Davidson Wins Against the Cougs, but the Cougs Looked Good!

Despite only shooting 25% from behind the arc and 37% from the field, the College of Charleston Cougars looked good tonight against the Wildcats. It seemed as though every time the Cougars started to get things going a media time out or an arrant foul would take place; thus ending our momentum. Did we get robbed by the officials with that last foul called by the zebras to send Steph Curry to the line? Yes, but the SoCon refs are part-time CofC haters and have picked our pockets more than once through the years. But let's be honest, the Cougars will beat Davidson later on in the season, all the Cougars need is for their legs to look a little more conditioned and the shots fall a little better. 

Free-Throw Juice

Regardless, the Cougars looked good. Jermaine Johnson (as Goldfinger would say) drank his "free-throw juice", hitting 10-12 from the charity stripe and 3-8 from the field notching 16 points for the game. Goudelock was 10-22 from the field and 2-9 from behind the arc (take the extra dribble before you pull up kid) as Andrew put up 22 points to lead the Cougars in the game. Tony White Jr looked great hitting 4-9 from the field and 2-5 from behind the arc. That kid has really come of age this season. Marcus Hammond did the Cougs a solid on defense and was 2-4 from the field and 2-5 from behind the arc. 

Ball Hawg!

Sure Stephanie Curry scored 29 points but he was off to a slow start in the first half and Davidson suffered trailing the Cougars until the 6 minute mark before the half. The next Wildcat even close to the young ball hog was Will Reauchambeaux (actually it might be Archambault-sorry my media guide is a bit blurred on that one) with 14 points. Stevie "Wonder" Rossiter put up 11 points to become the only other Wildcat with double-digit points. 

As we all watched Momma Curry nervously (albeit "she looked smashingly fabulous" as my non-heterosexual friends from Davidson would say) waiting for the time to expire as our beloved Cougars closed in on her son's squad. We also saw something else, North Carolina Hall of Famer and former Charlotte Hornet who kept the "Hive Alive" with one heck of a sweet shot, Dell Curry (aka: Papa Bear) shook his head in discontent as he saw his son's genetically inherited "quick and sweet" released shot over and over. You could read on the jumbo-tron his lips saying, "Pass the ball son, don't be a hog". But alas, his son (who had a few mentionable assists in the first half) was the ball hog for the kids in Davidson red. 

The Breakdown

Teams: 1st 2nd  Final

Davidson: 44 35 79

CofC: 33 42 75

The Cougs Host Davidson Tonight @ 9 PM

In their last game until the New Year, the Cougars welcome rival Davidson and their wonder-boy Stephen Curry to the Carolina First Center. Davidson (nationally ranked 22^nd in the country, but still 2^nd to the Cougars in the South Division of the SoCon) is coming off an embarrassment in Indy, where the Wildcats lost whole-handily to Purdue by almost 20 points in perhaps the “whitest” game played on the court since all 10 players wore Chuck-Taylors. Or maybe that wasn’t a loss at all for Davidson fans, Curry only put up 13 points instead of his average of 31, so if we jettison our math and instead apply our Steph-matics, Davidson (could have) beat Purdue.

 

Purdue (err, Purr-Don’t)

How did Purdue blow-out the Wildkittens? Old-fashioned defense, Purdue’s Chris Kramer was in Curry’s boyish face the entire game and the Boilermakers never took their foot off the gas. Even after Purdue led 21-0 in the first half, they continued to ride Curry and never let him find his rhythm. When Curry hit his first 3-pointer (after missing 8 consecutive shots) did the Boilermakers get worried-“Oh man, here they come, Curry is hot now”? Nope, they responded with a trey of their own and just kept face blasting Curry.

 

Keys to the win: 1) Keep a hand in Steph Curry’s cute little face. I know with his boyish smile, you just want to cut up with him and tell a couple of jokes, but put a hand in his face so he can’t see the basket and disrupt the rhythm as soon as he crosses mid-court. 2) Limit Lovedale and (benchwarmer) Archambault’s touches: these guys aren’t all that great of players, barely almost 50% shooters from the field, but they are the next best thing Davidson has in their arsenal. 3) Holy crap, McKillop’s kid plays for Davidson-shocked, completely shocked. 4) Makes some noise kids!

 

Remember this Cougars: You have a clean slate facing Davidson in our new arena! Let the record of Davidson in the Carolina First Center be a welcoming 0-1 when they leave the arena tonight! If McKlump and his boys want a win whilst in Charleston, they need to get it across town when they play the Citadel this week. The SoCon belongs to Charleston, Davidson is just 2^nd best with a little more press (perhaps distractions) than they deserve.