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Frank Howden - 'CATS STATS https://catsstats.timchartier.com The Home of Davidson Sports Analytics. Tue, 14 Mar 2023 18:19:47 +0000 en hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=7.1.3 MBB A10 Tournament Recap: Davidson’s Season Flames Out https://catsstats.timchartier.com/mens-basketball/mbb-a10-tournament-recap-davidsons-season-flames-out/ https://catsstats.timchartier.com/mens-basketball/mbb-a10-tournament-recap-davidsons-season-flames-out/#respond Tue, 14 Mar 2023 18:12:25 +0000 https://catsstats.timchartier.com/?p=1227 The Davidson Wildcats traveled to Brooklyn, New York for the A-10 Tournament in hopes of earning an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament by winning the A-10. Davidson, 15-15 overall and 8-10 in the conference, earned the 8 seed, which allowed them to skip the first round of the tournament consisting of only seeds 10-15. […]

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The Davidson Wildcats traveled to Brooklyn, New York for the A-10 Tournament in hopes of earning an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament by winning the A-10. Davidson, 15-15 overall and 8-10 in the conference, earned the 8 seed, which allowed them to skip the first round of the tournament consisting of only seeds 10-15. Davidson’s first opponent was against the number 9 seed St. Bonaventure Bonnies. The two teams met earlier this season with Davidson winning comfortably, 74-61. The winner would get a date with the number 1 seed, VCU.

Second Round (3/8): St. Bonaventure

Game Summary: The Wildcats and the Bonnies played in a tight contest for the majority of the first half. Davidson shot only 2-11 from three in the half but shot well from within the three-point line, going 8-13. David Skogman scored 5 points including a clutch and-one dunk that sent a message to the Bonnies: the big men for the ‘Cats were here. Foster Loyer hit a deep two to end the half, putting his first half total to nine points and the Wildcats lead 31-26. In the second half, Davidson went out on a 7-0 run to get a comfortable 10-point lead. Desmond Watson heated up in the second half, dropping 11 points and pushing the Bonnies away from Davidson’s lead. Even though Davidson shot cold from three in the second half, going 2-11 once again, they sank all their free throws and forced six turnovers in the second half. The ‘Cats cruised to victory, 65-54.

Player of the Game: Foster Loyer. Loyer generated the most points in the first and facilitated the offense in the second. Loyer poured in 14 points, 8 rebounds, and 6 assists.

Stats of Notes: The difference in this game was the amount of free throws Davidson took compared to the Bonnies. Davidson took 15 free throws and made 13 (86.7%), while the Bonnies took 6 and made 3 (50%). Davidson played well in the paint, which contributed to their overall success inside the arc, shooting 20-38 (52.6%) inside the arc. Davidson dished out 15 assists for the game. Defensively, Davidson forced 12 turnovers, outrebounded the Bonnies 37-34, and only gave 8 fouls. Individually, Desmond Watson showed why he is having a sophomore bloom. Watson stuffed the stat sheet with 17 points (team high), 6 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal, and 1 block. Grant Huffman continues his consistent play with 9 points, 6 rebounds, 5 assists, and 0 turnovers. Sam Mennenga dominated the paint with 12 points and 8 rebounds (4 offensive and 4 defensive).

Quarterfinals (3/9): VCU

Game Summary: Davidson and VCU played each other twice this season and VCU won both contests. VCU would go on a 6-0 run to start the game, but Davidson would respond to tie the game up at 6 a piece with 14 minutes left in the first. From that point, VCU would extend their lead slowly, but Davidson had some solid performances from the freshman big men. Reed Bailey dropped 6 points in the first and Sean Logan had 2 blocks. Davidson shot only four threes and made none, and finished the first half shooting 11-27. VCU took a lead into the half, 37-28. In the second half, VCU defense suffocated Davidson, and the rams built their lead up to 12, 51-39, going into the under 12 timeout. And Davidson could not figure things out after the timeout; a Davidson turnover after the timeout led to a VCU three. And VCU would carry a similar-sized lead, 63-50, going into the final media timeout. Despite Davidson’s efforts to foul and claw back into the game, VCU took care of the ‘Cats 71-53.

The Rams would later go on to defeat Saint Louis 90-78 and Dayton 68-56 to win the conference tournament. With the automatic bid, VCU earned a 12 seed to the NCAA Tournament and will play the 5 seed Saint Mary’s on Friday. VCU would be the conference’s only bid. The last time the conference recieved only one bid to the NCAA Tournament was 2005.

