Daly Dose of Hoops Guest Blogs With a Fordham Scouting Report

Jaden Daly, the most prolific New York City Metro college basketball writer/blogger/play by play announcer around, is graciously again guest blogging on The College Hardwood.   With Fordham traveling to North Carolina to take on a streaking Davidson team tomorrow evening, Jaden gives an inside look at a now surging Rams team that has won three out of its last four games.

Jaden has covered in person SEVEN Fordham games this season.   No one, and I mean NO ONE, knows Fordham better than Jaden Daly.  Enjoy!

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Hello again, everyone, Jaden Daly from A Daly Dose Of Hoops here, giving you my traditional yearly look at the Fordham Rams, who come to Belk Arena this Saturday to take on Davidson for the first time in Atlantic 10 play. Covering the Rams on a regular basis as I do, it is my hope to give you a better idea of what the Wildcats can expect from their latest new opponent.

Game Reviews, Nuggets and Quotes
UMass Lowell vs. Fordham
Siena vs. Fordham
St. John's vs. Fordham
Manhattan vs. Fordham
Howard vs. Fordham
VCU vs. Fordham
UMass vs. Fordham

Starting Guards
Even though he has a better frontcourt than in years past, Tom Pecora will still employ his traditional three-guard set, a system he admits he is, at times, stubborn to change because of how well it has worked for him, both at Fordham and at Hofstra before that. Junior Mandell Thomas will be the first of the three guards in Fordham's offense. A combo guard from Rochester, New York; whose father, Chad, played at Rhode Island and was recruited unsuccessfully by Pecora, Thomas just recently moved to the point guard position after an ineffective showing by freshmen Antwoine Anderson and Nemanja Zarkovic inspired Pecora to try a different hand as the Rams' floor general. Thomas has been the best athlete on the team since arriving at Rose Hill, and he has used his explosiveness to his advantage since the middle of his freshman season, when he was inserted into the starting lineup. Now, Thomas is still adjusting to being more unselfish, and more of a facilitator. This is not to say he is completely sacrificing his scoring, but he is focusing more on his ancillary numbers in the rebound and assist departments as of late, then worrying about points as they come.

One thing Pecora has always been to a fault, and Gary himself will attest to this from years of watching Hofstra, is loyal to his seniors. That alone is the biggest reason why Bryan Smith continues to get the playing time he still receives, despite being an enigma on the floor more often than not. Much like the proverbial box of chocolates that was so vividly described in "Forrest Gump," you truly never know what you're going to get from Bryan. One night, he'll give you 15 points and knock down several clutch three-pointers, the next, he'll struggle through a 1-for-8 outing hampered by foul trouble. Pecora often laments Smith's inconsistency, yet for four years, has believed in the kid, hoping he would find a way through.

Fordham's third guard is one who should play as more of a forward, yet settles way too often for shots he should not be taking. That, for those who don't know, is Eric Paschall. A 6-6 swingman who came to the Rams after winning Mr. Basketball honors in the state of New York, Paschall is a player who is at his best when he attacks the basket and drives inside against bigger competition. However, he decides on way too many mid-range and outside shots, something a player of his physique should be much less reliant on. In spite of his questionable shot selection, his raw talent alone has enabled him to be Fordham's leading scorer, and the frontrunner for Atlantic 10 Rookie of the Year honors.

Starting Forwards
If you paid attention to the A-10 last year, you probably know who Ryan Rhoomes is. If not, he's a 6-8 junior that has such a distinct nose for the ball to the point where he can, and more often than not, does, end up with anywhere between ten and fifteen boards per game. Rhoomes has become one of the more underrated big men in the A-10, and that is a credit to his relentless work over the summer in becoming more of an interior presence, something Fordham has admittedly struggled with finding and maintaining throughout Pecora's tenure.

The Rams' biggest surprise, though, is Rhoomes' frontcourt partner, Christian Sengfelder. A 6-8 German power forward, Sengfelder is unique in his ability to space the floor while coming up with rebounds and a deceptively strong outside shot. In his last five games prior to Fordham's most recent win against George Mason Wednesday night, Sengfelder had been averaging a double-double, and has a 16-rebound performance on his ledger against a UMass team led by a walking double-double in his own right, Cady Lalanne. When watching Sengfelder, pay attention to what he does away from the ball before it gets to his hands. While Eric Paschall commands most of the attention, it is his German teammate who is the more polished player, and something Fordham fans have been very satisfied with since his debut in November.

Bench
The Fordham bench looks a little different this season, most notably with the presence of Jon Severe. The sophomore guard, who was the star of the show as a freshman last season alongside Branden Frazier; who has since turned pro, has taken on a new role as somewhat of a high-energy reserve upon returning from a month-long leave of absence. Severe had a string of five consecutive double-figure scoring games before the Rams took on Richmond last week, so his scoring is starting to come together as well. The aforementioned freshman point guard duo of Antwoine Anderson and Nemanja Zarkovic offer a stable hand at the point guard position, but not much else in the way of scoring. In fact, since Mandell Thomas was moved to the starting point guard spot, Zarkovic has seen his minutes drastically decrease. Forwards Manny Suarez and Dekeba Battee-Aston are slowly learning the ropes in their freshman seasons, but neither one is active on the floor for a long period of time, simply used as a fresh body if either Rhoomes or Sengfelder is plagued by foul trouble.

Strengths and Weaknesses
Fordham is a much stronger team up front than in years past, which is a quality Pecora has lacked since his early years at Hofstra, and that even included the three years he got from Chris Gaston when coming to Fordham. The presence of Rhoomes and Sengfelder, and Eric Paschall when the Rams play a smaller lineup, gives Fordham the flexibility to impose their will on teams on both ends of the floor, one of the biggest reasons why the Rams have rebounded to win three of their last four following an 0-9 start to the A-10 schedule.

From a weakness standpoint, one thing the Rams struggle with aside from shot selection is turnovers. When facing a team that likes to press, as was the case against St. John's, Manhattan and VCU, Fordham tends to look like a deer in headlights, and commits way too many careless miscues than they should. If the Rams can handle the ball well, they play at their best.

Coaching
I've been admittedly critical of Pecora in recent years as he attempts to rebuild a program that has been in a two-decade-long morass since joining the Atlantic 10. Still hopeful of reversing the Rams' fortunes, Pecora appears to have bitten off more than he can chew sometimes, but in recent games, it seems as though Fordham is, slowly; but surely, turning a corner. Granted, Saint Louis and George Mason were not picked to finish near the top of the league this year, but the Rams' victory over reigning A-10 champion Saint Joseph's, projected at the beginning of the year to be a team in the postseason conversation, may have been the most impressive example of Pecora's eternal hope that it can get turned around in the Bronx once and for all.

Intangibles
Fordham's guards have a refuse-to-lose mentality when they realize they are in a winnable matchup. Mandell Thomas and Bryan Smith have had an experience edge in recent games, which should give them confidence against a Davidson team that some may say has overachieved in their first season removed from the Southern Conference under longtime mentor Bob McKillop, for whom Tom Pecora worked as an assistant coach on the Long Island high school circuit in the 1980s.

Overall
While their recent surge has begun to dispel the notion that the Rams are in over their heads in a strong A-10, Fordham remains a work in progress. Playing on the road might be an even bigger weakness for this team, as for some reason, the Rams have had a hard time away from Rose Hill Gym. In fact, Wednesday's win over George Mason was just the second road win in A-10 play during Pecora's near-five-year tenure, the only other one coming at St. Bonaventure in 2013. Fordham has never seen a team like the Wildcats, which is both a blessing and a curse. If this game was played a month ago, Davidson would win handily. Now, I don't know if I can still say that, as Fordham's ever-growing confidence and group of veterans who are starting to tap into their potential will make this a close game that will ultimately come down to the final two or three possessions.

