North Division Leader Western Carolina Visits Belk Thursday Night

Davidson Wildcats (10-4, 4-0 SoCon) vs. Western Carolina Catamounts (8-8, 3-1 SoCon)

Date: Jan. 12, 2012 - 7 p.m.
Site: Belk Arena (5,223 capacity) - Davidson, N.C.
Audio: John Kilgo calls the action with Logan Kosmalski and Ken Hall on the Davidson Radio Network (1660 AM, 1350 AM, 1450 AM, 104.7 HD3, online at DavidsonWildcats.com and mobile devices with Radio.com and TuneIn Radio Apps)
Video: Live on Davidson All-Access (DavidsonWildcats.com)
Web sites: Davidson (DavidsonWildcats.com), Western Carolina (Catamountsports.com)

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Layup Line
• Davidson hosts Western Carolina in a battle of the two Southern Conference division leaders. The Wildcats lead the South with a 4-0 record, while the Catamounts are first in the North with a 3-1 mark.
• It's the only regular-season contest between Western Carolina and Davidson this season.
• Davidson has won 12 of its last 13 SoCon regular-season games, including eight straight, dating back to last season.
• The Wildcats are coming off a 96-74 home win over Georgia Southern Saturday and have scored 90-plus points in the last two games.
• The Wildcats are 20-7 in their last 27 games overall, dating back to last season.
• Davidson is 6-1 at home this season and has won 11 of its last 12 games in Belk Arena, dating back to last season. The lone loss came to Vanderbilt Dec. 7.
• Preseason All-SoCon selections JP Kuhlman and Jake Cohen, both juniors, are approaching the 1,000-point mark for their careers. Cohen is 13 points shy of the mark, and Kuhlman needs 15 points.
• The 'Cats, who have posted nine straight winning seasons, were picked to win the SoCon South Division in the league's Coaches and Media Polls.
• Western Carolina is 3-2 in its last five and coming off a 67-57 home win over Wofford. The Catamounts' lone league loss came at Chattanooga last Thursday.
• Western Carolina is 3-6 on the road and 4-7 away from home.
• The Catamounts were picked third in the North in the SoCon Preseason Coaches Poll.

Series History
• Davidson leads the all-time series 36-20 and is 6-2 in the last eight meetings.
• The series began with an 82-76 Wildcat win in 1977.
• The Wildcats are 19-7 against Western Carolina at home, 12-4 in Belk Arena and 25-9 under head coach Bob McKillop.
• Last Time: Trey Sumler scored 24 points, knocking down 4-of-6 3-pointers, to lead Western Carolina to an 81-73 victory over Davidson in the Ramsey Activity Center.
• Nik Cochran and JP Kuhlman each scored 13 points to lead Davidson, while De'Mon Brooks tallied 11 points and 12 rebounds. Clint Mann and Brendan McKillop each scored nine for the Wildcats.
• Harouna Mutombo and Mike Williams each netted 13 points for the Catamounts. Tawaski King and Preston Ross both recorded eight points off the bench.
• Davidson shot 36 percent, committed nine turnovers and went 3-for-13 from the free-throw line in the first half to dig an 11-point hole at the break. The Wildcats trimmed the cushion to five points five times in the second frame, but Western Carolina had an answer each time and the lead never dipped below five.
• The last came with 6:53 left in the contest when Jake Cohen drained a baseline jumper that made the score 62-57. The Wildcats got a defensive stop but turned it over on their possession.
• Mutombo answered with a triple from the wing to start a 7-2 spurt that helped the Catamounts open a 69-59 lead with 3:46 left. Davidson would get no closer than eight points the rest of the way.
• Last time in Belk Arena: Davidson nearly erased a 24-point second half deficit, coming within four points late, but Western Carolina hung on to take a 77-67 victory.
• Jake Robinson led four double-digit scorers for Western Carolin with 20 points, going 6-for-9 from the field and hitting 4-of-5 3-pointers, while adding an assist and a rebound. Brandon Giles scored 19 and led the Catamounts with eight rebounds, all on defense. Harouna Mutombo scored 12 points, going 5-for-8 from the field and hitting 2-of-3 from behind the arc. Mike Williams added 11 points.
• For the Wildcats, Ben Allison led three scorers in double figures with a career-high 15 points, while adding eight rebounds and an assist. Brendan McKillop scored 13 points, while JP Kuhlman had 11 points to go along with four rebounds and four assists. Steve Rossiter led the 'Cats on the boards with 10 rebounds to give him 507 for his career. Archambault was also strong rebounding, pulling in eight boards and scoring nine points, all in the second half.
• Down 48-24 1:49 into the second half, Davidson used a 16-2 run to cut the lead to 10 by the 14:11 mark. Western Carolina maintained the double-digit cushion, taking a 60-47 lead after Robinson sank a 3-pointer with 7:36 to go until Davidson went on a 9-0 spurt to cut the lead to just four with 5:43 remaining.
• That was as close as the 'Cats would come as they turned the ball over four times in the final three minutes of play. Robinson sank 4-of-4 free throw attempts and sank a three-ball to help put the game out of reach.

