Today we're doing something a little different at the Blog. The Avery Journal-Times will be at Appalachian State University's Holmes Center for tonight's men's basketball game between the Davidson College Wildcats (11-3, 4-0 SoCon) and the ASU Mountaineers (6-6, 3-1 SoCon).Jamie will be courtside with blog updates throughout the game, while Matt will be snapping shots that we'll be adding to the site during the game.
We'll have postgame interview quotes from coaches and players immediately after the game, and perhaps Matt and I may throw in an opinion or two along the way.
It will be a packed house tonight at the Black Hole as the ASU Mountaineers host Davidson College and National Player of the Year candidate Stephen Curry. The Wildcats have won 7 of the previous 8 meetings in the series, and Appalachian is the last Southern Conference team to upend Davidson, winning 81-74 at Davidson two seasons ago. That loss was the last time that the Wildcats lost to a SoCon opponent, a 34-game win streak. Tipoff is slated for 7:30 p.m.
When Last They Met:
Davidson College used a 10-0 second half run to bust open a five-point game en route to a 68-55 victory over Appalachian State University men’s basketball in the Feb. 27 battle between Southern Conference division leaders. Appalachian was paced by Donte Minter’s 19 points and eight rebounds while Jason Richards had a season-high 24 points for the Wildcats.
The Mountaineers shot 50 percent from the field, becoming just the fourth team this season to do so against Davidson, but were paralyzed offensively by 19 turnovers that Davidson converted into 21 points. The Cats also had 10 more offensive opportunities than the Apps, holding a 16-6 advantage on the offensive glass and took 26 more shots than ASU, converting on 39.7 percent of them for their 18th-consecutive victory.
Game Breakdown:
It's tempting to rename tonight's game "The Stephen Curry Show", but don't be so fast to dismiss the Wildcats as a one-trick pony. Davidson is a team with talented players at several positions, as witnessed in their last game on Saturday.
Stephen Curry collected 32 points, six rebounds, five assists and five steals to lead Davidson to an 84-69 SoCon victory over The Citadel before a crowd of 5,336 Saturday night at McAlister Field House. Andrew Lovedale added 10 points and five rebounds, and theWildcat bench outscored The Citadel’s bench 21-5.Will Archambault led the way with 11 points and five rebounds.
Max Paulhus Gosselin contributed eight points and five rebounds for Davidson, and Steve Rossiter scored seven points. Davidson started the second half with a 16-4 run to turn an eight-point lead into a 59-39 advantage.Curry had eight points during the run, and Lovedale added six. The Bulldogs whittled the margin down to 14 on two occasions but could get no closer.
Davidson’s Stephen Curry leads the nation in scoring with 29.4 points per game after leading the team with 32 points on Saturday in an 84-69 win at The Citadel. While Curry roams the perimeter with 6.8 assists and 4 rebounds per game, Andrew Lovedale nearly averages a double-double in the post with 12.7 points and 9.1 rebounds per contest. Lovedale leads the team with 1.1 blocks per game after swatting three on Saturday.
Junior guard Will Archambault averages 9.6 points off the bench for the Wildcats and is a 42% shooter from three-point range. Redshirt junior forward Steve Rossiter averages six points and six rebounds per contest, while junior guard Bryant Barr averages around eight points per game.
For ASU to pull off the home victory tonight, Isaac Butts will need to have a great game in the post. He averages nearly a double-double for the Mountaineers, but has only amassed just under seven points and four rebounds in the past three games.Ryann Abraham set a new career high with 21 points in the loss to UNCG on Saturday, but the Mountaineers made just 3-of-9 field goals in the extra period as the team was dealt its first oCon loss of the season.
Kellen Brand averages 12.7 points per game to lead the Apps, while Isaac Butts is the top rebounder with an average of 9.2 per game, tied for the second most in the league.
The biggest key of course to defeating Davidson is containing Stephen Curry. He scored 38 points for a Holmes Center record two years ago at ASU, but if the Mountaineers will make him work for his points while limiting his supporting cast, the Black and Gold have a shot at snapping the Wildcats' conference win streak.
We'll be blogging LIVE updates tonight as the Mountaineers host the Wildcats in Boone.
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7:00 PM - We're LIVE from Holmes Convocation Center where the Mountaineer women just defeated the UNCG Lady Spartans 73-68. The night cap of tonight's twin bill between Davidson & ASU will tip off around a half hour from now.7:20 PM - Both teams have cleared the floor after warmups. We're waiting for the teams to take the floor to get this one underway. On a side note, it's great to see the Holmes Center close to capacity. It would be awesome it if were like this more often.
7:30 PM - Time to tip this one off!!!
7:45 PM - first media tineout at 15:47. Davidson leads it 8-4 early. Stephen Curry has a three-pointer but has missed a couple of open opportunities. Max Paulhus Gosselin also has a '3'. Kellen Brand has all four points for ASU thus far.
7:49 PM - Davidson still leads 9-4, but the Mountaineers drew a second foul on Stephen Curry prior to the media timeout. 11:58 remaining in the half.
7:52 PM - Coach Houston Fancher takes a 30 second timeout with 11:15 to go. Andrew Lovedale just hit an inside jumper to give the Wildcats an 11-4 lead. ASU is struggling from the field thus far, shooting 1 for 12 to start the game. Mountaineers have got to start heating up to stay in this one.