In A10 transition, Davidson can learn from Mason, VCU

Alan Kelly is a proud alumnus of George Mason University, and writes about Patriots basketball for MasonHoops.com. You can follow him on Twitter at @MasonFanatic.

As the Davidson Wildcats navigate their rookie season as member of the Atlantic 10, they can look to recent additions George Mason and VCU for expectations, both positive and negative.

A season ago, as George Mason played the role of A10 newcomer, one refrain that was cited numerous times by head coach Paul Hewitt and some of his players was the increased intensity needed to win night in and night out. The Patriots came into a deeper league than the one the Wildcats find themselves in this year, but the same lesson still applies: There are no easy games, and you can’t afford to have an off night, especially on the road.

Likewise, travel in the league can be a grind, with a larger footprint than the CAA, and a much larger footprint than the Southern Conference. The team could get from Davidson, NC to almost anywhere in the SoCon by bus within a reasonable amount of time, but now some charter plane flights are inevitable, and adding more will be desirable.

George Mason athletic director Brad Edwards recently indicated to the Washington Post that the program is seeking to increase funding to add additional charter flights. No example of this need may be more striking that the five-plus hour bus trip the Patriots took midweek to play at Duquesne in Pittsburgh last month. Mason ended up shooting under 15% in the first half and under 25% for the game in a nearly unwatchable defeat.

The two recent losses suffered by the Wildcats, on the road at St. Joseph’s and at home to St. Bonaventure, should not be a surprise, and they probably won’t be the last head-scratchers suffered by what is a young roster aside from senior Tyler Kalinowski.

In order to navigate these pitfalls, one of the best assets is senior leadership. In 2012-13, VCU had an excellent pair of senior guards in Darius Theus and Troy Daniels. The following season, George Mason timed its 2013-14 move to the Atlantic 10 to coincide with a senior class that included Bryon Allen and Sherrod Wright, who combined to average over 30 points per game. One hesitates to ask how rough matters might have been for the 11-win Patriots without those two leaders.

Second, but not less important, coaching matters, and the Wildcats lack nothing in that department. While coaching is not the only difference between the two programs, it’s no accident that VCU and Shaka Smart made a smoother transition to a higher level of basketball than George Mason and Paul Hewitt did. Bob McKillop has a fantastic track record, and while no one should expect Davidson to become VCU overnight, he knows how to win.

Short term, win or lose, there are at least three facets of a program that see immediate impacts from a significant upgrade in conference alignment: attendance, scheduling, and recruiting.

Attendance can be a double-edged sword. A better league draws better home opponents, which yields more interest for casual fans, but a tougher schedule also makes it harder to maintain homecourt dominance. For George Mason, in the run up to the move to the Atlantic 10, there was a lot of excitement among fans about the better quality of opponents who would be visiting the Patriot Center, and a corresponding spike of nearly 8% in attendance last season. However, once the reality of losing set in, home attendance in 2014-15 is down over 15%.

In Richmond, VCU had already established a culture where sellouts were the norm, and because they were able to sustain their success, demand for tickets only increased. This led to the construction of the Tommy J. West Club Level, which added luxury suites and 120 premium balcony seats to the Siegel Center. Increased fan interest is an opportunity to be seized, but it’s not guaranteed.

A tougher league gets you more chances to build a resume with league wins, so out of conference scheduling is not the imperative that it was in the SoCon, but it’s still important for maximizing your chances to impress the selection committee. With a non-league schedule like the one Davidson played this season (ranked 255th), the margin for error becomes slimmer, and that will undoubtedly be something the conference encourages Davidson to improve for future seasons.

VCU and Mason have both excelled at scheduling, giving themselves tough slates that this season are ranked first and 15th in the country, respectively. (Of course, you still have to win your fair share of those games, something Paul Hewitt’s squad has failed to do). Back in the CAA, in Paul Hewitt’s first season in 2011-12, multiple RPI-crushing losses to bad teams in November eventually led to a 24-9 team staying home for the postseason. In a league like the A10, that George Mason team would have gotten a second chance to improve their RPI.

Recruiting is a strange world, and both former CAA powerhouses have a head coach who is viewed as an excellent recruiter, but being in the Atlantic 10 offers a better platform to compete against the top basketball schools in the country. It’s too early to evaluate the impact for George Mason, but as an A10 member, VCU has pulled in arguably their two best recruiting classes in school history in the 2014 and 2015 classes, with both classes ranked 26th in the nation by 247Sports.

Long term, Davidson is favorably positioned for success. While their budget will likely need to increase, and facilities upgrades will be a part of that increase, they can expect higher revenue from television contracts and NCAA tournament shares, and their positioning in the Charlotte media market (ranked 24th largest in the country by Nielsen) puts them ahead of some of their new conference mates, not to mention almost everyone in the SoCon.

Davidson may not have the shiny Final Four banners that recent A10 additions like George Mason, VCU, or even Butler had, but they do have a history of NCAA relevancy and success to fall back upon and to market themselves around. Three Elite Eight appearances (1968, 1969, and 2008) from two different eras is an impressive legacy, and with an increased opportunity to earn at-large NCAA bids, nothing says McKillop can’t repeat the Steph Curry run from ‘08.

Tonight at Belk Arena, the Wildcats will take on George Mason at 7pm. The rematch of January 24’s 80-73 overtime victory over the Patriots in Fairfax will be a good test for Davidson, as it marks just their second rematch with an Atlantic 10 foe. Will familiarity and a quest for revenge favor the Patriots, or will homecourt advantage and additional experience in playing without the injured Jack Gibbs result in a Wildcat triumph?

Davidson Rolls Over Duquesne

Since I moved down to Columbia, South Carolina, I have seen the Davidson Wildcats play several times in Belk Arena.   A few times, I was able to get there early, have dinner in downtown, Davidson, an experience I highly recommend, then go to the game.  

Last evening, I had no such luxury of time.   Yesterday had been a baseball bonanza of a day.   First I had Little League Coach Pitch Baseball evaluations.  Over one hundred kids, including my younger son, Jonny, came out to evaluate at Trenholm Park, which happened to be on the same day of a volleyball tournament in the rec center of Trenholm Park.  Thus an overwhelmed parking lot.  Then a group of coaches, consisting of nine teams went into a room at the rec center building and drafted those one hundred players.   That took four hours of my day.

But that wasn't all.  Then I had travel ball practice with my older son, Matthew, who I coach along with eleven talented teammates and friends playing on their first travel team after having won a district coach pitch title the season before.  We took team pictures and then had a strenuous two hour practice.   Most people would be exhausted by that time.

Nope, Matthew and I had tickets to see one of my favorite teams to watch live, the Wildcats.  Wasn't missing that.   But the result was that we got to the University a few minutes after the game started.   We walked through the beautiful campus of Davidson College and made to our seats at Belk Arena ten minutes in the first half with Davidson leading Duquesne 24-13.

When I commented to someone yesterday at the baseball evaluations that I was going to Davidson, he noted about how Stephen Curry put them on the map.   He did, leading them to an Elite Eight appearance in 2008 and nearly a Final Four after a three point loss to Kansas. It was actually the third Elite Eight appearance in school history.  The other two came in 1968 and 1969 under then coach Lefty Driesell.   Both those times they lost close games to North Carolina in the Regional Final.

Those three NCAA Elite Eight appearances are still just a sample of the long history of success of the program.  When you look up in the rafters of the arena, you can't help but notice all the banners; all the Southern Conference championships, the NIT appearances and the twelve NCAA appearances.  Seven of those twelve appearances are a result largely of one man and it's not Steph Curry.  It's Bob McKillop, the man who recruited Curry to Davidson.