Player of the Game: Grant Huffman. Huffman scored 10 points, earned another 5-assist game on the season, and grabbed 3 rebounds.

Stats of Note: Davidson outrebounded VCU 33-29 and had 10 offensive rebounds against the Rams. Davidson had another 10-plus assists game, 13 overall. Davidson had 5 players that scored 8-plus points, David Skogman (10), Grant Huffman (10), Sam Mennenga (9), Reed Bailey (9), and Foster Loyer (8). Sean Logan had a 2-block game for the second time this season.

Season Wrap Up

The A-10 tournament went much like this season for the Cats. They go 1-1 in Brooklyn and finish the season the season 16-16. The ‘Cats finished the season winning 5 out of 7. 5th-year senior point guard Foster Loyer finished with 974 points in his two years at Davidson and Davidson’s all-time free-throw percentage of 92.8% (246-265). His 92.3% career free-throw percentage (includes time at Michigan State) will slide him into third all-time in the NCAA per Sports Reference. It was a year of growth for the Wildcats, as both Desmond Watson and Grant Huffman took big leaps from last year in their minutes and points production. Matt McKillop’s first season as the Wildcats head coach was an up and down one, but there’s a lot of good things to look forward to for next season.

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MBB Recap: ‘Cats Close Out the Season, Look Toward A-10 Tournament https://catsstats.timchartier.com/mens-basketball/mbb-recap-cats-close-out-the-season-look-toward-a-10-tournament/ https://catsstats.timchartier.com/mens-basketball/mbb-recap-cats-close-out-the-season-look-toward-a-10-tournament/#respond Tue, 14 Mar 2023 16:59:04 +0000 https://catsstats.timchartier.com/?p=1222 This article was originally published 3/8/23. The Davidson Wildcats entered last week 14-14 overall, 7-9 in the conference, and on a three-game winning streak. The first game last week was against George Washington, who was 15-14 overall and 9-7 in the conference. This game was pivotal for A-10 Tournament seeding. It was also Senior Night; […]

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This article was originally published 3/8/23.

The Davidson Wildcats entered last week 14-14 overall, 7-9 in the conference, and on a three-game winning streak. The first game last week was against George Washington, who was 15-14 overall and 9-7 in the conference. This game was pivotal for A-10 Tournament seeding. It was also Senior Night; Davidson honored student manager Jordan Krouse and starting point guard Foster Loyer.

George Washington 3/1/23

Davidson took an eight-point lead early in the first half thanks to Sam Mennenga’s strong shooting start. Mennenga went 4-4 from the floor, 2-2 from three, and 2-2 from the free-throw line to have 12 points in the first 8 minutes. Davidson would cling on to a multi-possession lead for most of the half as Davidson would hold George Washington to zero threes in the first half. Davidson concluded the first half with a six-point lead, 32-26. The game would then start to find some momentum as there were 24 points scored by the under 16-minute timeout in the second. This would lean toward George Washington’s favor, as the track-meet-like style forced Davidson into rushed shots. They missed their first 7 threes in the half. George Washington took a 5-point advantage (57-52) with 8 minutes left in the game, but Davidson would come back, tying the game up with 60 apiece with 4 minutes left. That’s when James Bishop, the A-10’s leading scorer, took over the game, scoring 11 of George Washington’s last 15 points, which was enough to outlast the Wildcats. Davidson fell 75-70 on Senior Night.

Player of the Game: Sam Mennenga. It may have been Senior Night, but it was Mennenga’s game from the start. Mennenga dropped 23 points, 7-11 FG, 3-6 3FG, 6-6 FT, 8 rebounds, and 4 assists.

Stats of Note: Davidson forced George Washington to 5-18 shooting from the three-point line and they had 9 offensive rebounds. Davidson continues to share the ball, dishing out 15 assists. Davidson also went 10-10 from the free-throw line, which is very comforting this time of year. Foster Loyer poured in 16 points along with 4 rebounds and 4 assists. Grant Huffman continued his excellent play with 13 points, 5 rebounds, and a team-high 5 assists.

