M. Hoops Finishes Regular Season at Georgia Southern Saturday

Davidson Wildcats (21-7, 15-2 SoCon) vs. Georgia Southern Eagles (14-13, 12-5 SoCon)

Date: Feb. 25, 2012 - 7 p.m.
Site: Hanner Fieldhouse (4,358 capacity) - Statesboro, Ga.
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 Eagle Vision
Web sites: Davidson (DavidsonWildcats.com), Georgia Southern (GeorgiaSouthernEagles.com)

Full game notes (PDF)
Live audio

Layup Line
• Davidson finishes the regular season with a 7 p.m. contest at Georgia Southern Saturday.
• It's the second meeting of the season between the Wildcats and Eagles. Davidson won the first contest 96-74 in Belk Arena way back on Jan. 7.
• Davidson has won the SoCon South Division and earned the South's top seed in next week's tournament in Asheville.
• Georgia Southern is battling with Wofford for the second seed and the bye that comes with it. An Eagle victory today would clinch the second seed for Georgia Southern. An Eagle loss coupled with a Wofford victory would give the Terriers that spot.
• Davidson has won 22 of its last 25 SoCon regular-season games, dating back to last season.
• Davidson is 8-5 on the road and 6-2 in road SoCon games this year.
• The Wildcats are 14-3 in their last 17 contests and are coming off a 66-45 home win over Elon Thursday night.
• Georgia Southern is 9-4 since the initial meeting with the Wildcats in January. The Eagles have won six of their last seven but are coming off a 58-53 setback at College of Charleston Thursday night.
• The Eagles are 10-1 at home and undefeated in SoCon home games with an 8-0 mark.

Series History
• Davidson leads the all-time series 27-6 and has won the last 10 contests.
• The series began with an 84-64 Davidson victory Jan. 30, 1962.
• The 'Cats are 11-5 on the road, 10-5 in Hanner Fieldhouse and 24-6 during Bob McKillop's tenure.
• Last meeting: Davidson starting big men Jake Cohen and De'Mon Brooks combined to score 53 points and shoot 82 percent from the floor to lead Davidson to a 96-74 victory over Georgia Southern in Belk Arena Jan. 7.
• Cohen finished with career highs of 29 points and 12 rebounds and missed just two shots on the afternoon - one from the field and one from the free-throw line. Brooks was 10-of-13 from the floor and made a pair of free throws for 24 points.
• Chris Czerapowicz came off the bench to post 12 points and four rebounds, and Nik Cochran tallied nine points and five assists. Tom Droney added eight points.
• Davidson shot a season-high 60 percent from the floor, including 63 percent in the first frame, and nailed 11-of-19 3-point tries. The 'Cats had 21 assists on 33 made buckets.
• Eric Ferguson scored 20 points for the Eagles, and Ben Drayton tallied 13 points and eight assists. Jelani Hewitt scored 11, and Tyrone Brown netted eight.
• Last time in Hanner: JP Kuhlman scored 20 points, and Brooks added 14 points and five rebounds to lead Davidson to a 73-66 victory over Georgia Southern Jan. 31, 2011.
• Brendan McKillop also scored 11 for the Wildcats, and Droney netted eight.
• Hewitt and Drayton scored 14 points each to lead Georgia Southern, and Tré Bussey added 11.
• Davidson shot 54 percent from the field and made 7-of-15 from behind the arc on the game. The 'Cats held Georgia Southern to 40 percent from the floor in the first half.
• The Wildcats led by nine points at halftime and pushed the margin to 11 early in the second frame, but an 8-2 Georgia Southern spurt, capped by a Hewitt triple, trimmed the lead to 48-45 midway through the period.
• McKillop knocked down a big 3-pointer from the wing to give the Wildcats some breathing room, and Kuhlman's two free throws made the advantage 54-45 with 6:52 to play.
• After Georgia Southern trimmed the cushion to six points, Jake Cohen hit a big turnaround jumper in the lane to open an 8-3 Davidson run. Kuhlman's two free throws made the score 64-53 withy 1:50 remaining.
• The Eagles would not go quietly and forced the Wildcats to make free throws inside the last minute. Kuhlman obliged, knocking down all six of his attempts. After Bussey's two free throws trimmed the lead to five points with 12 seconds left, giving the Eagles a glimmer of hope, Droney made two from the charity stripe to seal the win.

Academic All-American
• JP Kuhlman has been named third-team Capital One Academic All-America by the College Sports Information Directors of America.
• He is the seventh Davidson men's basketball player to garner Academic All-America honors and the first since Derek Rucker earned first-team accolades in 1988.
• He has a 3.80 grade point average in religion and plans to attend medical school after graduating from Davidson.

Claw Marks
• With the best overall record in the SoCon, the Wildcats have clinched the league's automatic bid to the NIT.
• Ninety-eight percent of the 'Cats' scoring and 96 percent of their rebounding comes from juniors, sophomores and freshmen.
• The 'Cats have posted 20 wins under head coach Bob McKillop 10 times, including six of the last eight seasons. Davidson has won 20 games in a season 19 times.
• Davidson has won its eighth SoCon division title in the last 11 seasons and the 11th title under head coach Bob McKillop.
• The Wildcats rank third in the nation in team free-throw percentage (.770). Nik Cochran, Jake Cohen and JP Kuhlman all rank in the top-10 in the SoCon.
• Davidson has made 20 or more free throws in 10 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 'Cats also made all seven attempts against Chattanooga Feb. 4.
• Davidson changed the starting lineup for the first time this season against Samford, Feb. 15, as Chris Czerapowicz got his first career start.
• The Wildcats have led at halftime in 23 games.
• JP Kuhlman has been named to the Cousy Award watch list. The award is given annually to the nation's best point guard.
• 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. 16, 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.
• Davidson has a 6-5 record in non-conference games.
• 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.
• Davidson returned 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.

Calendar

Upcoming Events

Recent Results