McKillop came to Davidson in 1989 after coaching at Long Island Lutheran High School from 1979 to 1989.   I remember that well growing up on the Island.   Long Island Lutheran was a perennial power in high school basketball thanks to McKillop.   And now Davidson is a perennial power in college basketball and the court is now appropriately named after him.

McKillop's teams pride themselves on movement, both with the ball and without the ball.  You will screens, picks, back door cuts, nice post passes and most importantly, good shooters.   Davidson's offense is truly fun to watch and McKillop is the mastermind behind it.

This is Davidson's first year in the Atlantic-10 and Belk Arena shows it.  The 5,000 seat venue was practically full for last night's game with Duquesne.  The Wildcats entered the contest at 5-4 in conference and 14-6 overall.

When we got to our seats, freshman Peyton Aldridge drilled a three to put the Wildcats up 27-15.  With the three pointer, Aldridge already had ten points in ten minutes of action.  The Dukes would respond scoring five of the next six points to cut the lead to eight, 28-20.    Jordan Watkins put Davidson up by ten 30-20.

Then things got really wild. Six of the next seven baskets scored were three pointers; three by Davidson and three by Duquesne.  Tyler Kalinoski assisted on two of the Wildcats' three pointers, and hit the other three pointer.   L.G. Gill capped the three point barrage for the Dukes, banking in a three pointer to cut the Davidson lead to eight once again, 39-31.    Everyone thought it was a one time fluke, but Gill would later bank another three pointer at the end of the first half.  Whether it was a fluke or not, that's for Gill to know and us likely to never find out.

But during the span between the three point bank shots, Davidson went on a 13-4 spurt as Aldridge continued to go to town on Duquesne, scoring another four points in the span.  Only Gill's banked three pointer to end the half kept the halftime deficit at fourteen, 52-38.   The Wildcats shot sixty percent in the first half, including eight of fifteen from beyond the arc.

Duquesne did their best to hang in there, shooting 48 percent from the field in the first half, including shooting fifty percent from three (five of ten),  Yet they were down fourteen points at the half.

One of the things you notice at a Davidson game is that that the student section often carries flags of other countries.  That's because the Wildcats have four players from outside the United States - Nathan Ekwu (Nigeria), Oskar Michelsen (Finland), Ali Mackay (Scotland) and Manu Giamoukis (Greece).

Starting the second half, considering probability, you would figure that the Wildcats would slow down scoring wise in the second half .  And at least for the first minute and a half, the Wildcats did exactly that, as they went scoreless.  The problem was that the Dukes couldn't take advantage and missed on all four of their field goal attempts and turned the ball over once during those first ninety seconds.

When you fail to take advantage of scoring opportunities against an offense that's so well disciplined, that moves so well with and without the ball like Davidson, it's playing with fire.  And Duquesne got burned as the Wildcats heated up from the field.  The Davidson offense played off their three point prowess and got the ball to Aldridge for a couple of post touches and scores.  The Wildcats extended their lead to twenty one, 65-44 with fifteen minutes left in the game.

Gill buried another three pointer and TySean Powell added a three point play to cut the deficit to fifteen, 67-52 with fourteen minutes left in the game.  But that's as close as the Dukes got the rest of the way as Duquesne simply could not keep up with the Davidson offense.    The Dukes went ice cold from beyond the arc in the second half,  shooting one of twelve from three in the last twenty minutes of the game.

Meanwhile, the Wildcats actually matched their first half shooting percentage, shooting sixty percent from the field in the second half.   They shot the ball a little less from three, though almost as accurate, shooting five of eleven from beyond the arc.   Davidson concentrated more on post play and back door cuts in the second half.  As soon as Duquesne converged inside with help defense, the Wildcats would find the open man for the three.  Jordan Barham found Kalinoski for an open three to put Davidson up twenty, 79-59 with 9:18 left.

The barrage on the Dukes was relentless as the Wildcats extended the lead to eventually twenty six, 95-69 with two minutes left.   That's when McKillop cleared his bench and that would be the final score.

Davidson showed incredible balance as six players scored in double figures. Brian Sullivan led the way with twenty three points, Aldridge added nineteen points, while Kalinoski had sixteen points.  Barham chipped in with twelve and  Ekwu and Watkins each had eleven points.

What was scary about this is that the Wildcats second best player, Jack Gibbs is still indefinitely out with a slight meniscus tear in his knee. What might even be more scary is that Kalinoski is the only senior that plays significant minutes for Davidson.

As we headed out, I took a picture of the Wildcat statute, which is directly across from the Belk Arena entrance.  At a night, it's an ominous sight.  And if Davidson keeps playing like they did last night, the Wildcats will be an ominous sight for A-10 opponents for seasons to come.

Brooks and Droney Make the Difference (Recap of Davidson v. Wofford)

When I last saw Davidson in person, it was a home game at the Belk Arena vs. Drexel on a relatively warm December Sunday afternoon.  In that game, the Wildcats were without their two best all around players, senior forward De'Mon Brooks and senior guard Tom Droney.  Both Brooks and Droney were out due to injuries. The Dragons won 72-58 as the Wildcats struggled on offense, as they shot a horrid three of twenty two from beyond the arc.

Entering Saturday night's game, Davidson had lost five in a row and their record was 4-10.  This is unusual for a Wildcats team that has made the NCAA Tournament each of the past two seasons, along with five of the past eight seasons and has not had a losing season since the 2000-01 season.  McKillop has had six NCAA Tournament teams, three NIT teams and a stunning 249-95 record in Southern Conference play since 1992.

However, losing streaks and early season records can be misleading.   In their last three losses, the Wildcats lost in overtime at #14 North Carolina, lost only by eleven at #10 Wichita State (and they were only down four with four minutes left) and lost to Charleston at home on New Year's Day after leading at halftime (a 19-5 second half run by the Cougars doomed the Wildcats).

Davidson always plays, what Matt Doherty once noted, as a "ridiculously tough non-conference schedule." Along with North Carolina and Wichita State, the Wildcats this season also played at Duke (lost 111-77), at Charlotte (won in overtime 87-78), neutral site games at New Mexico, Virginia, Clemson and Georgia (only win was over Georgia at the Charleston Classic).   McKillop has done this in part due to the Southern Conference's low overall RPI.  By playing a tough non conference schedule, Davidson's RPI will be much higher.  In fact, despite a 4-10 record, Davidson's current RPI, 157, is higher than 10-3 Mississippi State's RPI, 176.

Despite moving from the Southern Conference to the much tougher A-10 next season, McKillop's non conference schedule will be just as tough, as he has schedule Duke, North Carolina and Virginia for the next two season as well.  He noted in article in the the Charlotte Observer that "We’re going to be just as national and just as aggressive and understanding that, yes, the Atlantic 10 is going to be a significant challenge, but we’re still going to be very aggressive and national in scope,"

Playing such a tough non-conference schedule has worked out for Davidson in the past.  In the 2007-08 season, the Wildcats started 4-6 on the season, due to losses early on to nationally ranked teams such as #1 North Carolina, #7 Duke, and at #7 UCLA.  Davidson would respond with a twenty five game winning streak, including going undefeated in regular season and tournament play in the Southern Conference, then three wins in a row in the NCAA Tournament to make the Elite Eight.   The Wildcats were only a Jason Richards missed three at the buzzer from making the Final Four.

Wofford entered Saturday night's game having won three games in a row, including winning their first conference game, a 71-61 win over Samford.  This was also my second Terriers' game of the season, having seen them barely lose to William and Mary 63-60 at the Benjamin Johnson Arena.