Rhode Island Rams 3/4/23

As the last regular season game for the A-10 conference, this game was critical for seeding in the tournament for many teams, Davidson included. Their 7-10 record placed them 9th in the A-10, but St. Bonaventure, who fell to 8-10 after their loss to UMass, opened the opportunity for Davidson to be 8th seed in the conference tournament. Davidson and Rhode Island started off sluggish as Davidson was shooting 4-16 at the 7:32 mark of the game (score was 11-9 Davidson). Even though Davidson didn’t shoot it well, they defended well, denying the Rams a single point from the 15:16 mark to the 5:39 mark. This was vital for Davidson, who shot 7-28 in the first half but led 20-18 at halftime. Rhode Island would tie the game at 20, but Grant Huffman went on a 9-0 run to make it a 29-20 ball game. The lead was 7 at the 7:00 mark (45-38 Davidson), but then Rhode Island started to foul. Davidson shot 16 free throws in the last 7 minutes of the game, of which they made 14. Davidson ran the clock out against Rhode Island and won, 68-54.

Player of the Game: Foster Loyer. Loyer dropped 33 points (1 point shy of half of Davidson’s points), on 10-22 shooting, 5-13 three-point shooting, 5 rebounds, 3 assists, and 2 steals. He was perfect from the line, going 8-8. His 33 point game was his fourth 30-point game this season.

Stats of Note: Davidson shot the ball well in the second half, going 13-24 and 4-9 from three. Free throws are huge in March, and going 15-17 from the charity stripe is a great sign. Davidson dished out 12 assists and forced 7 steals. Defensively, Davidson showed up, forcing 20 turnovers, 7 steals, and making the Rams go 5-17 from three. Grant Huffman continues his steady play, shooting 6-8 for a 14-point outing, grabbing 3 rebounds, and recording 4 assists.

Look Ahead

Davidson earned the 8 seed in the conference tournament after going 8-10 in the conference and 15-15 overall. Davidson, however, has won four of their last five games. They also took close losses to each of the top-four teams in the conference, showing they can hang around with anyone. (And they beat third-place Fordham back in December). Davidson’s first postseason opponent will be St. Bonaventure on Wednesday.

Last time out against St. Bonaventure, Davidson handled the Bonnies 74-61 in Belk Arena on February 23. It was arguably Davidson’s best performance of the season. Davidson opened that game on a 7-0 run. And they just kept going, extending their lead to 21 points by the end of the half, 43-22. In the second half, Davidson never let the lead get under 12 points, and at the 9:45 mark, both Foster Loyer and Sam Mennenga had more points than the Bonnies (37-36)! Foster Loyer led the team in that game with 27 points, going 7-12 from the floor and 4-6 from deep. And Sam Mennenga finished with 24. Davidson outrebounded St. Bonaventure 39-28, with Davidson Skogman having a team-leading 8 boards.

Davidson will look for similar success against the Bonnies in the A10 Tournament. St. Bonaventure, the 9 seed, enters with the same conference record (8-10) and a 14-17 overall record. The winner gets a date with the 1 seed VCU, which Davidson lost to twice this year, 89-72 at VCU and 61-59 at home. If Davidson were to win on Wednesday and Thursday, they would get a Friday break for practice and media, and then play on Saturday and Sunday if they win out. Excluding St. Bonaventure, there are no foes that Davidson hasn’t played less than twice if chalk were to win out (VCU, Saint Louis, and Dayton) in the A-10 tournament which means that Davidson will know their opponents well. Davidson is playing their best basketball and is set up to make some noise in Brooklyn, NY for Matt McKillops first postseason.

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Davidson MBB Weekly Recap: ‘Cats Start February Off Right https://catsstats.timchartier.com/mens-basketball/davidson-mbb-weekly-recap-cats-start-february-off-right/ https://catsstats.timchartier.com/mens-basketball/davidson-mbb-weekly-recap-cats-start-february-off-right/#respond Fri, 10 Feb 2023 12:08:29 +0000 https://catsstats.timchartier.com/?p=1216 VCU 1/31 The Virginia Commonwealth University Rams came into the game with one loss in the conference and tied for first in the A-10 with Saint Louis. Meanwhile, the Davidson Wildcats were 13th in the A-10 and were desperate for a conference win, especially against a team at the top of the standings. Davidson, only […]

