Unlike Creighton’s first round CBI opponent, San Jose State, Davidson has plenty of postseason experience — and recent, at that. The Wildcats have played in the postseason six of the previous seven years, with NCAA tourney berths in 2006, 2007 and 2008, sandwiched between NIT berths in 2005 and 2009. And as you may recall, they advanced to the regional finals in 2008 when their sensational shooting guard, Stephen Curry, led them to the cusp of the Final Four.
The architect of that string of success has been head coach Bob McKillop, now in his 22nd season on the Wildcat bench. He’s racked up 401 wins in those 22 seasons, with five Southern Conference Tournament championships, five NCAA Tournament berths and four NITs. Three times he’s guided them to a perfect 20-0 record in the league, and they won a remarkable 43 straight conference games between 2007 and 2009.
They missed the postseason last year after posting a 16-15 record, and began this season rather unceremoniously, going 7-5 through a tough non-conference slate that included losses to St. John’s (62-57), West Virginia (84-70), Rhode Island (71-58), College of Charleston (82-73) and Vanderbilt (80-52). Among their victories, however, were nice wins over Nebraska (70-57), Western Kentucky (64-51) and Charlotte (82-68). 10 of their first 13 games were on the road as they took on anyone that would play them, anywhere they’d agree to play.
The Wildcats are one of the youngest teams in America, with just 11 years of D1 experience COMBINED among the players in their regular rotation — the roster has 10 underclassmen, four sophomores and six freshmen. Only 25 teams out of 347 in D1 have less experience.
Their youth showed in posting a 3-7 record in January, leaving them at 10-12 heading into the final month of the regular season. But their young players suddenly began playing beyond their years, and after a 7-1 record in February, Davidson found themselves in fourth place and with 10 or more conference wins for the tenth consecutive season. That sort of finish is nothing new for them; since 2003, they’re 50-10 in February…and 21-10 in March.
Eight of the top nine scorers are freshmen or sophomores, with the former logging 48% of the team’s minutes and the latter grabbing 27%. Given the level of talent and their strong finish to the season, the future looks pretty bright for the Wildcats. What about tonight, in Omaha, against the Jays?
They’re coming off an 85-65 pasting of James Madison in the first round of the CBI, a game in which Jake Cohen turned in a tour de force: 17 points, seven rebounds, five blocked shots, four assists and three steals. The 6’10”, 220 pound sophomore averages 12 pounds, 6.3 boards and has 48 blocks on the season, so those sort of numbers aren’t surprising; he’s a skilled big man whose only knock is that he’s on the skinny side — something Gregory Echenique needs to exploit.
The Wildcats are as balanced a team as any the Jays have faced this year, a trait reminiscent of Wichita State. Seven players have led them in scoring in a game this year, and no player averages more than 10 shot attempts a game. They’ve had four players score 20 or more points in a game this year, and perhaps tellingly, are 7-2 when four or more players score in double figures.
Because of that balance, its tough to zero in on one or two key guys to keep an eye on, but one of them seems to be JP Kuhlman, the sophomore guard who averages 12.7 points, 3.0 assists and 1.1 steals per game. He also leads the squad with 112 free throws made (making 83%), and is second with 47 three-point baskets (34.3%).
Another is Brendan McKillop, the son of head coach Bob McKillop, who averages 9.5 points a game and leads the team with 82 three pointers. He lives behind the arc — no, literally, he LIVES behind the arc — attempting a staggering 230 three-pointers so far this season, and just 25 shots from everywhere else.
By way of comparison, Antoine Young has attempted the most three-pointers for Creighton this year…with 115, exactly half of McKillop’s number. 230 attempts is a ton, but don’t take my word for it. Here’s some context:
Even Booker Woodfox’s epic 2008-09 campaign only saw him attempt 191, making 91 for 47.6%. Kyle Korver attempted 269 of them in 2002-03, connecting on 129 of them for 48%. Those are the only two Jays in the neighborhood during the previous 15 seasons. So that’s the level we’re talking here — McKillop shoots “only” 35.7% from behind the arc, but in terms of sheer number of attempts, he’s in Woodfox/Korver territory.