As noted in the past eight seasons, Davidson has been the Southern Conference representative five times. Well Wofford is one of the two other schools that have made the NCAA Tournament during that period, having made the NCAA Tournament two years in a row in 2009-10 and 2010-11 under Young.  Chattanooga made the NCAA Tournament as the SoCon representative in 2008-09 after Steph Curry and Davidson was upset in the Southern Conference semifinals by the College of Charleston.

The Benjamin Johnson Arena is quickly becoming one of my favorite venues here in South Carolina.  As I noted in my previous article, it's really more a small gym enclosed in a nice Student Center with concessions, a coffee bar and comfortable lounge seating near the coffee bar.  As I got to the entrance to the student center, it noted that it was "Happy Hoops Year", as they had a women's home basketball game earlier in the day.

This was my first time sitting in the West Section of the arena.  On Saturday night, the ticket takers didn't have scanners.  So the ticket takers were taking tickets.  He took mine, then realized I was sitting in the reserved area in the front row.  As I noted to you all in my earlier Wofford article this season, it's worth the extra $2 to pay for the reserved seats that have the seat backs as opposed to the wooden bleachers.  He gave me back my tickets saying that I would need to show my ticket for where I was sitting, which was W5, Row A, Seat 1.

As I walked down the aisle, I realized where I would sitting for the evening, right behind the Wofford bench. I usually don't like to sit right behind a team's bench, because your view can be obstructed by bench players standing at times to support their teams.  But it also does allow you some insight, PA system permitting, to what the coach is saying to his team during timeouts.  Plus it was kind of cool seeing the starting Australian point guard for Wofford come out to "INDIANAAA FAITHFULL" during player introductions.

The game started out with the Terriers jumping out to an 8-4 lead at the under 16 media timeout.  Wofford's leading scorer on the season, the talented Spencer Collins, hit two baskets early on and Lee Skinner added a basket and an assist.  It's at the under 16 media timeout that Wofford holds it's "Cheeseburger in Paradise" promotion, where the cheerleaders handout/throw McDonald's cheeseburgers to fans while Jimmy Buffett's "Cheeseburger in Paradise" plays on the PA system.  This was my third time at a Wofford game and now all three times, I have got a cheeseburger.  Awesome.

During the first four minutes, Brooks only had one touch for the Wildcats and that resulted in a traveling call. Well McKillop must have told his team during the media timeout to feed the big man, because Davidson came out rolling off a 13-0 run on Wofford.  Brooks was unstoppable during this nearly three and a half minute span, scoring nine of the thirteen points.   His jumper put Davidson up 17-8 with a little less than twelve and a half minutes remaining in the first half.

After a media timeout, where Terriers Head Coach Mike Young implored his team to "be aggressive", the rest of the first half saw Davidson and Wofford play evenly as far as points scored.  The Wildcats largest lead over the last twelve plus minutes was ten points.  The Terriers still had no answer to stopping Brooks, who scored another eight points the rest of the half to give him seventeen first half points, along with seven rebounds.  Collins and Skinner did the best they could to keep Wofford in the game, combining for seventeen first half points as Davidson maintained a nine point lead, 37-28 at halftime.

Davidson shot a scorching sixty percent from the field in the first twenty minutes, much of which came from Brooks, who was eight of eleven from the field in the first half.  Wofford only shot thirty nine percent in the first half.

What I always love about mid major schools are the halftime shows they put on.  Usually it's a local boys or girls basketball game.  But Wofford does something different.  At the William and Mary game, it was a step dancing group that played at halftime.   This time it was a local martial arts group, with a bunch of young kids showing off various martial arts techniques and simulated fights.  It made for good theater.

The second half picked up right where the first half led off, with Brooks scoring the first two baskets for Davidson, which extended their lead to eleven, 41-30.  Skinner and Collins continued to do their best to keep Wofford in the game, scoring the team's first three baskets.  Collins three pointer got the lead back down to nine, 44-35 with seventeen and a half minutes left in the game.

But that's as close as the Terriers would get the rest of the game.  Davidson went on a 13-4 run over the span of about four and a half minutes.  Brooks of course was heavily involved, scoring five points, including a three point play and added an assist.  Two Droney free throws put the Wildcats up eighteen, 57-39 with a little less than thirteen minutes left in the game.

During a timeout, Young begged his team to "keep fighting".  The Terriers responded, scoring six straight points to cut the lead to twelve, 57-45.  Skinner scored four of his team high twenty two points in that mini spurt.

But Davidson would not be denied this night.  Droney led the way on another Wildcats' charge, this time a
16-7 spurt, capped by a Brian Sullivan three pointer to put Davidson up 73-52 with a little less than six minutes left in the game.  Droney scored nine points in the run and assisted on another basket.

All that was left was for both teams to clear their benches with about ninety seconds to play.  Davidson would go on and win their first Southern conference game of the season, an impressive 78-63 win.  The Wildcats had finally broken their five game losing streak and in the process, broke Wofford's three game winning streak.

Brooks had a double double with twenty eight points and twelve rebounds, along with four assists and two steals as he shot twelve of sixteen on the game.  Droney added eighteen points, shooting six of seven from the field and a perfect four of four from the line. Tyler Kalinoski added nine points for the Wildcats as Davidson shot sixty one percent from the field on the evening (thirty of forty nine).

Skinner led the Terriers with twenty four points and nine rebounds. Collins added sixteen points for Wofford.  Skinner and Collins combined to shoot fifteen of twenty eight from the field. The rest of the team combined to shoot only eight of twenty seven from the field.

For at least one more evening, Davidson was the big bad team on the SoCon block.  Though it's sad to see a long time Southern Conference staple like the Wildcats leave the conference after this season, one wonders if other schools aren't happy to see Davidson leave the SoCon.

Till then, Davidson stills seems to be the team to beat in the SoCon this year.

Drexel Outlasts Davidson

Yesterday at Belk Arena, Davidson hosted Drexel in a match-up of two of the better mid major programs in the country.  It was by chance that my color analyst, aka my older son Matthew, and I were able to see the game.  Due to the torrential rain on Saturday, Matthew's pickup baseball game was canceled because the Little League field he plays on was covered with large puddles.  So instead, we spent a lovely Sunday afternoon in Davidson, North Carolina.

Last season, both the Dragons and the Wildcats were favored to win their conferences.  Davidson held up their end of the bargain, winning the Southern Conference Tournament, then led Marquette most of the way before losing on a last second game winning layup by the Golden Eagles.  Meanwhile, Chris Fouch got hurt for the Dragons during their third game of the season and Drexel never recovered, finishing 13-19 on the season and losing in the second round of the CAA Tournament to George Mason.

Entering the game, both teams were down some of their best players.   Davidson was without leading scorer, senior forward De'Mon Brooks, who had missed the four previous games as well with a knee injury suffered during a loss to Clemson.  The Wildcats were also without senior guard Tom Droney, who injured his foot in a loss to Niagara.  Between Brooks and Droney, they average 30 points and 10 rebounds per game.  The Dragons are without starting guard Damion Lee for the rest of the season due to a torn ACL. Lee was the team's leading scorer last season, averaging 17 points per game.  Before he got hurt, Lee was averaging thirteen points per game.   So you could day both teams were equally disadvantaged entering the game.

Belk Arena is one of my favorite arenas in the country.  It seats a little more than 5,000 people and the rafters are rich with the history of Davidson Basketball.   Scores of NCAA Tournament and Southern Conference championship banners fill the top of the arena.  But after seventy plus years of affiliation with the SoCon (sans a period of four years in the late eighties/early nineties where Davidson was an independent, then a member of the Big South), the Wildcats will be leaving the conference after this season to join the A-10.