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VCU 1/31

The Virginia Commonwealth University Rams came into the game with one loss in the conference and tied for first in the A-10 with Saint Louis. Meanwhile, the Davidson Wildcats were 13th in the A-10 and were desperate for a conference win, especially against a team at the top of the standings. Davidson, only sitting one game back from 7th and two from 4th, opened the game strong with a 14-7 lead at the under 12 minute mark in the first. Davidson continued to lead VCU from then on, and whenever VCU made a charge for the lead, Davidson would respond with well-designed threes and layups. With 2:37 left in the first, VCU came back from a 34-25 deficient, and with a clutch end of the half shot from Adrian Baldwin Jr., the ‘Cats entered halftime up by 2, 34-32. At the end of the first half, Davidson was shooting 71.4% (5-7) from downtown and 61.9% overall (13-21). The second half was a tight one, as neither team had a bigger lead than 4. This game became even juicier, as Davidson’s Men’s Swim and Dive team showed their support for their Wildcats at the 7:00 minute mark of the second half [link to video]. It was back and forth as there were 12 lead changes in the second half. Desmond Watson would go 1-2 from the free-throw line to tie the game at 58 with 2:15 left. But it would be Baldwin Jr. again, sinking a mid-range fader with 15 seconds left to make the game 60-58 Rams. Davidson went down the floor, and a foul was called with 8 seconds left for Watson. Watson made the first free throw (60-59) but missed the second. VCU grabbed the rebound and sank one of two free throws down at the other end to give VCU a 61-59 victory.

Player of the Game: David Skogman. The big man came off the bench and played 24 minutes for the Wildcats. He had 11 points on 5-9 shooting, 4 rebounds, and a block. His presence inside was massive for the Wildcats defensively.

Stats of Note: Foster Loyer did not play due to a illness, so Grant Huffman and Achile Spadone were tasked with carrying the rock for the Wildcats. Loyer’s absence was covered well by the two, as Achile Spadone played a career-high 29 minutes and went 2-2 from downtown. Grant Huffman played all but 2 minutes for the ‘Cats and had 9 points. Davidson held VCU to zero threes on the night, making VCU go 0-9 in the game. This is a notable difference from when Davidson faced VCU earlier in the month; in that contest VCU shot 15-24 from beyond the arc. Watson made 7-10 free throws and scored a team-high 12 points.

@ UMass 2/4

With Foster Loyer now back from illness, the Wildcats looked to make any ground on the A-10 against the Minutemen. The ‘Cats came out strong again, putting up 19 points by the under 12 minute mark in the first. Foster Loyer made an immediate return, scoring 13 points in the first. Davidson would make it a 10 point game with 9:59 to go (27-17), but UMass would claw its way back, mostly by the heroic effort of Matt Cross, and make it a 38-35 Wildcat lead at the half. The Wildcats made 7-14 from three-point land, and of those 7, 3 of them were made by Conner Kochera. Both teams shot 15-31 from the floor in the first, but the main difference was the amount of threes made by the Wildcats. In the second half, it was on offensive showing from the ‘Cats. At the 12:23 mark in the second, Davidson went on a 13-4 run to extend their lead to 15 (69-54) with 10:02 left in the second. UMass played well in the second, but Connor Kochera went nuclear for Davidson, especially from behind the arc. He made his first 4 threes in the second half (called bank on one of them), and finished with 18 points in the half and a season-high 29 points in the game. Davidson scored 55 points in the second half, shot 64.3% from the field (18-28), and went 7-12 from behind the arc (58.3%). The Wildcats won 93-78.

Player of the Game: Conner Kochera. Having a season-high 29 points and responding to Matt Cross’ 28 points was the main difference in this one. He also added 3 rebounds and 4 assists.

Stats of Note: There’s a lot to like in this game, especially in each half. In the first half, Davidson outrebound UMass 19-11, but the key stat is the ‘Cats crashed the offensive glass, creating 6 offensive rebounds to the Minutemen’s 2, despite UMass leading the A-10 in offensive rebounds per game. Davidson shared the ball today extremely well, having 10 assists on 15 shots in the first. As a team this year, Davidson only averages north of 13 assists a game. In the second half, Davidson played their best half all year. They had 14 assists, 6 players scored, only had 3 turnovers, and shot their best field goal percentage in a half all year. Grant Huffman played his best game as a point guard, dishing out 10 assists to 1 turnover and put in 9 points. At the conclusion of the game, 4 Wildcat players scored in double figures: Kochera (29), Loyer (19), Skogman (15), and Mennenga (14). It was a team effort for the Wildcats in this one.

