streak had to end some time. Now let's hope they can start another one!

Article from The Greenville News: Furman finds the answer for Davidson

(These 3 pictures by The Greenville News staff photographer, Patrick Collard)

Article from the Charlotte Observer: Win streak ends for Wildcats

Article from the Furman website: Furman Snaps Davidson's 27-Game SoCon Winning Streak WIth 70-66 Victory

Article from Davidson Basketball website: Conference Win Streak Ends at 27 in 70-66 Loss at Furman

Article from ESPN.com: Furman 70, Davidson 66

This picture that I took pretty much sums up the Wildcats' day:

Ian gets knocked over by a Furman player.

Davidson/Furman Game Notes

TV Coverage: Comcast-Charter Sports Southeast (CSS) @ 2:00 p.m.

Game Notes: From Davidson's website

Game Notes: From Furman's website

Timmons Arena, Furman University, Greenville, SC: The worst place in the world to watch a basketball game, not due to the fact that it's Furman (Furman is a great school with a wonderful campus), but due to the fact that the layout of the building is awful.

Furman/Davidson: Article from The Greenville News

PALADINS TAKE STAGE AGAINST SOCON GIANT

(From The Greenville News)
By Ann Green, STAFF WRITER

"This afternoon in Timmons Arena, Furman has a chance to steal a piece of the national spotlight that has warmly engulfed Davidson in recent years.

"The Wildcats haven't lost a regular season Southern Conference matchup since the middle of the 2003-04 season, and they've extended that conference streak to a nation's longest 27 games.

"Davidson's record against Furman is equally daunting.

"Furman hasn't beaten Davidson since 1995. The Paladins are 0-16 against the Wildcats in that period....."

I'm knocking on wood right now after posting that article.
Update: I guess I didn't knock hard enough.

Article in Charlotte Observer

Davidson Men Are On A Red-Hot Streak

"DAVIDSON - The Davidson men's basketball team has won 27 straight Southern Conference regular-season games and shows no signs of slowing down.

"Davidson has won its first three conference games by an average of 29 points and has only trailed for two minutes, 33 seconds out of the 120 minutes played in those games.

"Davidson has 13 conference games remaining in the regular season, but the Wildcats have a chance at a second straight 16-0 mark.

"Davidson's current RPI ranking -- used by the NCAA to determine a team's strength -- is 59. No other conference team has a rating in the top 120. And nine of the 10 other conference teams have an RPI of 178 or greater."

Click here for full article in Charlotte Observer.

Upcoming game at Furman

I get to this game every year, since it's played in my hometown. I grew up pulling for Furman, but that obviously changed when I went to Davidson.

There's a preview of the game on the Furman website.

There's also a pre-game release for the Furman/Davidson game on their website (PDF Format).

Common opponent: Incidentally, Furman has also played Missouri. Furman lost 72-63.

TV COVERAGE: Also, according the the Furman webiste, Comcast-Charter Sports Southeast (CSS) will televise the Furman vs. Davidson matchup live at 2:00 p.m.

A little editorial commentary:
Timmons Arena, which is the relatively new on-campus facility for basketball games at Furman, is quite possibly the absolute worst places EVER to watch a game. It was conceived as a "multi-purpose arena", which translates into "not good for anything". The visibility is obstructed in many places and the seating arrangement is awful. It's such an odd place that it defies description. I do not recommend going to anything in this arena, unless you are going to support the Wildcats (as I will be on Saturday). Here's the layout (the basketball court is set up where the floor is shown):

Strange, isn't it?

Comment on last season

Last year was a very exciting year for Wildcat basketball. While they were not able to run the table in the conference tourney, the team did run the table with a perfect 16-0 conference schedule during the regular season. That is a rarity in college basketball. Then, to top it off, the team received a bid to the NIT. Beating VCU and the SW Missouri State in the NIT was a great deal of fun for those of us following the team. If I'm not mistaken, those were the first post-season victories for Davidson since the days of Lefty and Terry Holland. The team then followed up those wins with a trip to Maryland to play the Terps. The Wildcats jumped out to a 16 point lead in the first half before finally falling in the end.


We are all very proud of what you all accomplished last year. For the members of last year's team that are still there....do it again this year!

Early part of season.......in summary

Brendan shoots a free throw against Missouri:

I didn't start this blog until January 12, 2006, so I'm going to summarize the season so far.

Lost to Duke (expected), valuable wins against UMass and St. Joe's(I was there....good game), lost to UNCC in 2OT, beat Missouri in another big win (I was there....another good game), lost to the Tarheels, Syracuse and Illinois-Chicago. In conference (3-0), beat App State, Wofford and The Citadel. Also beat up on some small schools.

With a win against The Citadel, Davidson got its nation-leading 27th consecutive regular-season conference victory, dating back to the 2003-2004 season.

The record now stands at 9-5 (3-0 Southern Conference, leading division).

Here's a shot of the large crowd (large by Davidson standards) from the Missouri game (attendance 4,221). Here are a few links to Missouri articles about the game: article #1, article #2, article #3, article #4.

Another picture of the action during the Missouri game.

Note on Thomas Sander:
Thomas Sander may look like he couldn't hurt a fly, but he is tough as nails and hustles his tail off. I was very impressed with him in the Missouri game. Coming off the bench, he scratched and clawed his way to numerous rebounds and had several put-backs on the offensive boards. He's not the quickest or smoothest guy on the court, but he was clearly frustrating the Missouri players. He's a guy you want on your team.
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St. Joseph's:
This is a shot of Phil Martelli's incredibly bald head and the St. Joe's mascot, which is the most annoying mascot I have ever seen. The hawk flapped its wings (NON-STOP!) for the entire game. Hey, Hawk, give it a rest! If you haven't gotten off the ground by now, it isn't going to happen!

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Here's a link to a Davidson season preview from the Winston-Salem Journal.

Here's a link to a flattering pre-game article from the Syracuse game:
"Davidson is used to playing with basketball's big dogs"

Non-conference schedule 2005-2006

The non-conference schedule is pretty brutal, once again. The big-name oppenents are Duke, North Carolina, UMass, Missouri, St. Joe's, UNCC (of course), Syracuse and Princeton. I wonder if any other mid-major teams can say they have 3 of the last 5 defending national champions on their schedule [UNC (2005), Syracuse (2003), Duke (2001)]? I doubt it. Throw last year's season ending NIT game against Maryland into the mix and that's 4 of the last 5 NCAA champions [Maryland (2002)].

McKillop is taking the attitude that he will play anybody anywhere.....and I like that.

The word on the street is that Jim Calhoun from UConn (2004 champions) was afraid to schedule Davidson, or it would have been a perfect 5 out of 5. OK, maybe that part about Calhoun isn't true, but it could be!

Why this blog?

As a Davidson alum ('94), I am interested in what is happening with the basketball team. Since Davidson is such a small school, there is very little coverage. I thought I might try to consolidate what little coverage our team gets. I hope you will enjoy it.