Matthew and I weren't the only CAA stalwarts at the game.  Dan Crain, author of the terrific Dragons Speak blog and longtime fellow #CAAHoops tweeter made the trip down, along with several friends, from Philadelphia for the game and just happened to have seats right next to us.    Dan was looking forward to the Drexel debut of junior guard Freddie Wilson, a transfer from Seton Hall.

It was clearly evident from the start that Drexel's plan was to drive it inside on Davidson.  The Dragons' first eight points came from within the arc, mostly on layups.  Meanwhile, Davidson struggled from the field, missing on their first twelve shots of the game.   Yet the Wildcats managed to stay close early on, trailing only 8-7 with all their points coming from free throws.

But it was only a matter of time before Davidson's cold shooting would come into play.  Drexel would score the next ten points over the next five plus minutes.  A Frantz Massenat jumper would put the Dragons up 18-7 with 10:15 left in the first half.  Wildcats' coach Bob McKillop called timeout to try to get his team going from the field.

It took nearly eleven and a half minutes of game action, but Davidson finally hit their first field goal, a three pointer by Brian Sullivan.  Tyler Kalinoski followed with an old fashioned three point play and suddenly the Wildcats were only down five, 18-13.   Davidson hung around for the next few minutes, only trailing by six, 26-20 with a little less than four and a half minutes left.

But without Brooks, Davidson had no inside scoring threat and continued to miss regularly from outside the arc.  Meanwhile, Massenat was a one man wrecking crew for the Dragons.  He first scored on a three point play to put Drexel up nine.  Then he buried a three pointer to put the Dragons up twelve, 32-20.  Later a Kazembe Abif three point play put Drexel up fourteen, 37-23.  Davidson scored the final four points of the half, much to the chagrin of Dragons' coach Bruiser Flint and the Wildcats were only down ten, 37-27 at the half.

Davidson has a great halftime fan participation game, a variation of "Musical Chairs".   Several kids dribble around a group of chairs at center court while music plays.  When the music stops, the kids have to go to either basket and make a layup.  If they make the layup, then can dribble back to the chairs.   One by one, a kid was eliminated.  It got down to two kids and it turned out both kids ended up on the single chair at the same time, which resulted in a tie.  The fans gave the kids a rousing ovation for a well played game.

The start of the second half had Chris Fouch channeling Loren Stokes (Google "Loren Stokes") with a couple of floaters in the lane to put Drexel up 41-29.  The Dragons maintained their eleven point lead, 44-33 with about fifteen minutes left.

Davidson went on a 11-5 mini spurt over the next three and half minutes.  A Jake Belford three cut the Drexel lead to six, 46-40 with eleven and half minutes left in the game.  Over the next few minutes, Davidson stayed within six, 50-44 with a little less than eight minutes left in the game.

But the Wildcats would get no closer.  The Dragons outscored them 9-4 over the next three minutes. The newest Dragon, Wilson, would score four of those points within the span.  A Fouch three pointer put Drexel up 59-48 with just less than five minutes left.

Davidson had several opportunities from the free throw line to cut the deficit to as little as three points.  But the Wildcats missed four of six free throw attempts over the span of thirty seven seconds.  A Jordan Barham layup cut the deficit to seven, 59-52 with 2:47 left.

But Massenat would score nine of the last thirteen Dragons' points, seven on free throws despite a fan trying to distract him with a large Ron Burgundy head, as Drexel would defeat Davidson 72-58.  With the win, Drexel is now 7-2 on the season, with their only two losses against #22 UCLA and #1 Arizona.  Davidson falls to 4-7 on the season.

Massenat was a stat sheet stuffer on the day, leading all scorers with twenty five points and adding seven rebounds, two assists and two steals.  Fouch had seventeen points, while the newcomer Wilson added seven points.  The Dragons out-rebounded the Wildcats 47-38, not surprising considering Drexel is 44th in the country in rebounds.

Sullivan led Davidson with fourteen points, Kalinoski added thirteen points and Barham had eleven for the Wildcats.  Davidson was held to thirty two percent shooting from the field including an ugly 3 of 22 from beyond the arc.  The Wildcats also struggled from the line, missing fourteen free throws.

For a team that is trying to get back to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 1996, Drexel appears to be back to their 2011-12 form.  But they have their annual test at fellow Philly native St Joe's on December 18.  Another road win over the Hawks would further strengthen their non conference resume.

Meanwhile, things don't get easier for Davidson.   The Wildcats have consecutive road games vs. North Carolina and Wichita State, both nationally ranked before playing former conference foe College of Charleston on New Year's Day.  Then they start their last regular conference season in the SoCon.

Davidson very likely will be under .500 when they start conference play, Then again, in the 2007-08 season, the Wildcats started the season 4-6.  They never lost again that season until the Elite Eight against Kansas.  Never count out a Bob McKillop team.

Matthew and I said our goodbyes to Dan and his friends and wished them a safe trip back to Philly.  Then we walked back into town, made our way to our car and headed home.  On a nice sunny, relatively warm December day, maybe Matthew and I saw two eventual 2014 NCAA Tournament Teams.

One never knows in the wacky world that is college basketball.

Conference Realignment - Careful For What You Wish For

The 2013-14 season promises to be a very interesting season as far as teams in new conference homes.  Due in most part to the power of football TV money, many schools switched conferences.  In fact, due to a dislike in the power of football TV money, the Big East broke off from the football schools to become basically a basketball conference.  This left the other schools, UConn, Louisville (in its last season before joining the ACC), Temple and Cincinnati to fend for themselves in the new AAC.

But conference realignment didn't spare the smaller conferences either.  The Atlantic Ten lost three schools; Xavier and Butler to the newly formed Big East and Charlotte to Conference USA.  As a result, the A-10 plucked two mid major program gems, Davidson and George Mason from their respective conferences (George Mason joined the A-10 immediately. Davidson will join in the 2014-15 season).  The CAA reeling from the loss of Mason, as well as Old Dominion (Conference USA) and Georgia State (Sun Belt), took the Southern Conference's other well known basketball program, College of Charleston.

But wait, there's more!  The Patriot gained two schools.  First Boston University left the confines of the America East to join what it believes is a better fit in academics.  Second, Loyola, Maryland interestingly left the stronger MAAC conference for the land of the Last Amateurs.  However, the MAAC retained Loyola's former coach, Jimmy Patsos, as he took the Siena job.  The MAAC in turn went out and plucked two NEC schools, Monmouth and Quinnipiac.   America East restocked with UMass Lowell jumping up into the Division I foray.

The Missouri Valley lost one of their most highly regarded schools in Creighton as the Bluejays joined their fellow catholic brethren in the Big East.  To fill the void, the Valley took Loyola Chicago away from the Horizon.  Conference USA not only plucked ODU, but took Florida Atlantic and Florida International away from the Sun Belt.   The WAC only has two member schools remaining from last season, New Mexico State and Idaho.

There are even more schools that either switched conferences or became Division I schools (check out the WAC when you get a chance) that's it just too many to count.  So let's highlight three schools, all with recent mid major success, that moved to a new conference;

Butler - In two seasons, the Bulldogs moved from the Horizon to the Atlantic Ten to the Big East.   Comparatively speaking, that's like an A ball player moving up and being successful in the majors in two seasons.  Yes, there are players that made that move like Bryce Harper, but they are few and far between.

To Butler's credit, their first season in the A-10 was a very successful one.  The Bulldogs went 11-5 in conference, 27-9 overall and won their second round NCAA Tournament game before losing to Marquette.  Now they will get to see the Golden Eagles twice a season in the Big East, albeit without former coach Brad Stevens, who decided to make the biggest move of all and jump to the NBA as coach of the Boston Celtics.