Look Ahead

Davidson split the week 1-1 and are 11-12. Now, Davidson gets a well-deserved rest, with their next matchup being a week from UMass against Fordham at home on February 11. The Wildcat’s locked up Fordham in their first A-10 game, and look to do the same on Bob McKillop’s retirement day at 2:30 PM Eastern time. Looking further, in Davidson’s next 7 games, only 1 team has an above .500 record in conference play, and after their performance at UMass, the ‘Cats could make February their best month of the season.

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Davidson MBB Midseason Recap https://catsstats.timchartier.com/mens-basketball/davidson-mbb-midseason-recap/ https://catsstats.timchartier.com/mens-basketball/davidson-mbb-midseason-recap/#respond Tue, 31 Jan 2023 15:41:05 +0000 https://catsstats.timchartier.com/?p=1211 The Davidson men’s basketball team is exactly halfway through their Atlantic 10 conference schedule. Let’s look at how they’ve faired against conference opponents so far. @ Fordham 12/28 The ‘Cats began their A-10 campaign at Fordham, who at the time was 12-1 and riding an 11-game win streak, both best in the A-10. That didn’t […]

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The Davidson men’s basketball team is exactly halfway through their Atlantic 10 conference schedule. Let’s look at how they’ve faired against conference opponents so far.

@ Fordham 12/28

The ‘Cats began their A-10 campaign at Fordham, who at the time was 12-1 and riding an 11-game win streak, both best in the A-10. That didn’t matter to the ‘Cats, who stormed out to a 15-5 lead in the first 10 minutes of the game and continued to hold to and extend that lead for the majority of the game. Fordham tried to make a comeback with 7 minutes left but it was the free throw shooting of Foster Loyer (2-2) and Desmond Watson (4-6) who went a combined 6-7 from the line in the final 7 minutes and Davidson’s stout defense who held the Rams to just 8 points in the final 6 minutes of the game that won it for the Wildcats. The final score was 57-43 Davidson.

Player of the game: Desmond Watson, who led the team with 15 points and 11 rebounds in a double-double effort off the bench.

Stats of Note: The Wildcats stifled the Rams on defense, giving the Rams their worst 3-point percentage of the season at 9.7% and just 25.4% shooting (16-63 FG) on the night. Davidson outrebounded Fordham by 19, 50 to 31 respectively. The ‘Cats made 18 free throws compared to 8 by the Rams. The ‘Cats had 3 players in double figures, Watson with 15, Reed Bailey with 15, and Sam Mennenga with 13. Both Watson and Mennenga had 11 rebounds and a double-double.

vs. Dayton 12/31

After beating Fordham, the Wildcats took on the favorites to win the A-10, the Dayton Flyers. Dayton took the lead from the start, but the Wildcats have a knack for making it interesting and closed a 14-point lead to tie the game with 10:42 left in the second. It was from there that the Flyers flexed their muscles and regained the lead; they didn’t look back and the Wildcats fell 69-55 against the Flyers at home.

Player of the game: Desmond Watson. Watson had 11 points and 5 rebounds for the ‘Cats coming off the bench.

Stats of Note: The Wildcats only had 3 turnovers and forced 7 turnovers. Grant Huffman had a 4-7 shooting day that yielded 9 points. Sam Mennenga was 5-9 shooting with 11 points. Reed Bailey led the team in rebounds with 7.

vs. Loyola Chicago 1/4

Davidson welcomed the newest member of the A-10 at home in their third A-10 conference game in the best way possible; an 80-57 win against the Ramblers. The Wildcats shot a season high 29-51 (56.9%) from the field and 19-22 (86.7%) from the charity stripe. The Wildcats had 4 players in double figures with Sam Mennenga leading the team with 22 points. It was an offensive showing for the ‘Cats, particularly when it was inside the three-point arc, shooting 65%. Final score: 80-57 Davidson.

Player of the Game: Foster Loyer. Loyer put in 21 points on 8-13 shooting. He also added 6 rebounds and 4 assists to the stat sheet.

Stats of Note: Davidson shot a season-best 56.9% from the field, shooting 29 of 51. The Wildcats outrebounded Loyola Chicago 28-25 and had more assists (12-9) than the Ramblers. The ‘Cats forced 21 turnovers and committed 3 less fouls in the game. The big men feasted on the Ramblers, as Sam Mennenga had 22 points (8-11 FG) and David Skogman had 16 (5-7 FG) and combined for 10 rebounds. Davidson held Loyola to just 27.5% shooting from three. All 14 men on Davidson’s active roster played in this one for the ‘Cats.

