Men's Basketball Opens SoCon Tourney Against Elon Friday

Davidson Wildcats (16-14, 11-7 SoCon) vs. Elon Phoenix (8-22, 5-13 SoCon)
2010 Southern Conference Tournament

Date: March 5, 2010
Time: 2 p.m.
Site: Bojangles Coliseum (11,000 capacity) - Charlotte, N.C.
Audio: John Kilgo calls the action on the Davidson Radio Network (1350 AM, 95.7 FM and online at www.DavidsonWildcats.com)
Video: Live video available on SoCon Web site (www.soconsports.com)
Web sites: Davidson (DavidsonWildcats.com), Elon (Elonphoenix.com)

Full game notes (PDF)

Layup Line
• Davidson opens play in its 55th Southern Conference Tournament against Elon Friday at 2 p.m. in Bojangles Coliseum in Charlotte.
• The winner between the Wildcats and Phoenix advances to take on Western Carolina Saturday at 2 p.m.
• The 'Cats are the third seed in the South and are playing a first-round game in the tournament for the first time since 2001.
• The Wildcats are coming off a 99-96 thrilling double overtime victory at Elon last Saturday in their only regular-season meeting with the Phoenix this year.
• In the opening round of the tournament, Davidson has faced a team it played in the last game of the regular season on three occasions during head coach Bob McKillop's tenure. The 'Cats are 2-1 in those contests, posting wins over VMI in 1994 and Georgia Southern in 1998 and falling to VMI in 2003.
• This is the first time the tournament is in Charlotte since 1971, and Davidson owns a 16-4 all-time record in tourney games in Charlotte.
• The Wildcats have won four SoCon Tourney titles in the Queen City, including three in a row from 1968-70. The other title was in 1966.
• The Wildcats have played a number of games in what is now called Bojangles Coliseum since the building opened in 1955, and Davidson owns a 127-94 all-time record there.
• Davidson's last game in Bojangles was Jan. 12, 1995, a 91-67 loss to Charlotte.
• Davidson has won eight of its last 11 games overall this season. The Wildcats are 1-4 on a neutral floor.
• Just as it was last Saturday, Friday's contest will be an emotional game for Davidson coach Bob McKillop and Elon coach Matt Matheny. Matheny, who is in his first year with the Phoenix, was an assistant coach on McKillop's staff for 16 seasons.
• Matheny played football and basketball for the Wildcats and is a 1992 Davidson graduate.
• Elon assistant coaches Tim Sweeney (2 years) and Will Roberson (3 years) were also members of McKillop's staff at Davidson, and Roberson is a 2002 Davidson graduate.
• Elon is 4-5 in its last nine overall and is 0-3 on a neutral floor this season.
• Drew Spradlin is averaging 13.3 points a game to lead the team, and Adam Constantine averages 12.1 points and 8.3 rebounds a game.
• Chris Long averages 9.6 points and 4.1 assists a game.

Last Time Out
• Veteran journalist and Davidson radio broadcaster John Kilgo called last Saturday's game between Davidson and Elon one of the best he has ever seen. A YouTube video of the final 14 seconds of the game has gotten over 440,000 views.
• Brendan McKillop hit a 3-pointer from the top of the key with 1.9 seconds left to tie the score, and Steve Rossiter topped that by stealing the inbounds pass and heaving in a triple from the wing as the buzzer sounded to lift Davidson to a 99-96 double overtime win.
• McKillop finished with a career-high 24 points, and Jake Cohen added a career-high 24. JP Kuhlman scored the last eight points in regulation for Davidson to send it into overtime and matched his career best with 24.
• The Wildcats trailed by three in the second extra session after Chris Long hit a pair of free throws with 14.4 seconds left. Davidson set up a 3-pointer for Kuhlman, who missed, but Nik Cochran tracked down the rebound. The 'Cats found McKillop deep on the wing, and the junior drained it with 1.9 seconds left.
• Rossiter then made a heady play and stole the inbounds pass at the foul line extended on the left side of the court. The senior hit 3-pointer as he was falling out of bounds that beat the buzzer for the win.
• After Davidson trailed by as many as four points in the first overtime, McKillop tied the game on a conventional 3-point play with 1:06 to go. After Long missed a 3-pointer for Elon, Kuhlman missed a jumper, but Cohen got the board, and Davidson called a timeout with 13 seconds left. McKillop had a decent look at a long triple try as the buzzer sounded but the shot rimmed out.
• The Phoenix led 70-56 on a Drew Spradlin 3-pointer with 5:53 left in regulation. Cochran's 3-point play started a 13-3 spurt that brought the 'Cats to within four points with 2:36 left.
• After a Long layup that made the score 75-69 with 43 seconds left, Kuhlman took over, scoring the last eight points of the period for Davidson, including two straight 3-pointers that made the score 77-77 with six seconds left. Long missed a contested triple as the horn sounded to send the game to overtime.
• Spradlin led the Phoenix with 25 points to go along with eight rebounds, and Long finished with 16 points, nine assists and six boards. Adam Constantine recorded 15 points and 12 rebounds, while Devan Carter scored 12.
• Rossiter finished with nine points, and Ben Allison collected eight points and seven rebounds for Davidson.