The Bulldogs lost leading scorers Rotnei Clarke and Andrew Smith to graduation.  Then Butler lost their leading returning scorer from last season, Roosevelt Jones, for the season with torn ligaments.  That leaves Khyle Marshall, Kameron Woods and Kellen Dunham to fill the scoring void.  It's asking a lot to make up for the loss of thirty eight points, fourteen rebounds and nearly eight assists per game.

Butler's non conference schedule seems light this season, with a home game vs. Vanderbilt and a neutral site game vs. Purdue as the two big games on their schedule.   The Bulldogs are predicted to finish middle of the pack in the Big East.   That might be generous given the loss of Jones.

Creighton -  At least the Bulldogs took a mid step in their jump from the Horizon to the Big East in two seasons.  Their fellow Big East brethren Bluejays are taking a one season, herculean leap from the Missouri Valley to the land of catholic basketball.  And Creighton was a really nice catch for the Big East, with their long standing, successful basketball program and a home game attendance that's regularly 18,000 plus.  The Bulldogs won twenty eight games last season and knocked off Cincinnati in the second round of the NCAA Tournament before losing to Duke.

But unlike Butler, Creighton is returning its leading scorer, All American Doug McDermott, plus the return of third leading scorer Grant Gibbs and his nearly six assists per game.  Throw in returning players Ethan Wragge and Austin Chatman, the fourth and fifth leading scorers from last season's team and it's no wonder that the Bluejays are picked to finish first in the Big East.  However, in a deep Big East, the Bluejays won't have cupcakes like Missouri State (11-22) to play twice a year.  Well okay, there is DePaul.

Creighton will find out early how good they are based on their non conference schedule.  The Bluejays play at St Joseph's, have a neutral site game vs. Arizona State, host Nebraska in their annual interstate feud and play host to Cal a little more than a week before the start of Big East conference season.

George Mason - The loss of Xavier, Temple and Charlotte forced the A-10 to restock with the Patriots and next season the Wildcats of Davidson.  Mason was a logical choice being basically a basketball only school that has made the NCAA Tournament three times since 2006, including their Final Four run in 2006.

Since their last NCAA tournament appearance in 2011, the Patriots have won forty six games overall with two twenty plus win seasons (24-9 in 2011-12, 22-16 in 2012-13).   But Mason struggled in the CAA barely finishing above .500 in conference, finishing fourth at 10-8 and losing to Northeastern in the CAA semifinal 69-67 after being up 28-4 fifteen minutes into the first half.  The Patriots finished the season playing in the CBI, Defiantly Dutch's favorite postseason tournament, losing in the CBI championship series to Santa Clara.

The Patriots return nine of their top ten players in minutes, including their top five leading scorers; Sherrod Wright, Jonathan Arledge, Byron Allen, Erik Copes and Johnny Williams.  So scoring will not be an issue for Mason.  Unfortunately, Copes has been suspended for the first six games of the season, so their depth will be tested early on in their schedule.

Mason has been picked as low as tenth in at least one preseason poll, which seems low to me considering the experience they are returning this season.  Non conference road games at Iona, a neutral site game vs. Oklahoma and a home game vs. Iowa State should give the Patriots a chance to show they are better than their preseason standing in the A-10.  Plus an early season conference game with #14 VCU should shed some light on where the Patriots rank in the Atlantic 10.  But there won't be any UNC Wilmingtons to feast on in the A-10.  Mason will have to bring every it night in conference.

Where We've Been, Where We're Going

On March 4, 2012, I was sitting on press row during the second CAA Tournament Semifinal in Richmond Coliseum. Sitting next to me was my good friend Jerry Beach, aka Defiantly Dutch, who made the trip down with me in a trip that would have made John Candy and Steve Martin proud. Nearby was our friend Tom Block, covering the game for George Mason and directly in front of us was CAA Beat writer Rob Canady and longtime CAA and UNC Wilmington beat writer and friend Brian Mull. Our friend, @VaBeachRep, Joe Suhoski, had been at the tournament on press row the day before.  Somewhere in the stands was our friend Mike Brodsky, who had done the radio broadcast for the Northeastern game the night before, along with Matt Cerilli and Alan Wilson, two George Mason friends I had got to know via their love-hate relationship with Beach.

I think all of us were amazed at the start of the VCU - George Mason game, which was the fifty sixth Division I basketball game I had covered live that season.  The Rams had jumped out to a 32-4 lead.  The sold out, mostly partisan Rams crowd was likely setting record decibel levels of sound in the creaky, leaky, often cold arena.  The Patriots would roar back though, cutting a once twenty eight point lead down to six with three minutes left in the game.  However VCU would hold on for a 74-64 win.

I truly had enjoyed soaking in the raucousness of the crowd that day.  Drexel had won the earlier semifinal against Old Dominion, the alma mater of Joe Suhoski, who covers CAA football and is also a friend of Beach and mine.  A season after three CAA teams making the NCAA Tournament and another CAA Semifinal Tournament team, Hofstra, had one of their players taken in the NBA Draft (Charles Jenkins), it looked like there would be again multiple #CAAHoops teams in the NCAA Tournament.  Things couldn't have been brighter for the CAA.

Little did I know that things would never be the same in the CAA again.

I drove my "Planes, Trains and Automobiles" partner in crime back to New York after the VCU-Mason post game press conference (Picture is from Hofstra-Delaware game in 2011. Notice how Hofstra is spelled on the ticket), once again having not been able to stay for the CAA Championship game. It's become sort of a twisted tradition.  When I attend the CAA Tournament, I never can stay for the championship game, basically due to work.  When my alma mater Hofstra made it in 2006, my dear friend Tony Terentieff had to be back for work and he drove my friend Mal and me down for the tournament.

In this case, I wanted to stay again, but this time, I had to go to Colorado.  I was a finalist for a position at the University of Colorado.  There was a fifty-fifty chance that I would get the position and that things for me would never be the same.

Drexel, who had lost to VCU in the finals of the CAA Tournament, was snubbed out of an at large bid for the NCAA Tournament.  Instead, Iona, a team I heavily covered during 2012 for both my site and the Mid Majority, made the tournament.  The Gaels went down in the first round of the tournament in spectacular fashion, blowing a twenty point lead vs. BYU.

Where this involves me is that Drexel was now playing in the NIT and was playing home games in Philly.  Thus a road trip to the land of cheesesteaks!  The Dragons had made it to the NIT Quarterfinals and were hosting the Minutemen of UMass.

It was a disappointing night all around.  Drexel blew a fourteen point second half lead and lost to UMass. During the game I had found out via email that night that I didn't get the position at the University of Colorado.  I took it in stride, figuring perhaps that staying in New York, working for Hofstra and covering college basketball was my place in life.

Suddenly the dominoes started falling.   First, the Atlantic-10 offered VCU a spot in their conference.  The Rams, understanding that the A-10 gave them a better media presence, more competition and a better chance for future at large bids, left all their two years of NCAA Tournament CAA money and joined the A-10.   Old Dominion and Georgia State announced they were jumping to Conference USA and the Sun Belt, basically for football conference dollars.   A year later, George Mason decided to reunite with VCU in the A-10.

The three teams that had been the face of #CAAHoops - VCU, ODU and George Mason were gone in the span of a little more than a year. What was once a Virginia based conference, has become more of a North-South mix with only two Virginia teams left (James Madison and William and Mary).

The CAA will never be the same.

Then, just when I thought I was going to be a lifelong New Yorker, an opportunity arose at the University of South Carolina School of Law.  This time, fate shined on me.  I was offered the position and in August of last year, I moved everything I could into a 2001 two door Honda Accord and made the trip down to Columbia, South Carolina.  Six months later, our house in New York finally sold and my family made the trip down with me.  The job has been absolutely great and my family is very happy in its new house.

