Players Mentioned
Wildcats Return Home After Two-Week Stretch
2/9/2024 2:17:00 PM | Men's Basketball
DAVIDSON WILDCATS (13-9, 3-6 A-10) vs. GEORGE MASON PATRIOTS (15-8, 4-6 A-10)
DAVIDSON, N.C. -- After a two-week stretch and a pair of road games, the Davidson Wildcats return home to Belk Arena on Saturday afternoon, ready to take on the George Mason Patriots at 2:30 p.m.The game will air on USA Network with additional coverage available on the Davidson Radio Network.
SERIES HISTORY
Series Record: Davidson leads 8-3
First Meeting: Jan. 24, 2015 | Davidson won 80-73 (OT)
Last Meeting: Jan. 14, 2023 | George Mason won 67-65
Davidson Record at Home: 4-1
Davidson Record on Road: 3-2
Davidson Record at Neutral Site: 1-0
Matt McKillop's Record: 0-1
WILDCAT SCRATCHES
• After playing five of its last seven on the road, Davidson returns to Belk Arena for its first home game in two weeks. The 'Cats will benefit from three of their next four at home.
• Davidson closed out its non-conference season 10-3 overall, winning their last seven games before the start of the Atlantic 10 season.
• The 'Cats enter Saturday's tip 3-6 in league play, with four of their losses coming within five points or less. In all, Davidson is 4-6 in five-point games this year.
• Point guard Grant Huffman continues to shine for Davidson, averaging 14.1 points per game in his senior season, and 17.2 ppg in A-10 play.
• With 110 total assists, Huffman ranks second in the league and 57th in the nation in addition to 51st nationally in assists per game (5.0).
• Saturday's tip off features a pair of head coaches leading the helm at their respective alma maters. Both Matt McKillop (Davidson) and Tony Skinn (George Mason) are 2006 graduates of their respective programs.
ABOUT THE PATRIOTS
• After starting the season 13-2, Mason has dropped six of eight. Five of those losses have been by seven points or less. The Patriots have fallen in their last three contests by an average of 2.7 points.
• Most recently, Mason led 44-36 at the break Wednesday, but Loyola Chicago held a +14 (49-35) edge in the second half during an 85-79 triumph for the Ramblers in Fairfax.
• After not allowing its opponent to shoot 50+ percent from the floor over the first 19 games of the season, Patriot foes have now shot 50 percent or better in three of the past four contests.
• Sophomore Keyshawn Hall led Mason with team highs in points (20) and rebounds (8) vs. the Ramblers. He made a career-best 10 free throws on 11 attempts. Hall is averaging 21.5 points over the Patriots' past four games and is fourth in the league in scoring (18.9 ppg) in conference play.
BETTER EVERY DAY
• One of the Wildcats' philosophies is to get better everyday, and Davidson has seen the fruits of that labor at the end of the year.
• Since 2003-04, the Wildcats own a 117-35 record in the month of February.
• Davidson is 54-33 in March during that time.
LAST TIME OUT | Davidson 72, Duquesne 59 | Wednesday, Feb. 7
• In addition to scoring his 1,000th career point, Davidson's Connor Kochera finished with a game-high 19 points to lead the Wildcats past Duquesne, 72-59, Wednesday night inside UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse.
• A native of Arlington Heights, Ill., Kochera scored 564 points in two years at William & Mary, before becoming the fifth transfer and 55th player in a Davidson uniform to join the 1000-point club.Â
• He was joined in double figures by backcourt mates Grant Huffman (18) and Bobby Durkin (11).Â
• Freshman Hunter Adam came off the bench to match his season-high of nine for the Wildcats, who ended with 16 assists on 23 field goals.
• With the result, Davidson improved to 5-1 on the year when playing on Wednesday night.
TRENDY 'CATS
• Davidson is 8-1 this season when four or more 'Cats score in double figures.
• The Wildcats are 8-2 when Connor Kochera reaches double digits in scoring.
• When Reed Bailey leads Davidson in rebounding, the 'Cats are 7-3. When he reaches double figures, Davidson is 8-4.
• Grant Huffman has led the Wildcats in assists in all but two games this season. He has 40 career games leading Davidson in assists.
• The 'Cats went 6-0 in the month of December, extending their then-streak to seven-straight, the longest win-streak of head coach Matt McKillop's tenure.Â
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