@ VCU 1/7

Of the first 4 conference games for the Wildcats, Davidson would have to play 2 of the top 4 favorites to win the A-10. On the road against VCU, Davidson took off on a 10-0 run to start the game. Unfortunately, that was the biggest lead they had, and the Rams got hot from three, shooting 62.5% for the game. Davidson did have a season-high 9 steals and Reed Bailey had 6 offensive rebounds, but the Wildcats just caught the wrong team on a good shooting day. Final score: 89-72 VCU.

Player of the Game: Sam Mennenga. Mennenga led the team with 20 points in just 25 minutes of playing time and had 3 rebounds.

Stats of Note: Davidson shot a season second best 54.7% from the field converting 29 of 53 field goals. The ‘Cats got to the line 15 times and made 12 of them. Achile Spadone made his third appearance for the ‘Cats in conference play and and shot 1-1 from the field in 3 minutes of playing time. The Wildcats had 3 scorers above 15 points: Mennenga with 20, Watson with 19, and Huffman with 16. Reed Bailey had 9 rebounds to lead the game.

vs. Richmond 1/11

It was a rematch from the A-10 Championship last year, and the Wildcats sought revenge for their upset loss in March of 2022. The Wildcats began the game on a 6-0 run, but Richmond retook the lead quickly and held on the rest of the way. The Spiders extended their lead out to 15 points, and while the comeback ‘Cats came to within 2 points with 25 seconds left, it was to little to late for the Wildcats as Tyler Burton made 2 free throws with 12 seconds left to extend the lead to 2 possessions. Final score: 61-57 Richmond.

Player of the Game: Desmond Watson. Watson had a team high 13 points and was second in rebounding with 9 rebounds only to Sam Mennenga’s career high rebound performance of 16 for the Wildcats.

Stats of Note: Davidson shot 71.4% from the line on 10-14 shooting. The Wildcats forced 13 turnovers, while only committing 9. Davidson held the Spiders to just 33.3% shooting and held A-10 Player of the Year candidate Tyler Burton to 4-11 shooting, including 0-6 from downtown. Foster Loyer had 4 assists for the Wildcats.

@ George Mason 1/14

Now 2-3 in conference play, the Wildcats were searching for a win against the Patriots to get back to .500 in conference play. The ‘Cats once again started off fast, with a 14-2 run in the first 5 and a half minutes. The ‘Cats would hold onto a lead at half, but with 11:13 left in the game, the Patriots took their first lead and showed the Wildcats they weren’t going away. It was back and forth until the 5:44 left in the game where Davidson would not score until the 2:36 left in the game allowing the Patriots to build a 6-point lead. Once again, though, the comeback ‘Cats tied it and took the lead with 25 seconds left thanks to Foster Loyer’s two free throws, but it was the Josh Oduro of the Patriots who took a foul from David Skogman and sank two free throws to regain the lead. Davidson wouldn’t score despite a last second three-ball from Loyer, and Josh Oduro made one more free throw at the end to give the Patriots a 67-65 win.

Player of the Game: Grant Huffman. Huffman led the team in points, rebounds, and assists, 16, 7, 6, respectively.

Stats of Note: Davidson had 4 players score in double figures: Foster Loyer (16), Grant Huffman (16), Desmond Watson (13), and Sam Mennenga (13). The Wildcats were 10-11 from the line and were only one short of the Patriots in made free throws even though the Patriots shot 6 more than the ‘Cats. Davidson had 12 assists on the game. David Skogman played a season high 33 minutes in regulation.

@ Dayton 1/17

The Wildcats sought revenge against the Flyers in a sell out crowd in Dayton, Ohio. The Wildcats took on the Flyers head on in the first half, striking back every time Dayton seemed to threaten their lead. The ‘Cats took a 32-29 lead at half, but that lead vanished with a 15-2 run by the Flyers. As we have seen throughout this season, the Wildcats ALWAYS make it interesting, and with 4:51 left, David Skogman sank two free throws to make it a 4-point game at 56-52. However, Dayton responded with a three (to make it 59-52) and held onto their lead as time expired. The Wildcats fell 68-61.