As you’d expect with shooting numbers like that, the Wildcats prefer a higher tempo game than the Jays do — they average four more points a night, and give up four more points a night as well. Limiting open looks on the perimeter, preventing center Jake Cohen from having an all-world game like he did in the first round, and slowing the pace down seem to be the keys for the Jays to win. These Wildcats will be a handful the next two years as all their young players continue to mature and improve, and given their play of late, they’ll be a handful Monday night as well.
About the Wildcats: Davidson averages 71.9 points per game while allowing 67.6 per contest, outrebounds teams by 4.5 boards per contest and averages 7.8 three-point makes per game … The Wildcats won at least one game against every SoCon opponent they played twice … The Wildcats are 5-9 on the road this season and 8-11 away from home … The Davidson bench has outscored its opponent by an average of 6.3 points a game … Davidson has won three of the last five South Division regular-season titles and seven in the last 10 seasons … The ‘Cats are 69-17 in their last 86 regular-season Southern Conference games, dating back to January of 2007, and are 86-21 against SoCon competition during that time frame.
One Big Paragraph with Lots O’Dots™: Monday will be Creighton’s seventh consecutive game against a team that reached the postseason. The Jays are 3-3 in the first six games of that run … Creighton has never lost when playing on HDNet, though it hasn’t played on the network since 2002. The Jays defeated IUPUI 99-52 on Nov. 25, 2002, then beat Notre Dame 80-75 the following night. Both of those games took place in Kansas City as part of the Guardians Classic, which was also run by the Gazelle Group — the organizers of the CBI … Last Tuesday’s win was the 300th in Greg McDermott’s career, and his first-ever postseason win after going 0-1 in three NCAA Tournaments at Northern Iowa … Creighton has made at least one three-pointer in 569 straight games, while Davidson has done so in 538 in a row … In the four-year history of the CBI, home teams are a combined 39-19 overall, but after the first round, home teams are a dominant 20-6 … Creighton’s 20-14 mark so far this year is tied for the most wins by any first-year coach in school history, as Tom Apke went 20-7 in 1974-75 … McDermott’s 20 wins are more than the combined number of first-year wins by his two predecessors, Dana Altman (7 in 1994-95) and Rick Johnson (9 in 1991-92).
The Series / The Last Time They Played: Creighton and Davidson have never met, and head coaches Greg McDermott and Bob McKillop have never coached against one another.
Gratuitous Linkage: I get a lot of links passed to me through Twitter and other mediums. Some of them are so immediately recognizable as being awesome that they cannot be clicked fast enough. Like this one: Sammy Hagar Claims He Was Abducted by Aliens. Sounds like he should be a guest on “World of the Psychic with Peter Venkman” to me…its certainly better than the scheduled topic for next weeks show, hairless pets.
Out of Context Simpsons quote: “You love Shake n’ Bake. You used to put it in your coffee.” -Marge Simpson
This Date in Creighton Hoops History: In the only men’s basketball game ever played on March 21, the Jays were throttled by Florida, 82-54, in the 2008 NIT. The Bluejays fell behind 11-2 to start the game, then went on a run to draw within 15-12. The Gators responded with a 14-0 barrage on the Jays, including a alley-oop dunk by Marreese Speights, and never looked back.
Completely Random, Totally Rad Music Video of the Day: Why mess with a good thing? I played Billy Idol last week and the Jays won. So lets play another Billy Idol video today!
The Bottom Line: Davidson will be back in the NCAA Tournament before long, and will be a tough out. They’ll be very tough tonight, as well. Home court makes the difference, as the Jays find a way to eke out a close game.
Creighton 71, Davidson 68
