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Davidson College
at UNCG
Curry's Career Night Leads Wildcats to 14th Straight Win
2/13/2008 8:29:35 PM | Men's Basketball
Marc Gignac
GREENSBORO, N.C. – Stephen Curry scored a career-high 41 points, including two free throws with 2.7 seconds left to seal the win, as Davidson overcame a 17-point second-half deficit to post an 83-78 victory over UNC Greensboro in Fleming Gym Wednesday night.
The victory ran the Wildcats' win streak to 14 games and clinches the Southern Conference South Division. It's the fourth time in the last five years Davidson (18-6, 16-0) has won at least a share of the division.
Curry was 14-for-26 from the field, 4-for-11 from 3-point range and 9-for-9 from the charity stripe. He added seven rebounds, two assists and four steals. Senior Jason Richards registered 16 points and six assists.
Kyle Hines led UNCG (13-10, 7-7) with 27 points and 12 rebounds, while Kevin Oleksiak had 26 points on 10-of-16 shooting, including 5-of-6 from 3-point land.
With Davidson trailing by one, Richards drove the lane, got the bucket and the foul and hit a free throw to put the Wildcats up 80-78 with 57 seconds to play. Davidson got a defensive stop, but Richards missed the front end of a one-and-one. The 'Cats got another stop, and junior Max Paulhus Gosselin hit 1-of-2 from the line. The Davidson defense made it three in a row, and Curry's two free throws iced the win.
The Wildcats'17-point second-half deficit was its largest this season. Trailing 60-43, Curry keyed a monstrous 24-5 run. The sophomore scored 15 during the stretch, and his baseline jumper gave Davidson a 67-65 lead, its first of the game, with 9:09 remaining.
The Spartans retaliated by getting the ball into their senior star, and Hines' back-to-back buckets gave the advantage back to UNCG. After a Curry layup, Oleksiak scored five straight points to make the margin 74-69. The Wildcats came back with a dunk from junior Andrew Lovedale and a layup by Richards to make the score 74-73 with four minutes to go.
The Spartans were blistering hot in the first half and scored a season-high 52 points in the period. UNCG shot 69.6 percent from the field, including 9-of-12 from 3-point range. Oleksiak nailed all four of his 3-point attempts, and Mikko Koivisto was 3-of-6 from downtown, scoring all nine of his points in the frame.
As hot as the Spartans were from long distance is as cold as the Wildcats were, making 3-of-14 3-point attempts. UNC Greensboro took it to Davidson right out of the gates as Hines scored eight points en route to a 14-4 lead. The 'Cats trimmed the margin to 18-13 on a Curry jumper, but another 10-4 spurt, capped by a Koivisto trey, made the score 44-27 with 4:03 left in the half.
The lead grew to as many as 20 points, Davidson's largest deficit of the season. Sophomore Will Archambault got a putback, and Curry hit a 3-pointer to beat the buzzer and make the score 52-37 at the break.
Davidson opens a two-game homestand with a 3 p.m. contest against Furman Saturday at Belk Arena. The game will be televised live on SportsSouth. The Wildcats will host UNCG Tuesday, Feb. 19, at 7 p.m. on ESPN2.
GAME NOTES: Three of the Wildcats' remaining five games are at home; four will be televised live… Davidson has started with a 16-0 league record twice under coach Bob McKillop… the 'Cats finished 16-0 in the league in 2004-05... Curry scored 30 or more points for the 10th time in his career and the sixth this campaign; he reached double figures for the 51st consecutive contest... Lovedale made his 14th straight start, all Wildcat wins… Tonight's win was the 26th straight SoCon regular-season victory for the Wildcats… Davidson is 28-3 in the month of February since 2003-04... It was Davidson's 18th-straight conference road win.