Player of the Game: Sam Mennenga. There are many positives this year for the Wildcats and one is the emergence of Sam Mennenga on the glass. He had a team-high 13 rebounds, 8 of them offensive rebounds. He put in 15 points off 7-14 shooting.

Stats of Note: Davidson outrebounded Dayton by 5 with a 34-29 rebounding edge. They had one less turnover than the Flyers. Another positive for the ‘Cats is the emergence of scoring from Desmond Watson. Desmond Watson had a team high 19 points off 8-14 shooting. Connor Kochera was 3-5 from the field pouring in 7 points in just 13 minutes. Unfortunately for the ‘Cats, they just met up with a Flyers team that shot 54% from the field.

@ La Salle 1/24

With the ‘Cats now sitting at 2-5 in the conference, a win was in need for the ‘Cats. Their opponent, the Explorers, were also looking for a win coming in with a 3-game losing streak. It was a close first half with La Salle having their biggest lead by 8, but it was Sam Mennenga who kept the Wildcats in the game with 20 first half points. Foster Loyer drilling a three assisted by Grant Huffman with 4 seconds remaining in the first half cut the Explorers lead to just one going into the half; the halftime score was 33-32. Davidson retook the lead with 13:51 left in the second half. La Salle was within 4 in the final minute, but it was the free throw shooting from Grant Huffman (2-2), Desmond Watson (2-2), and Sam (1-1) Mennenga in the final 33 seconds of the game that closed the door against the Explorer’s for a Davidson win, 64-57.

Player of the Game: Sam Mennenga. No shocker on this one; Mennenga had a career high 27 points on 10-16 shooting, 3-4 from deep. He also had 11 rebounds to complete his double-double night.

Stats of Note: The ‘Cats shot 41.8% (23-55) compared to Explorers 33.9% (19-56). Davidson shot 40.9% (9-22) from deep and were 75% (9-12) from the line. They had 7 more assists than La Salle and 5 blocks in the game. Foster Loyer poured in 12 points all from three and David Skogman had 11 off the bench going 5-6 from the field.

vs. Saint Louis 1/27

The Billikens were searching for their first win in Belk arena in front of a packed crowd. With the game being televised on ESPN 2, it was off to a fast start with 22 combined points from both teams in the first 4 minutes. The Billikens could not miss for the first 7 minutes of the game, but Davidson was holding strong, shooting 50% from 3-point land. Grant Huffman had a breakaway dunk, but he was called for a technical foul for pulling up on the rim, a call the team and the fans were not happy about. The Billikens cooled off a little and the game settled into a back and forth with a 38-34 Wildcat lead at half. For the first 10 minutes of the second half, it was a tight one, but Saint Louis ever so slowly built a 6-point lead. The Wildcats, as we know, made it interesting, as they cut the lead to three and held it there from the 3:35 mark (67-70) in the second all the way until the 1:13 mark, where they cut it to 2 (70-68) after a Sam Mennenga free throw. However, a wild sequence that turned into a two-point layup for the Billikens (72-68) cemented their lead and with free throws by Yuri Collins at the end, the Wildcats fell 74-70.

Player of the Game: Sam Mennenga. Mennenga continues to help the Wildcats stay in games. He led the team in points, 16, and was second in rebounding, 7. He drew 8 fouls and only committed one.

Stats of Note: David Skogman had 10 rebounds, 5 offensive and 5 defensive. Grant Huffman was 6-14 from the field and 1 of two from the charity stripe. The Wildcats were able to have a lead in the first half only shooting 41% (12-29) compared to Billikens 54% (13-24) from the field. They outscored Saint Louis in the paint 34-32 and had 14 second-chance points.

Look Ahead

The Wildcats, now 10-11 and sitting 13th in the A-10 at 3-6, are not in the best spot. However, if you look at their schedule, they’ve played the top 4 teams in the A-10 in 5 of their 9 games. They’re only sitting 1 game behind 7th and 2 behind 5th. The ‘Cats welcome VCU to Belk on Tuesday Jan 31st at 7 PM in what is a blackout night for Belk Arena. As discussed above, the Wildcats fell to VCU, who shot lights out from deep, earlier this season, so it should be a closer matchup at home. They will then have a travel to UMass on February 4. These are pivotal games for the Wildcats as both teams are ahead of Davidson in the A-10. If Davidson converts on more shots, they’ll be able to gain some ground. It’s all learning lessons from here until March.

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