7:55 PM - ASU has to take another 30 second timeout after a pair of threes by Gosselin and a three from Brendan McKillop. Davidson has built its lead to 19-7 at the 8:42 mark of the first half. The Mountaineers have intentionally tried to slow the game down with no luck to this point.
8:00 PM - Under 8 minute media timeout, and Davidson leads 19-9. Curry has been on the bench since the 12 minute mark and the Wildcats have added to its lead. ASU is struggling mightily to score and needs to find some consistency, especially from the perimeter. ASU is 4 for 21 in the game, and a paltry 1 of 8 from 3-point range thus far in the half.
8:10 PM - ASU has cut the lead to five at 25-20 at the 3:46 mark of the first half. Curry remains on the bench with two fouls, and Max Gosselin has also picked up his second foul. ASU had had a couple of charges called on them in the half.
8:15 PM - It's halftime at the Black Hole and the Mountaineers trail it, but only by three at 33-30. Stephen Curry has seven points in the half, while Kellen Brand leads the Mountaineers with 12 points. We'll have more halftime stats as they become available.
The halftime entertainment with a trio of frisbee catching dogs was highly entertaining!
Your halftime statistics...
DAVIDSON:
Andrew Lovedale - 6 pts., 4 rebounds
Max Paulhus Gosselin - 9 pts., 4 rebounds
Bryant Barr - 2 pts.
Stephen Curry - 7 points on 3 of 7 shooting from the field, 3 assists
Brendan McKillop - 5 points
Will Archambault - 4 points, 4 rebounds
ASU:
Isaac Butts: 4 points, 3 rebounds
Ryann Abraham: 10 points 3 steals
Eduardo Bermudez - 2 points, 4 rebounds
Kellen Brand - 12 points
Marcus Wright - 2 points
Davidson shot 14 of 34 FG for 41.2%
ASU was 11 of 23 FG for 47.8% and made 6 of 7 free throws in the half
Second half action is set to begin!!
8:40 PM - First media timeout of the second half with 15:55 left. Davidson leads 39-33. Curry has 11 points, but has also picked up his third foul in the contest. Kellen Brand hit a 3-pointer for his fifteenth point of the game. Appalachian is being more active on the offensive end, but Curry has no conscience as he will shoot from any spot on the perimeter if given the slightest opening.
8:43 PM - Eddie Bermudez draws the fourth foul on Stephen Curry with 15:11 remaining in the game. We'll see how long Coach McKillop keeps his key player on the bench this half with Davidson leading 42-33.
8:50 PM - 11:29 remains in the game and the Wildcats lead 47-39. Matt McKillop scored one three-pointer off at least four screens. Max Paulhus Gosselin has 12 points to lead the Wildcats on the floor. Brand has picked up another pair of field goals for 19 in the game, while Abraham is ASU's second leading scorer with 10 points. No other player has more than four points for the Mountaineers.
8:57 PM - A Bryant Barr three-pointer pushes the Davidson lead up to 52-39 and forces Coach Fancher to take a quick timeout, all while the Wildcats play without Stephen Curry who is saddled with four fouls on the bench. 8:32 remains in the game and the Apps have possession.
9:00 PM - As we hit the top of the hour, we get to the under 8 minute media timeout. ASU used a timeout briefly after they couldn't get the basketball in bounds. They turn it over on the in-bounds play and Davidson converts an alley-oop dunk to Gosselin. The Wildcats lead it 54-42 at the 7:37 mark. Still no Curry, still no consistent second half offensive spurt from the Mountaineers while he is on the bench. On a side note, Appalachian has been playing without Marcus Wright, who turned his ankle in the first half and is sitting with a boot on at the end of the bench.
9:05 PM - Another timeout on the floor after two straight Archambault three pointers with a Butts hook shot for ASU in between. Davidson leads 60-44 with 6:18 to go. App needs a number of stops defensively to cut into the lead, but have thus far not shown the ability to do so.
9:10 PM - Curry returns to the game just under the six minute mark and hits a jumper immediately. He then hits another three-pointer from the wing with Butts jumping out at him. 65-44 Wildcats with 4:39 left...the biggest lead in the game, and ASU takes a timeout.
Curry has 16 for the game. An underlying theme in this second half has been ASU's inability to put together a number of defensive stops and a scoring run with consistency. Also, the Mountaineers are not helping themselves as they are shooting 0 for 6 from the free throw line in the half and 6 of 13 for the game.
9:15 PM - At the final media timeout with officially 3:55 left in the contest, ASU trails 65-48 to Davidson. Isaac Butts has hit double-figures with 10 points, the third Mountaineer with double-figures for the game.
Curry, Archambault, Paulhus Gosselin, and Brendan McKillop have all reached double-figures for the Wildcats.
**We've just been told at Press Row that tonight's game has set a new attendance record at the Holmes Center with 8,350, breaking the earlier record set in Appalachian's first-ever game when it hosted the Tar Heels of North Carolina in November, 2003.
Davidson leads 67-50 with 1:30 and counting to go. Despite the score, many fans have remained through the duration of the game. Coach McKillop takes a quick timeout to take out Curry, who finishes the night with only 16 points while plagued with foul trouble. Jeremi Booth ends the game with a dunk, but the Wildcats take the win by the final score of 70-52.
