'Cats Host Washington & Lee on Opening Night

11/5/2023 8:06:00 AM | Men's Basketball

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Davidson (0-0, 0-0 Atlantic 10) vs. Washington & Lee (0-0, 0-0 ODAC)

DAVIDSON, N.C. -- Year two of the Matt McKillop era officially begins on Monday night as Davidson hosts Washington & Lee to begin the 116th season of Wildcat basketball. The 'Cats have won nine straight home openers, dating back to the 2014-15 season, including an 87-64 win over Guilford last year.

The game will be streamed on ESPN+ while fans can also listen to the Varsity Network with Voice of the Wildcats Jarod Latch and Justin Parker calling the action.

THE SERIES
• Washington & Lee leads the all-time series that began during the 1909-10 season, 14-12.
• Davidson last met the Generals in November 2002, winning 105-48, as the Wildcats are 7-6 in the series when playing on their home court.

PRESEASON NOTES
• A trip to the Asheville Championship, including a date with Maryland, and a visit out west to Saint Mary's highlight the non-conference schedule. Atlantic 10 Conference play begins Jan. 3 against Dayton.
• Entering his second season at the helm, Matt McKillop has two starters returning from last year's club that finished 16-16 overall.
• Since joining the A-10 in 2014-15, Davidson has won two regular season titles (2015, 2022), a tournament title (2018), made three NCAA Tournaments (2015, 2018, 2022) and totaled 99 league wins (11.0 per year). The Wildcats have recorded an average finish of 4.4 in the 15-team conference and made the tournament semifinals each year.

VETERAN LEADERSHIP
• Among those returning include Preseason A-10 All-Defensive selection Grant Huffman.
• Huffman's recognition marks Davidson's first preseason or postseason A-10 All-Defensive Team honor and is just the second defensive conference nod for a Wildcat, after Max Paulhus Gosselin's 2009 SoCon Defensive Player of the Year award.
• A two-time team captain, Huffman finished the 2022-23 campaign ranked among conference leaders in assists (3.6/11th), assist/turnover ratio (2.3/3rd) and steals (1.3/14th). He started all 32 games and also averaged 9.4 points and 3.6 rebounds per game.
• Forward Reed Bailey also started all 32 games last season, doing so as a freshman. He averaged 5.5 points per game and scored a personal-best 20 against San Francisco last November.
• David Skogman returns for his second year at Davidson, after appearing in all 32 games off the bench last season. The redshirt senior scored in double figures 11 times and finished second in the Atlantic 10 in free-throw percentage (.887) behind former Wildcat Foster Loyer. He also led the 'Cats in 3-point percentage (36.8%), draining 25-of-68 from beyond the arc.
• Connor Kochera is set to enter his second season in a Davidson uniform as well and is by all accounts a veteran of the squad. Appearing in all 32 games last season, the Illinois native made 15 starts for the Wildcats and averaged 6.3 points per game. The Colonial Athletic Conference's 2021 Rookie of the Year, Kochera dropped a season-high 29 points against UMass in 2023, shooting 10-of-13 from the floor, including seven treys.

NEW FACES
• In all, Davidson returns 10 letterwinners and welcomes the addition of freshmen Rikus Schulte (Münster, Germany), Hunter Adam (Christchurch, New Zealand), Mike Loughnane (Quincy, Mass.) and Bobby Durkin (Darien, Ill.).
• The 'Cats also bring on transfers Jarvis Moss (Stanford) and Angelo Brizzi (Villanova). Familiar faces to the program, Brizzi and Adam spent the second half of the 22-23 campaign with the Wildcats, after enrolling at Davidson in January 2023.

ABOUT THE GENERALS
• Washington & Lee ended the 2022-23 campaign 18-8 overall, with a quarterfinal exit in the Old Dominion Athletic Conference Tournament after falling 117-103 in four overtime periods to Roanoke College.
• The Generals were picked to finish fifth in the ODAC Preseason Poll and are led by key returners Robert DiSibio and Jack d'Entremont.
• DiSibio returns as W&L's top scorer from a season ago, averaging 22.8 points per game.

CAPTAINS
• Davidson head men's basketball coach Matt McKillop announced that Grant Huffman, David Skogman, Connor Kochera and Chris Sosnik have been selected team captains for the 2023-24 season.
• The four leaders were unanimously chosen between the coaching staff and players as McKillop shared, "it is quite a statement about the level of trust that has been earned by these four individuals. They all lead in their own ways – whether that be with their voice, with their work ethic or with their attitude and commitment to the details that we value."