.png&width=48&height=48&type=webp)
Davidson College
UNCG
Streaks Continue as Curry and Wildcats Defeat UNC Greensboro, 75-66
2/19/2008 8:46:44 PM | Men's Basketball
Joey Beeler - Assistant SID
DAVIDSON, N.C. -- Stephen Curry scored 30 points and Davidson shot 57.4 percent from the floor as a team to post a 75-66 SoCon men's basketball victory over UNC Greensboro Tuesday night at Belk Arena. It was the 'Cats' 16th consecutive win, the second-longest in the country behind No. 1 Memphis.
Davidson's 28-game SoCon regular-season winning streak is the longest in league history since West Virginia strung together 42 in the 1950's. The victory also gives the Wildcats 20 wins for the fourth straight season.
Curry was 10-for-18 from the floor and 6-for-9 from 3-point range. It was the seventh time the sophomore has scored 30 or more this season. Junior Andrew Lovedale scored 14 points, and classmate Max Paulhus Gosselin posted eight points, seven rebounds and seven steals.
Davidson (20-6, 18-0 SoCon) had 16 steals as a team, UNC Greensboro committed 23 turnovers, which accounted for 26 Wildcat points. Every time the Spartans made a run, the Wildcats turned the tide with a takeaway and a bucket. UNC Greensboro stayed in the game in part because of their work on the glass, outrebounding Davidson 35-23, including 17-6 on the offensive end.
Like their last outing, the Wildcats started fast jumping out to a 10-2 advantage forcing UNCG (14-11, 8-8 SoCon) to burn a 30-second timeout at the 16:00 mark. Out of the break, Davidson stretch its lead to as many as 12 (19-7) on a Curry trey, but the Spartans answered with a 15-4 run to make it 23-22 with 8:47 left in the opening period.
Following UNC Greensboro's spurt, the Wildcats closed the half on a 20-7 streak capped off by a Curry layup and three-pointer to head into the locker room with its largest lead of the stanza, 43-29.
Davidson shot 63.3 percent (19-30) in the first 20 minutes of action, while holding the Spartans to just one field goal in the final eight minutes and a clip of 35.7 percent (10-28). Despite UNCG's first-half shooting woes, it grabbed 10 offensive rebounds and held an 18-14 edge on the glass.
Curry led all scorers at intermission with 14 points on 6-of-10 shooting, while Lovedale added 10.
Back-to-back long-range jumpers from Curry pushed Davidson's advantage to 49-29 with 15:36 left. The Spartans responded with an 18-4 flurry to make it a six-point contest (53-47) with under 12 minutes to play, but that is as close as it would get as the Wildcats stretched the margin back to as many as 14.
With 11 rebounds on the night, Kyle Hines became just the sixth player in NCAA history to record 2,000 points, 1,000 rebounds and 300 blocks joining Derrick Coleman (Syracuse), Tim Duncan (Wake Forest), Pervis Ellison (Louisville), Alonzo Morning (Georgetown) and David Robinson (Navy).
Hines led UNC Greensboro in scoring with 18 points, while Mikko Koivisto and Kendall Toney contributed 12 and 11 points, respectively.
Davidson returns to action Friday at Winthrop in a 7 p.m. tip on ESPN2 as part of the ESPNU Bracketbusters. UNC Greensboro travels to Western Carolina for a 7 p.m. contest Thursday.
GAME NOTES: Two of the Wildcats' remaining three regular season games will be televised live, including Friday's game at Winthrop on ESPN2… Curry reached double figures for the 53rd consecutive contest, scored 20 or more for the 40th time in his career and netted 30 or more for the 11th time... Lovedale made his 16th straight start, all Wildcat wins… Davidson is 30-3 in the month of February since 2003-04... It was Davidson's 16th straight win at Belk Arena... Davidson's 18-league victories set a SoCon mark for conference regular season triumphs.
