Davidson Clashes With College of Charleston in SoCon Semifinals

Davidson Wildcats (26-6, 18-2 SoCon) vs. College of Charleston Cougars (25-7, 15-5 SoCon)
2009 Southern Conference Tournament

Date: March 8, 2009
Time: 6 p.m.
Site: The McKenzie Arena (11,234 capacity) - Chattanooga, Tenn.
Audio: John Kilgo calls the action on the Davidson Radio Network (1350 AM, 1660 AM, 95.7 FM and online on Teamline)
Video: Broadcast live on SportsSouth, and video streaming for all games available on SoCon Web site at www.soconsports.com

Full game notes (PDF)

Layup Line
• The Wildcats continue play in their 54th Southern Conference Tournament as they take on the College of Charleston at 6 p.m. in The McKenzie Arena in Chattanooga, Tenn. It's Davidson's 30th appearance in the semifinal round of the tournament.
• The Wildcats are vying for their 11th SoCon Tournament title and their fourth in a row. The last school to win four straight was West Virginia, which won six consecutive titles from 1954-60.
• Five of Davidson's 11 tourney championships have come during the tenure of head coach Bob McKillop.
• Davidson has won the SoCon South Division and as a result, earned the top seed in the South.
• The 'Cats have also earned the league's automatic bid to the NIT by virtue of having the best regular-season record in the conference.
• The Wildcats have won 16 of their last 19 overall and are coming off an 84-68 victory over Appalachian State in the quarterfinals Saturday.
• Junior guard Stephen Curry, who became Davidson's career scoring leader Feb. 28, became the 60th player in NCAA Division I history to score over 2,500 career points with 26 March 2.
• After posting 43 points against the Mountaineers yesterday, he has moved into 38th on the NCAA?Division I career scoring list. He is 72 points from moving into the top-25.
• Curry, who is leading the nation in scoring this season, needs 18 points to pass Skip Henderson (Marshall, 1983-88) and become the all-time leading scorer in Southern Conference history.
• Curry has moved into seventh on the NCAA Division I career 3-pointers list. He has 403 and nine away from moving into fifth.
• Davidson owns a 7-13 all-time mark in The McKenzie Arena, including a 2-1 record in the SoCon Tourney.
• The league tournament was there in 2005, where Davidson defeated Elon 67-53 in the quarterfinals before losing 73-68 to UNC Greensboro.
• Davidson and College of Charleston split the season series with each winning on the other's home court.
• The Cougars won the most recent meeting, a 77-75 decision in Belk Arena Feb. 7.

Leftovers from App. State Game
• Curry's 43 points tied for the third-most in SoCon Tournament history, and it was the most since Skip Henderson of Marshall netted 55 against The Citadel in 1988.
• Curry was 11-of-19 from the floor, including 5-for-10 from 3-point range, and 16-for-18 from the free-throw line in 27 minutes of action. He moved past Frank Selvy into second and now needs just 18 points to move past Henderson and become the league's all-time leading scorer.
• Curry has scored 30 or more points in 14 games this season, which is tied for the second-most in a Division I season since 1996-97. VMI's Reggie Williams had 15 games with 30 or more points in 2006-07.
• The 'Cats have now held their opponent to less than 40 percent shooting in 19 games this season and won all 19.
• Davidson improved to 60-34 in the SoCon Tournament.
• Andrew Lovedale's 17 points and 14 rebounds was the 20th double-double of his career.
• It was Steve Rossiter's 100th career game played and Curry's 100th career start.

SoCon Postseason Awards
• Stephen Curry was named the SoCon Player of the Year for the second consecutive season by both the league's media association (SCSMA) and the conference's coaches.
• Andrew Lovedale was selected all-conference by the coaches and second-team all-league by the SCSMA.
• Max Paulhus Gosselin was named the Defensive Player of the Year by the coaches.
• Curry becomes the first player to earn back-to-back Player of the Honors from the SCSMA since Western Carolina's Frankie King won the award in 1994 and 1995. He is the first Davidson player to earn the honor in back-to-back seasons since Mike Maloy in 1969 and 1970.
• He is the first player to earn the honor in consecutive seasons from the coaches since Keith Jennings of East Tennessee State in 1990 and 1991.

Candidate Curry
• Stephen Curry has been named a candidate for a number of national awards.
• He has been selected as one of the top-30 midseason candidates for the Wooden Award and the Naismith Trophy, both of which are given by different organizations to the nation's Player of the Year.
• He has been named a finalist for the Oscar Robertson Trophy, given to the Player of the Year by the U.S. Basketball Writers Association, and the Bob Cousy Award, given to the nation's best point guard.
• The Wooden Award will be given out in Los Angeles in April, while the other three honors will be awarded at the Final Four in Detroit.
• Curry was named a first-team preseason All-American by The Associated Press, The Sporting News, Sports Illustrated, Athlon Sports, Blue Ribbon Basketball and CollegeHoops.net. He was selected the Preseason Southern Conference Player of the Year in the league's coaches poll.
• He received the second-most votes (66) of any player in being selected preseason All-America by the Associated Press. Tyler Hansbrough was a unanimous selection with 72 votes.

Curry Named All-District
• Stephen Curry was named first-team All-District by the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC), and Andrew Lovedale earned second-team honors.
•The duo are now eligible for the NABC All-America Team, which will be announced at the Final Four in Detroit April 4.

Claw Marks
• Davidson has held its opponents under 40 percent shooting in 19 games this season and has won all 19.
• The Wildcats have outrebounded their opponent in 21 games this season and have won all 21.
• Andrew Lovedale has become the 11th player in Davidson history to record over 800 points (850) and 700 rebounds (728).
• Stephen Curry has hit the 20-point mark in 75 career games, the 30-point mark in 29 outings and the 40-point plateau six times. He owns the school record for career games with 40 or more and career contests with 30 or more.
• Davidson played in front of sold-out buildings in its last 11 regular-season contests.
• Davidson has committed less than 15 turnovers in 23 games and less turnovers than its opponent in 28 contests.
• The 'Cats won a hard-fought road game, 55-52, at Samford Jan. 31. It was the first time Davidson scored 55 or less and won since a 53-48 home victory over UNC Greensboro Feb. 5, 2002.
• Davidson held Furman to 13 second-half points Jan. 21. The Paladins were held to four points in the first 17:10 of the stanza.
• Davidson set a school record with 25 steals against Guilford Nov. 14. Curry and Max Paulhus Gosselin combined for 17.
• The 'Cats' victory over NC State Dec. 6 was their first against an ACC?school since defeating North Carolina 58-54 in Chapel Hill Nov. 20, 2001.

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