Claw Marks
• Davidson returns seven of its top eight scorers and four starters from last season. Players who accounted for 81 percent of the team's scoring and 87 percent of the team's rebounding are back in uniform this year.
• The same player has led Davidson in scoring in consecutive games on just two occasions this season - JP Kuhlman (Presbyterian, UNCW) and Jake Cohen (Wofford, Furman).
• The Wildcats rank first in the nation in team free-throw percentage (.811), and Nik Cochran ranks first in the country (.938). Cochran, De'Mon Brooks, Jake Cohen and JP Kuhlman all rank in the top-7 in the SoCon.
• According to NCAA RPI, Davidson's non-conference strength of schedule ranks fifth in the country.
• By defeating Kansas 80-74 Dec. 19, the Wildcats defeated a ranked opponent for the first time since topping Wisconsin 73-56 in the 2008 NCAA Tournament.
• It was Davidson's first win over a ranked opponent in the regular season since defeating No. 15 South Carolina Jan. 12, 1974.
• It was the 'Cats' first win over a ranked opponent on the road since defeating No. 17 St. John's 88-84 Jan. 4, 1972.
• JP Kuhlman has been named to the Cousy Award watch list. The award is given annually to the nation's best point guard.
• The 'Cats have won 30 of their last 33 against non-conference competition at Belk Arena and are 38-6 since 2003.
• Davidson has made 20 or more free throws in six games this season.
• Davidson hit all of its free throws (14-for-14) against Duke Nov. 18, for the first time since 2008 (Appalachian State, 6-for-6).
• The Wildcats have led at halftime in 12 games this season.
• Davidson has a 6-4 record in non-conference games with one non-league game left (BracketBuster).
• Davidson did not give up a 3-pointer at UNCW Nov. 26 (0-for-3).
• The 'Cats game against Georgia Southern Jan. 7, was the 300th in Belk Arena, which opened in 1989. Davidson won the contest 96-74.

In-Season Honors
• Three different Wildcats have been named SoCon Player of the Week this season.
• Jake Cohen has won the award twice. He was named SoCon Player of the Week Dec. 6, after averaging 21 points and six boards in a pair of league wins over Wofford and Furman. He also earned the honor Jan. 10, after averaging 19 points and 7.5 rebounds in two wins. In addition, CollegeSportsMadness.com named him its SoCon Player of the Week.
• Nik Cochran earned the honor Dec. 20, after leading Davidson with 21 points in an 80-74 win over No. 12 Kansas. CollegeSportsMadness.com also named him National Mid-Major Player of the Week and SoCon Player of the Week.
• JP Kuhlman was named SoCon Player of the Week Nov. 29, after scoring 21 points to lead Davidson to a 70-67 victory at UNC Wilmington.
• De'Mon Brooks was named All-SoCon for the month of November by CollegeHoops.net. The sophomore has also been named to the CollegeHoops.net All-SoCon Team (Pre-league play edition).
• Chris Czerapowicz was named the CollegeSportsMadness.com SoCon Player of the Week Jan. 2, after netting a career-high 23 to lead Davidson to a 75-70 victory over Penn.

Davidson Milestone Watch
• Jake Cohen is 56 blocked shots away from breaking the school record. Frank Ben-Eze needs 24 to crack the top-10.
• Cohen needs 13 points for 1,000, and 152 rebounds to crack the top-20.
• JP Kuhlman needs 15 points for 1,000.

Southern Conference Success
• The 'Cats are 73-17 in their last 90 regular-season Southern Conference games, dating back to January of 2007, and are 90-21 against SoCon competition during that time frame.
• The Wildcats have won 41 of their last 50 conference games on the road.
• Davidson had a 43-game conference win streak end at home against College of Charleston Feb. 7, 2009. It was one away from tying the SoCon record and the eighth-longest in college basketball history.

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