The Davidson Wildcats may be new to the Atlantic 10 conference, but they should not be underestimated. Head Coach Bob McKillop is in his 26th season leading the Wildcats and their homecourt McKillop Court, is named for its longtime leader. Davidson came into A-10 play with a 9 -2 record and to their first match up with VCU 1-0 in conference play. In their previous conference they finished their 2013-14 season with 20 wins and were 15 -1 in conference play. Even though there wasn’t a single lead change in favor of Davidson during their first appearance at the Siegel Center they did hold their own against Havoc.
Like all games there were a few highlights, including more than one spin move by freshman Terry Larrier who was one of 3 Rams to contribute double digits. Larrier tied Melvin Johnson with 11 points and Treveon Graham led VCU with 15. Briante Weber added 4 more steals on his way to becoming #1 on the NCCA’s record books for steals and dished out 6 assists to his teammates. The Rams were able to hold the Wildcats to 65 points, but had they shot their average of 84 the outcome would have been very different.
The first half the Wildcats fluctuated between 1 and 6 points behind the Rams (although that 6 was very short lived). In an effort to break the VCU press and get to the basket they moved quick and shot fast, while maintaining slightly better shooting percentages than the Rams. The 4 point VCU lead was a result of the Rams simply taking a few more shots for the 38 -34 advantage at the half.
The Wildcats struggled more in the second half and went 10 of 30 on their field goals and 7 of 19 from behind the arc. The Rams capitalized on that and increased their lead to as much as 13 at one point. Although the fans assumed the win early, Davidson continued to do what a good team does and played until the end. They cut the deficit back to 6 before the final Mo Alie-Cox block of the night that put another win on the books for the Rams. Moving VCU to 12 -3 on the season, 2 -0 in conference, and increasing their streak to 7 consecutive wins.
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