M. Basketball Meets Winner of Samford-Furman in SoCon Tourney Saturday

1S Davidson Wildcats (22-7) vs. 4N Samford Bulldogs (11-18)/5S Furman Paladins (14-15)

Date: March 3, 2012 - 6 p.m.
Site: U.S. Cellular Center (6,600 capacity) - Asheville, 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: ESPN3 (Darren Goldwater and Dean Keener)
Web sites: Davidson (DavidsonWildcats.com), SoCon (SoConSports.com)

Full game notes (PDF)
Tournament Central
Buy Davidson photos

Layup Line
• Davidson opens play in its 57th Southern Conference Tournament Saturday at 6 p.m. in the U.S. Cellular Center in Asheville, N.C.
• The contest will be televised live on ESPN3 with Darren Goldwater and Dean Keener calling the action.
• The No. 1S Wildcats will take on the winner of a Friday matchup between No. 4N Samford and No. 5S Furman.
• The 'Cats split with Samford this season and swept Furman. Davidson has never faced Samford in the SoCon Tourney and is 5-3 against Furman.
• The Wildcats are led by two SoCon Players of the Year. De'Mon Brooks earned the honor from the SoCon coaches, and Jake Cohen got the award from the media association. While the media association (began voting in 1951-52) and the coaches (began voting in 1989-90) have differed on their selections over the years, it's the first time two players from the same team have split the honor.
• Davidson coach Bob McKillop was named Coach of the Year in the coaches' poll. It's his eighth SoCon Coach of the Year distinction.
• The Wildcats are 15-3 in their last 18 contests and are coming off a 71-54 win at Georgia Southern last Saturday.
• The SoCon Tournament returns to Asheville for the first time since 1995. Davidson played in the tournaments there from 1984-88 and from 1993-95.
• Davidson owns an 8-7 record in SoCon Tourney games in Asheville. The Wildcats won the tournament in 1986 and also advanced to the championship game in 1987 and 1994.
• Saturday's game will be Davidson's first neutral site contest this season (the Kansas game in Kansas City is considered a Jayhawk home game by the NCAA).
• Samford finished league play with an 8-10 record and is coming off an 86-78 setback at Chattanooga Saturday. The Bulldogs are 6-5 in their last 11.
• Furman also finished the campaign with an 8-10 league record. The Paladins are 5-5 in their last 10 and coming off a 67-52 loss at Wofford Saturday.

Series History vs. Samford
• Davidson leads the all-time series, which began in the 1992-93 campaign, 7-1.
• The Wildcats have never played the Bulldogs in the SoCon Tourmaent, and all eight meetings between the teams have come during Bob McKillop's tenure at Davidson.
• Last meeting: JP Kuhlman led four Davidson players in double figures with 16 points, and the Wildcats knocked down 14 3-pointers in an 81-54 win Feb. 15, in Belk Arena.
• Kuhlman hit 4-of-7 from long distance, and collected four assists. Jake Cohen tallied 15 points, five boards and four blocked shots, and Chris Czerapowicz contributed 14 points and six rebounds for the Wildcats.
• Tyler Kalinoski scored 10 points, and Clint Mann added eight points and four boards. Nik Cochran posted six points, six rebounds and a career-high nine assists.
• Raijon Kelly led Samford with 14 points, while Devin McNeil scored nine and Will Cook netted eight.
• The Wildcats made nine triples in the first half and committed just one turnover on their way to a 46-22 halftime cushion. Davidson hit four of their first six triple tries, and a Cohen trey from the top of the key made the score 22-6 midway through the period.

Series History vs. Furman
• Davidson leads the all-time series, which began over 100 years ago, 96-61, and has won 13 of the last 14 against the Paladins.
• The Wildcats are 5-3 against Furman in the SoCon Tournament and 32-6 under head coach Bob McKillop.
• The Wildcats have played Furman more than any other opponent in their history (157 meetings).
• Last meeting: De'Mon Brooks scored 19 points, and the Davidson defense held Furman to three field goals for the last 14 minutes of the contest to post a 71-53 win in Timmons Arena Feb. 1.
• Nik Cochran tallied 14 points and seven rebounds for Davidson, and JP Kuhlman recorded 13 points, five assists and four rebounds. Jake Cohen collected nine points and eight boards.
• Charlie Reddick led the Paladins with 13 points, and Brandon Sebirumbi registered eight points and eight rebounds.
• Davidson held Furman to 32 percent shooting from the floor in the second half and 34 percent in the game. The Paladins' defense was also stout as Furman blocked eight shots held Davidson to 40 percent from the field.
• The Paladins trimmed a 10-point halftime deficit to 48-45 on a Reddick 3-pointer 5:22 into the second period as Furman hit five of its first six shots out of the break.
• Davidson responded by scoring six straight points in what would become a 15-4 run over 10 minutes of game time. Consecutive Brooks jumpers off of post moves made the score 63-49 with 4:05 to play. The Wildcat defense clamped down in the last 14 minutes of the game and gave up just three field goals.

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 eighth in the nation in team free-throw percentage (.766). Nik Cochran, Jake Cohen and JP Kuhlman all rank in the top-12 in the SoCon.
• Davidson has made 20 or more free throws in 11 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 24 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.

Davidson Milestone Watch
• Fellow juniors Jake Cohen and JP Kuhlman have registered their 1,000th career point. Cohen's came against Western Carolina Jan. 12, and Kuhlman topped the mark at Appalachian State Jan. 14. Both players were Preseason All-SoCon selections.
• Jake Cohen is 29 blocked shots away from breaking the school career record. Frank Ben-Eze needs 12 to crack the top-10.
• Cohen needs 63 rebounds to crack the top-20. The junior is one of three players in school history to record over 1,000 career points, 500 rebounds and 100 blocked shots (Jamie Hall '82, Detlef Musch '93). Davidson did not keep blocks as a stat until the 1976-77 season.
• De'Mon Brooks is 265 points away from 1,000 and 161 rebounds shy of 500.
• Nik Cochran is 270 points short of 1,000.

Schedule

M. Basketball Meets Winner of Samford-Furman in SoCon Tourney Saturday

Footer

Upcoming Events

M. Basketball Meets Winner of Samford-Furman in SoCon Tourney Saturday

Related News

Related Videos

Footer