Leftovers from Elon
• It was the fifth game in 11 days for the Wildcats.
• McKillop had a career-high seven 3-pointers.
• It was the largest second-half deficit the 'Cats have come back from this season.
• It was Davidson's third overtime game this season, and the 'Cats are 2-1.
• Cohen also matched a career high with nine rebounds.

Series History
• Davidson leads the all-time series 32-11 and has won the last 15 meetings.
• The series began with a 25-17 Elon victory in the 1915-16 season.
• The 'Cats are 3-0 in SoCon Tourney games against the Phoenix and topped Elon 65-49 in the 2008 championship game in the most recent meeting.
• Davidson is 16-2 against Elon during Bob McKillop's tenure.

A Historically Tough Task
• Since the SoCon Tournament went to its current format in 1993, no team has won four games in four days to win the title. Three teams have reached the championship game - Elon in 2008, Charleston in 2009 and Furman in 2002 (Elon and Furman lost to Davidson).
• The SoCon Tourney has had many different formats since its beginning in 1921. The last team to win four games in four days when other teams had first-round byes was Clemson in 1939 (defeated North Carolina, Wake Forest, Davidson and Maryland).
• Georgia won four games in four days to win the title in 1932 but there were no first-round byes.

Claw Marks
• Davidson's senior class of Will Archambault, Bryant Barr, Dan Nelms and Steve Rossiter has now been a part of 101 career victories, four shy of the 105 enjoyed by the 2009 graduates.
• The Wildcats have now had double-digit SoCon victories in 16 seasons during Bob McKillop's tenure, including the last nine.
• Davidson has played in three overtime games this season and gone 2-1. It's the most overtime games in a season since the 'Cats played in three in 1995-96 and won all three.
• After going 1-5 in the month of November, the Wildcats have posted 5-3 records in each of the last three months.
• Barr has moved into sole possession of fifth on the Davidson career 3-pointers list with 185.
• Davidson finished the campaign with a 10-4 record at Belk Arena. It's the ninth straight season with at least 10 wins in Belk.
• With 36 blocked shots, Jake Cohen has moved into 10th on Davidson's single-season list.
• With 1,054 points, Archambault is the 38th player to score over 1,000 points in school history. He needs 59 rebounds for 500 career caroms.
• With 571 points and 570 rebounds, Rossiter is the 30th player in school history to record over 500 points and 500 rebounds.
• Bob McKillop is 17 wins shy of his 400th career victory.
• Brendan McKillop (121) and JP Kuhlman (98) each have a chance to record 100-plus assists this season. That's happened just twice during the Bob McKillop era. Jason Richards (293) and Stephen Curry (104) did it in 2007-08 and Jason Zimmerman (135) and Chris Alpert (134) did it in 1992-93.
• The Wildcats played the first contest of each of their two-game series against SoCon South Division opponents on the road and went 3-2. The 'Cats finished the regular season 7-3 against South Division foes.
• Davidson has hit 13 or more 3-pointers in seven games this season (Fredonia State, The Citadel -12/3, Gonzaga, TCNJ, Penn, Chattanooga and Elon).
• Davidson lost 91-88 to Cornell in overtime at the Holiday Festival in Madison Square Garden Dec. 20. It was the 'Cats' first overtime game since an 85-81 double-overtime loss at Charlotte Nov. 30, 2005.
• The 'Cats played their first overtime game in Belk Arena since 2005 against The Citadel Jan. 30, and posted a 67-63 win.
• Davidson's 61-52 victory over Hofstra Dec. 21, was the first time Wildcat coach Bob McKillop has coached against his alma mater.
• The Wildcats played their first four games away from home. It's the first time they have started a season with four road games since 2000-01.
• It's the latest Davidson has opened its home schedule since the 2002-03 campaign, when the 'Cats' first home game was Nov. 30 against Washington & Lee.
• Appalachian State's win Feb. 11 gives them a regular-season series sweep over the Wildcats. It's the first time Davidson has been swept in a regular-season series by a SoCon opponent since 2000-01. Wofford has also won both games of the season series against the Wildcats.

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