My coverage of the 2012-13 college basketball season had started off pretty well.  I knew that I could not repeat the feat of covering fifty nine Division I men's games, at least fifteen Division I women's games and a couple of Division III games.  But there was plenty of college basketball around me in South Carolina and North Carolina.  I had season tickets to USC.  Wofford, Davidson, Charlotte, Winthrop, Presbyterian and USC Upstate were all relatively nearby me, plus I used my Christmas Break trip to New York wisely and covered a lot of games while I was up there.

Then February in South Carolina hit.   Let me explain.

Baseball season starts in February.  Not just college baseball season, as most informed, college sports fans know, but also Little League Baseball season.  Yes, baseball season for little kids starts at that time.  And we're not talking late February, we're talking February 2.  Yup.   In fact, my family was still not with me at that time.  I was an assistant coach for my older son's coach pitch team in February and there were two practices that I helped run where he was not at since the house in New York didn't close until February.

So when college basketball season was at its height the first weekend of March with the CAA Tournament, we were having opening day for our league that Saturday.  And I wasn't involved with just one team, I was also the head coach for my younger son's tee ball team.  Very quickly, I was spending at least four, five and even six days a week at Trenholm Park in Forest Acres, home to the Trenholm Little League.

And I was loving every minute of that.  As much as I love college basketball, baseball is my other love.  And I wouldn't have moved to South Carolina if my older son, Matthew, didn't sign off on it.  And one of the reasons he was willing to move down here was that, in his own words, he "could play baseball ten months of the year."

When Matthew was two and a half years old and already was fond of watching baseball live, he asked me if I could pitch to him.  So at two and a half, I started pitching to him.  And I found out very quickly, he could hit a ball.  Hit a ball real well.  So well that my family would come over to see him hit.  Then quickly, he wanted to play catch and learn how to field.  By the time Matthew was five, I could have a regular catch with him and I don't mean soft toss either.  I was fortunate to be able to coach him and his friends for two years in North Bellmore before I moved down to South Carolina.  It was a dream come true.

When I was a kid, I loved baseball just as much as Matthew.  However, my parents were separated and later divorced by the time I was thirteen.  My brother had been in the Air Force from the time I was eight until I was twelve.  The key time frame for when a kid who loves baseball plays Little League.  Yet there was no one around to help me cultivate my love of baseball.  My parents never signed me up for baseball, never asked me to play baseball.

My brother got out of the Air Force in 1978.   It was then, through his high school friends and him, that I started learning about baseball through their various slow pitch softball teams.  I sort of became the team mascot/scorekeeper/bat boy.  I practiced with the team, learned baseball, learned how to score etc.

I started getting a lot better at baseball/softball and started playing stickball, a favorite sport among northeast kids.  I ended up playing against several members of the high school baseball team and I more than held my own. My friends in high school (some of us, like me who ran track, two of us played high school baseball) and I played other members of the baseball team in slow pitch softball in high school and I remember us at least winning one game.

After high school, I ended up playing organized slow pitch softball for twenty years.  I was pretty decent and I was fortunate to play on some really good teams.  Still, I never played little league baseball or high school baseball.   If I really have one regret in life, it's that I never played organized baseball when I was young.

Even before I met my wife of seventeen years, Michelle, I told myself that if I ever had kids and they wanted to play baseball, I would do everything in my power and I mean, EVERYTHING, to help with that.  So when Matthew came to me that day asking me to pitch to him, it was like true illumination to me.

And five and half plus years later, here I am, the co-head coach of his fall Minors baseball team.  Matt hits second for us, is one of our three pitchers and can play anywhere in the field.  He loves the game and works at it everyday.  I am proud to say he was a Coach Pitch League All Star in the Spring and started at third base in our district tournament (and I was proud to be one of the assistant coaches).

My younger son, Jonathan, is on my tee ball team.  He's not like Matthew and would rather play Angry Birds than baseball.  Jonathan doesn't practice baseball when he's not playing an actual game, but he's pretty good when he plays.  Maybe the baseball light bulb will turn on for him someday, but that's okay if it doesn't for him.  Still love him as much as Matthew.

So Matthew got his ten months of baseball.  His dad coaches both his sons in baseball.  And neither of us could be any happier.

So what does that mean for The College Hardwood?

Fear not my college basketball loving friends.  The blog is alive and well, as you can see by this post.  This is the start of our basketball season on the blog.  I will still be covering a lot of games between mid-November and February. Once again, I have University of South Carolina season tickets.  Our live first game coverage will be November 9 when South Carolina hosts season opener sacrificial lamb Longwood.

But it's not just USC basketball I will be covering. My trip to New York around Christmas time will allow me to cover some good New York local basketball (see you soon, Hofstra and Stony Brook friends).  You can count on short road trips to Davidson, Charlotte, Wofford and Winthrop.   Plus, I have already got NCAA second and third round tickets for the regional at Raleigh.  If you remember the last regional in Raleigh in 2008, we were witness to the Stephen Curry show against Gonzaga and Georgetown.

However, once February comes, there won't be as much live basketball coverage from me as their used to be here. Certainly not fifty nine games of Division I coverage like the 2011-12 season.  But as I did once say nearly three years ago, that my commitments come before this basketball blog.  However, I do have a plan up my sleeve to increase the coverage here but I am not yet at liberty to say. :-)

Rest assured, college basketball is still a great love of mine and as for long as I can keep the site up, The College Hardwood is still a place college basketball fans can call home.

Regards Always,

Gary Moore
Author, Founder of The College Hardwood

Davidson Holds Off Wofford...Again

After the Georgia-South Carolina game, I got in my car and made the now familiar drive from the Gamecocks' campus to Huger Street then up to I-26. This time I was not getting off at the always crowded Harbison Boulevard exit. No, I was heading up to Spartanburg to see Wofford host Davidson.

It seems the magical time range for any of my basketball road trips so far is ninety minutes (I can make Charlotte in that time frame with my lead foot) to two and a half hours (Coastal Carolina). The trip from Columbia to Spartanburg is ninety minutes. I was debating whether to stop along the way for dinner or find a place near campus. To what I thought was my eventual chagrin, I chose the latter. Along the way though, I saw the exit for Presbyterian College, one of my eventual Big South Conference destinations.

The exit for Wofford College is Route 221, which brings you directly into the heart of Spartanburg. But as I got close to Wofford, I didn't see much in the way of restaurant choices. So I drove into the main entrance to Wofford and a nice campus safety guard showed me the direct way to get to the main parking lot for Johnson Arena.

To get to Johnson Arena, basically, you have to drive past the main Wofford College entrance and take the second right on Pearl Street. Then as the campus safety guard noted to me, once you see the pink house on the top of the hill, you bear right. Then you follow the winding road down behind a housing development (nice houses by the way), which then takes you down a narrow road that leads to the entrance of the main parking area. There an attendant directs you to park. I wouldn't have found this myself had it not been for the helpful campus security guard.

Once I got out of my car, it was a little after 5:30. I followed some Wofford fans to the entrance of the Campus Life Building where Johnson Arena is located. When you first walk into the Campus Life Building, you are greeted by a small statute of a Terrier. Then you walk into a quiet commons area with a coffee bar on the right hand side. But if you look in the right hand corner, you will see a student cafe. This cafe contains ample seating, flat screen TVs and a mini food court with a Chick Fil-a counter, a deli counter and another "Foods of the World" counter. In front of the entrance to the mini food court was a table with homemade baked desserts, cookies, cakes, cupcakes etc.

After striking up a conversation with the friendly attendant at the Chick Fila station where he made me a fresh grilled chicken sandwich, I grabbed some waffle fries, some desserts and grabbed a sweet tea. I managed to somehow hold onto all four items without a tray, paid the cashier and made my way to a set of tables that was right in front of the flat screen TV showing Northern Iowa and Wichita State (eventually won by the Panthers).

