Top-Seeded Wildcats Prepare for SoCon Tournament
2/26/2007 10:42:42 AM | Men's Basketball
Joey Beeler
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DAVIDSON, N.C. -- Riding a 10-game winning streak, the Davidson men's basketball team is preparing to defend its Southern Conference Tournament crown at the North Charleston Coliseum in North Charleston, S.C., beginning on Thursday when the Wildcats play the winner of the game between Chattanooga (14-17, 6-12) and Wofford (10-19, 5-13) at 2 p.m. Davidson (26-4, 17-1) will be attempting to win its ninth tournament title and fourth under Head Coach Bob McKillop.
The 10-game winning streak is tied for the ninth longest in the country, and is also the second win streak of at least 10 games this year for the Wildcats. Davidson won 12 straight from the beginning of December until second-seeded Appalachian State handed the 'Cats their only defeat in conference play on Jan. 20, 81-74. The 12-game streak was the second longest in the country when it was snapped.
The Wildcats, who began the season as one of the most inexperienced Division I teams in the country with just a total of 30 collegiate starts among all their returning players, are led by a trio of juniors and freshman guard Stephen Curry. The son of former NBA sharpshooter Dell Curry, Stephen is leading the SoCon in scoring at 20.7 points a game, which is the second highest by a freshman nationally behind Kevin Durant of Texas. The Charlotte native also has 104 three-pointers this season, tied for third most by a freshman ever at the Division I level and just six shy of breaking the record set by Keydren Clark of St Peter's in 2003.
Junior point guard Jason Richards runs the offense and is second nationally in assists per game (7.5) and total assists (224). The native of Barrington, Ill., is averaging 13.5 points per game as well while shooting nearly 40 percent from three-point range and better than 80 percent from the charity stripe.
Down on the blocks Davidson features juniors Thomas Sander and Boris Meno. Sander, from Cincinnati, Ohio, is second on the team in scoring at 14.2 points per game while hauling in 6.4 rebounds each contest. A native of Paris, France, Meno is the fourth Wildcat scoring in double figures at 10.9 points a game and is third in the league with 8.2 boards per game.
By virtue of winning the regular-season title, Davidson has already earned a bid to the NIT at the very least. But the Wildcats have their sights set on becoming the first Southern Conference team to win back-to-back league tournaments and the SoCon's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament since East Tennessee State in 2003 and 2004.
Davidson, which set a Southern Conference record for league victories in a season, defeated both possible quarterfinal opponents twice during the regular season. Chattanooga fell to the Wildcats at home on Dec. 18, 92-80, and at Belk Arena on Feb. 6, 87-57. Wofford stayed within single digits of Davidson in both meetings, 83-78 in Spartanburg on Jan. 13, and 80-73 just one week ago at Davidson.
Should the Wildcats advance, they would play in the semifinals on Friday at 6 p.m. The championship game will be televised by ESPN2 on Saturday at 6 p.m. Every game played at the SoCon Tournament will be video streamed live on the internet on SoCon.tv, except the championship game. The radio broadcast of each Davidson game will also be heard on TEAMLINE, over the internet or the phone (800-846-4700, team code 1143). For those fans that can pick up the radio broadcast locally, check the schedule page for the stations broadcasting the games.
