Men's Basketball Opens Honda Puerto Rico Tip-Off Against West Virginia

Davidson Wildcats (0-1) vs. West Virginia Mountaineers (1-0)
Davidson vs. Nebraska (2-0)/Vanderbilt (1-0)

Honda Puerto Rico Tip-Off

Dates: Nov. 18-19, 2010
Site: Coliseo de Puerto Rico - San Juan, P.R.
Audio: John Kilgo calls the action on the Davidson Radio Network (95.7 FM, 1450 AM, 1350 AM and online at www.DavidsonWildcats.com)
Video: Live on ESPNU, ESPN2 or ESPN3.com?
Web sites: Davidson (DavidsonWildcats.com), Honda Puerto Rico Tip-Off (PuertoRicoTipoff.com), West Virginia (MSNSsportsnet.com), Nebraska (Huskers.com), Vanderbilt (VUCommodores.com)

Full game notes (PDF)

Layup Line
• Davidson returns to action at the Honda Puerto Rico Tip-Off where the Wildcats will play three games in four days, starting with a matchup against West Virginia Thursday.
• The game, which tips off at 11:30 a.m. (EST), will be televised live on ESPNU.
• This is the second time the 'Cats have played in an in-season tournament in San Juan. Davidson went 1-2 there in 1988, posting a win over Texas State and losing to S.C. State and Villanova.
• The Wildcats play their first five and 10 of their first 13 games away from home. It's the most games away from home to start a season in coach Bob McKillop's 22 years at Davidson.
• Davidson returns eight lettermen and three starters from last year's squad, which posted a 16-15 record and an 11-7 mark in the Southern Conference South Division, good for third place. Four of the Wildcats' top six scorers are back.
• The Wildcats have 10 underclassman on the team (six freshman, four sophomores) and feature just one senior and four juniors.
• The 'Cats are coming off a 69-64 season-opening loss at Penn last Saturday.
• Davidson was picked to finish third in the SoCon South Division again this season, while West Virginia, a 2010 Final Four participant, was picked fifth in the Big East.
• The Mountaineers are coming off a 95-71 home win over Oakland Nov. 12.
• West Virginia has two starters back, junior forward Kevin Jones (13.5 ppg, 7.2 rpg) and junior guard Darryl “Truck” Bryant (9.3 ppg). Also back is senior guard Joe Mazzulla, who was MVP of the East Regional after netting 17 points in a win over Kentucky and recorded 15 points, seven assists and five rebounds in the season opener against Oakland.
• Davidson coach Bob McKillop is 17 wins shy of his 400th career victory.

Series History vs. West Virginia
• West Virginia leads the all-time series 18-16.
• The Wildcats and Mountaineers last met in 2008 at the Jimmy V Classic in Madison Square Garden, when Stephen Curry led Davidson to a 68-65 win with 27 points and 10 assists.
• Ben Allison had 10 points and five rebounds in that game. Only three Wildcats who played in that game are on Davidson's current squad (Allison, Brendan McKillop, Will Reigel).
• Prior to the 2008 contest, Davidson had not played the Mountaineers since the 1994 Postseason NIT. It was the first Davidson team to advance to the postseason under Bob McKillop.
• The series began with a 59-53 Mountaineer victory in the 1956 SoCon Tournament.
• The Wildcats and Mountaineers competed against each other as members of the Southern Conference from 1950-68. West Virginia was 12-8 against Davidson during that time period.

Series History vs. Vanderbilt
• Vanderbilt leads the all-time series, which began in 1967, 3-1. The 'Cats and Commodores have not played since Dec. 27, 1985.
• The teams met twice in the 1967-68 campaign with a Vandy taking two victories. The first game was at Vanderbilt, and the second came in the Sugar Bowl Tournament in New Orleans.
• Davidson earned a 101-84 home win in the 1968-69 season, and the teams did not play again until 1985, a 78-68 Commodore win in Nashville.
• The Wildcats will travel to Vanderbilt for a scheduled game Jan. 2, 2011.

Series History vs. Nebraska
• The Wildcats and Huskers have never met on the hardwood.

Youth Movement
• Davidson features 10 underclassmen (four sophomores, six freshman) on its roster.
• The team's lone senior is Brendan McKillop, and two of the juniors are walk-ons (Will Reigel, AJ Atkinson).
• The Wildcats have just 11 total years of Division I experience in their rotation. Only 25 teams in the country have less experience than Davidson.
• One senior, three sophomores and a freshman are slated to start today's game.

Freshman Starters
• Freshman Tom Droney started the season opener at Penn, becoming just the ninth rookie to start the season opener during Bob McKillop's tenure and the first since Stephen Curry in 2006.
• The list includes current assistant coach Landry Kosmalski, who started the 1996-97 opener at Fairleigh Dickinson.
• Fellow frosh Jason Zimmerman and Scott Alford started the 1990-91 opener against Central Connecticut State.
• Other freshman starters in season openers: Detlef Musch at Wake Forest in 1989; Jeff Anderson vs. St. Joseph's (Maine) in 1992; Wayne Bernard at Siena in 1999; Jouni Eho vs. South Florida in 2000.

Milestone Watch
• Brendan McKillop is 460 points away from 1,000 for his career. He also needs 10 3-pointers to move into the career top-10 at Davidson.
• Jake Cohen needs 25 blocked shots to move into the career top-10 at Davidson. Frank Ben-Eze needs 32.

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