There was a nice mix of students and Wofford fans, many of them older fans. I could see why many people would come out for a nice Saturday night game. My reserved ticket cost twelve dollars, a bleacher seat costs ten dollars. Dinner was seven dollars. Think about it, for twenty bucks per person you can have a decent meal and watch a good basketball game. That's a good deal. Thanks Wofford!

After dinner, I made my way to my seat. There are two wings, the east and west wings, each of which has a separate entrance and outside of one hallway outside the arena, there is no connection to the wings once in the building. Not knowing this, It turns out I went to the wrong wing entrance. But the usher was kind enough to show me how to get there and I eventually made my way to the east wing section where my seat was located.

Now don't take this the wrong way Wofford fans, but when I got to my seat at Johnson Arena, I didn't consider it an arena. It's somewhat a very large gym with mostly wooden bleachers that had three sections of reserved comfortable chair back seating on each side in the front.. There is no club suite seating. The walls are your classic concrete gym walls.

However, there are two standout things you notice about Johnson Arena. First is the striking parquet floor, one of the few of its kind. Second, the gym holds noise well. Really well. In fact, in the second half, when Wofford made a run on Davidson, it started getting really loud and it was not packed (about 1500 was the attendance last night). Turns out, as I drove home, I turned on the post game show from the local Wofford station and they noted that half the students still haven't returned from break. Imagine the arena when Wofford had good teams that made the NCAA Tournament in 2010 and 2011. I bet it was the place was rocking.  Plus, the giant "Beware of Dog" sign behind the Wofford basket was a nice touch as well.

A local grade school choir did a wonderful job singing the national anthem. The students also were located in the bleacher level behind me, so when they made their way up to their seats, I made sure to tell the music choir director what a good job they did. It was the start to a very good evening of basketball and promotional events.

As the team introductions were made, I saw that Davidson's fans had basically taken up the entire section behind the Wildcats' bench. Yes, it helps to draw fans when you are 9-1 in conference. But considering Davidson's long storied history, I am not surprised by the large contingent they had for last night's game. I thought for sure that they were going to break out into "Sweet Caroline" late in the second half.

The Wildcats came out early scoring the first four points. Spencer Collins though would drill a three pointer, in what would be a reoccurring theme for the Terriers on the night. Through the first six minutes, it was a close affair, with Davidson maintaining an 8-6 lead.

But if you have watched enough of Davidson's basketball games on TV or in person, you can see that is so difficult to stop Bob McKillop's team on offense. The Wildcats' offensive sets are a thing of a beauty, both from a ball movement standpoint and a player movement standpoint. The Wildcats are constantly moving without the ball. This leads to multiple screens, backdoor cuts and a lot of open looks driving the lane. In the second half, with Davidson on my end of the court, it was truly a treat to watch their offensive set from my vantage point.

As a result, Davidson started pulling away from Wofford in the first half. First it was a 9-2 spurt on four consecutive layups, including a three point play by senior forward Jake Cohen. Davidson was up 17-8 and Wofford Coach Mike Young had to call timeout. It was a good timeout which resulted in an offensive set that got Karl Cochran open for a three pointer that he buried to cut the lead to 17-11.

Again Davidson responded with an 8-2 spurt with Tom Droney and Chris Czerpowicz each scoring four points. The Wildcats were now up 25-13 with nine minutes left in the half. It seemed that the Terriers had no answers to stopping Davidson on offense.

However, Wofford kept in the game in large part due to Collins (number 32 pictured here), who by himself would keep the Terriers in the game. Collins scored ten straight points for Wofford on a variety of shots, a three pointer, a layup and a couple of short jumpers. After being fouled in the act of shooting and missing his first attempt, Collins hit the second free throw to end his ten straight point outburst and cut the Davidson lead to ten 31-21.

Davidson's relentless offense would respond with another mini spurt, outscoring Wofford 7-2 over the last five minutes of the half. The Wildcats would enter halftime up 38-23. It was similar to their first matchup I saw when they played back in December at Belk Arena. Davidson was up big early, 31-10, before Wofford used a 12-0 run to cut the lead to nine at the half, 31-22. The Terriers would cut it to four late but the Wildcats would eventually hold onto win 63-56. I wondered if there would be a similar outcome.

Wofford has a lot of unique promotional events during media timeouts. Three stood out. Early in the first half during the first media timeout, they had a "Cheeseburger in Paradise" promotion where the Wofford cheerleaders toss out wrapped McDonald's cheeseburgers in plastic bags. Guess who got one?

In the second half, they had "Steal a Meal". One fan gets a meal - a drink, burger and fries. But another fan gets to try to steal the meal. If they hit the layup, they get the drink. If they hit the free throw, they get the chips.  And if they bury the three pointer, they get the burger. It was a couple and thankfully for the wife, the husband missed all three attempts. I would love to play that game with my son (are you reading this, Wofford? :-) ).

Finally, at halftime, to celebrate the 75th year of the NCAA Tournament, Wofford is putting on a series of "re-creations" of famous plays from the NCAA Tournament. In this case, they tried to "recreate" the famous Christian Laettner game winning shot vs. Kentucky. One fan played Grant Hill with the inbounds pass at one end of the court. Two girls each got an attempt to play Laettner in catching the pass and turning around and hitting the shot. They were not successful in any of the attempts, which shows how difficult that play was to make.

The start of the second half saw Davidson maintain its double digit lead as Cohen scored six points in the first seven minutes of the half. Wofford kept within striking distance due in large part to Cochran and Collins, who scored all but two of the first fifteen Terriers' points in the first seven and a half minutes of the second half.

But after two straight Czerapowicz baskets put Davidson up by thirteen with ten minutes left, it didn't seem like Wofford would be able to get any closer. Enter the Australian sophomore point guard with the striking name of Indiana Faithfull. Faithfull would have a hand in the Terriers' next three baskets by hitting two three pointers and assisting on a Cochran layup. His second three pointer cut the Wildcats' lead to seven, 54-47 with seven a half minutes left.

A little later, Collins would get the Terriers's closer with a three point play to cut Davidson's lead to six, 59-53 with a little less than five minutes. That's when the fans started making some noise and you could tell the potential of how loud Johnson Arena can be with a full, noisy crowd.

Wofford had two chances to cut the lead even closer. But their two leading scorers, Cochran and Collins each committed a critical turnover. And when Jake Cohen buried a NBA three pointer to put Davidson up 64-53 with 1:10 left, that was the ball game. The Wildcats would eventually win 68-57.

Davidson had a very balanced attack with four scorers in double figures. Cohen led the Wildcats with fifteen points, eight rebounds, three steals and three blocks. Czerapowicz also had fifteen points and six rebounds. De'Mon Brooks and Droney each had thirteen points. Davidson shot forty eight percent from the field and an impressive twenty four of twenty seven from the charity stripe. Davidson is now 15-7 overall and 10-1 in conference.

Collins led all scorers with twenty four points on ten of nineteen from the field. Cochran added fourteen points. And Faithfull, who played all forty minutes of the game, had eight points, nine assists and six rebounds. A truly solid all around performance for the Australian. Wofford is 8-15 overall and now 2-8 in conference.

As I left Wofford walking through the commons area, reveling in the good time I had last evening, I saw the coffee bar was still open. It was tempting, but I figured I would visit that the next time. The next time I am at Wofford, I hope to have my color analyst, aka my seven year old son Matthew with me. The thought of sitting with him in the commons after the game, going over the contest and watching another basketball game sounds really appealing. That is something that should be shared.

Still, I really enjoyed myself last night. Thanks Wofford for a fun experience.