Photo by: Tim Cowie - DavidsonPhotos.com
Wildcat Flashback: Gibbs Goes for 41 against Charlotte
12/15/2020 11:20:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Highlights (Davidson at Charlotte, 2015)
The Davidson-Charlotte rivalry has produced many great performances on the hardwood, and five seasons ago, Wildcat guard Jack Gibbs stepped into the spotlight.
On Dec. 1, 2015, Gibbs scored a then-career high 41 points and hit his first 14 shots in a 109-74 road win over the 49ers. And he did it as Stephen Curry, in town to play the Charlotte Hornets the next night, watched from courtside.
"He just has that motor," Curry told the Davidson Radio Network as Gibbs hit his eighth shot of the first half. "Every time he's on the floor, every time he has an opportunity to impact the game, he does it. So it's fun to watch."
Gibbs had everything working on that Tuesday night early in his junior season. He penetrated the lane and created. His shifty moves made a defender fall before he lofted a floater. He hit step-back threes. And, of course, he flashed his trademark smile throughout.
"As a scorer, when you see a couple shots go in, the bucket starts to get big," Gibbs recalled Monday. "It was just fun. It felt like I was just in a zone."
Following the game, Bob McKillop said Gibbs was "absolutely marvelous." From the other bench, Mark Price had a frustrating night as his team failed to slow the Wildcat guard.
"It wasn't like we didn't plan for it," he said. "We knew who the best player on the court was. We didn't execute. We didn't show up."
Gibbs assisted on the Wildcats' first score of the night, a Peyton Aldridge 3-pointer, in the first minute. Then he went 9-for-9 in the first half and finished the first 20 minutes with a jumper at the horn. It gave him 25 points, the Wildcats a 59-43 halftime lead and was Gibbs' second buzzer beater at Charlotte. As a freshman, he hit a halfcourt shot at the first-half horn to give Davidson a 40-37 edge in an eventual 87-78 overtime win.
By the time Gibbs missed a three at the 12:32 mark of the second half, it felt more like a surprise than a reckoning with the law of averages.
"Everything just felt smooth and comfortable," said Gibbs. "There's just some games where you know you're in a zone. Your confidence is so high that you think every shot is going in."
Much of the postgame was a blur for Gibbs. There was a brief interaction with Curry behind the bench. He chatted with John Kilgo on the radio and was stopped by a reporter in the tunnel. Other details remain with him, like Aldridge getting stiches mid-game and Brian Sullivan also hitting six 3-pointers.
That night, Gibbs became the first Wildcat since Curry to hit the 40-point mark and just the second since the late 1970s. But he was just heating up. He went for 41 again 22 days later against Morehead State, then dropped 43 against UMass the next month. Only Curry (five) and Fred Hetzel (four) had more 40-point games in a Wildcat uniform, while Gibbs and John Gerdy had three apiece.
Gibbs finished his career with 2,036 points, now fourth on the Davidson career scoring list. He is also proud to have been 4-0 against Charlotte as part of the 2017 Davidson class, the first to do that. By the end, he had become such a rivalry pest that two 49er players refused to give him a pre-game fist bump the next year.
Gibbs just laughed.
"Scoring's fun," he said. "But winning's better."
Since graduating, Jack Gibbs has played three years of pro ball overseas, two in Belgium and one in Finland. Earlier this year, he was sidelined with a torn hamstring. Needing to recover and with the COVID-19 pandemic providing more uncertainty worldwide, he decided to take this season off. He is now back home in Columbus, Ohio, where he's training high school players and getting a taste of coaching. It's something he might entertain more down the road.
But for now, Gibbs plans to return to the court next season.
The Davidson-Charlotte rivalry has produced many great performances on the hardwood, and five seasons ago, Wildcat guard Jack Gibbs stepped into the spotlight.
On Dec. 1, 2015, Gibbs scored a then-career high 41 points and hit his first 14 shots in a 109-74 road win over the 49ers. And he did it as Stephen Curry, in town to play the Charlotte Hornets the next night, watched from courtside.
"He just has that motor," Curry told the Davidson Radio Network as Gibbs hit his eighth shot of the first half. "Every time he's on the floor, every time he has an opportunity to impact the game, he does it. So it's fun to watch."
Gibbs had everything working on that Tuesday night early in his junior season. He penetrated the lane and created. His shifty moves made a defender fall before he lofted a floater. He hit step-back threes. And, of course, he flashed his trademark smile throughout.
"As a scorer, when you see a couple shots go in, the bucket starts to get big," Gibbs recalled Monday. "It was just fun. It felt like I was just in a zone."
Following the game, Bob McKillop said Gibbs was "absolutely marvelous." From the other bench, Mark Price had a frustrating night as his team failed to slow the Wildcat guard.
"It wasn't like we didn't plan for it," he said. "We knew who the best player on the court was. We didn't execute. We didn't show up."
Gibbs assisted on the Wildcats' first score of the night, a Peyton Aldridge 3-pointer, in the first minute. Then he went 9-for-9 in the first half and finished the first 20 minutes with a jumper at the horn. It gave him 25 points, the Wildcats a 59-43 halftime lead and was Gibbs' second buzzer beater at Charlotte. As a freshman, he hit a halfcourt shot at the first-half horn to give Davidson a 40-37 edge in an eventual 87-78 overtime win.
By the time Gibbs missed a three at the 12:32 mark of the second half, it felt more like a surprise than a reckoning with the law of averages.
"Everything just felt smooth and comfortable," said Gibbs. "There's just some games where you know you're in a zone. Your confidence is so high that you think every shot is going in."
Much of the postgame was a blur for Gibbs. There was a brief interaction with Curry behind the bench. He chatted with John Kilgo on the radio and was stopped by a reporter in the tunnel. Other details remain with him, like Aldridge getting stiches mid-game and Brian Sullivan also hitting six 3-pointers.
That night, Gibbs became the first Wildcat since Curry to hit the 40-point mark and just the second since the late 1970s. But he was just heating up. He went for 41 again 22 days later against Morehead State, then dropped 43 against UMass the next month. Only Curry (five) and Fred Hetzel (four) had more 40-point games in a Wildcat uniform, while Gibbs and John Gerdy had three apiece.
Gibbs finished his career with 2,036 points, now fourth on the Davidson career scoring list. He is also proud to have been 4-0 against Charlotte as part of the 2017 Davidson class, the first to do that. By the end, he had become such a rivalry pest that two 49er players refused to give him a pre-game fist bump the next year.
Gibbs just laughed.
"Scoring's fun," he said. "But winning's better."
Since graduating, Jack Gibbs has played three years of pro ball overseas, two in Belgium and one in Finland. Earlier this year, he was sidelined with a torn hamstring. Needing to recover and with the COVID-19 pandemic providing more uncertainty worldwide, he decided to take this season off. He is now back home in Columbus, Ohio, where he's training high school players and getting a taste of coaching. It's something he might entertain more down the road.
But for now, Gibbs plans to return to the court next season.
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