Davidson 100, Illinois-Chicago 89
DAVIDSON, N.C - Stephen Curry scored 23 second-half points and finished with a game-high 27 to lead four Davidson players in double figures as the Wildcats opened their home slate with a 100-89 victory over Illinois-Chicago Wednesday evening. The 15th straight home-opening win improves Davidson to 3-1 on the young season while the Flames drop to 1-1 overall.
A freshman from nearby Charlotte, N.C., Curry hit 11-of-19 shots from the floor including three from downtown to score in double digits for the fourth consecutive game to start the season. He also led both clubs with nine boards, matching his previous season high that he set against the Michigan Wolverines.
Davidson?s Thomas Sander reached the 20-point mark for the second straight outing with 23. The junior tri-captain set a new career-best with three baskets from downtown and turned in a solid performance on the glass with eight boards.
Boris Meno recorded a career-high with 17 points, shattering his previous best of 13 against Princeton last season. Freshman William Archambault also enjoyed his most productive night in a Wildcat uniform thanks to 19 points, hitting 6-of-8 from the floor including four of Davidson?s season-high 12 threes.
In the opening period both teams enjoyed lengthy runs, but neither had something to show for it as the first half ended in a 39-39 tie. Davidson erased a 17-12 Flames lead at the 13:38 mark with a 16-3 run that was started and ended by Sander to give the Wildcats the game?s largest advantage to that point, 28-20. Illinois-Chicago quickly responded with a
10-2 streak of its own capped off by consecutive treys by T.J. Gray and Josh Mayo to even the score once again.
The Wildcats and Flames each had two players in double figures at the half, but it was Davidson?s 25-12 advantage on the glass that was most noticeable.
Averaging 21.0 points per game entering tonight?s contest, Curry was held to just 2-of-9 shooting in the first stanza, but caught fire in the final 20 minutes only missing one of his 10 attempts. On back-to-back trips late in the period, the 6-1 guard nailed buckets from deep to extend the Wildcats? lead to 82-69 with just over seven minutes remaining.
With 4:08 left in the game, Archambault nailed a long-range shot from about
25 feet, his final three-pointer of night to give Davidson its biggest advantage, 93-78, and put the game out of reach.
Davidson?s lights-out shooting display of 58.1 percent (36-62) was its highest percentage since knocking off Missouri to open the 2004-05 season.
The Wildcats also scorched it from downtown hitting 12-of-21 (57.1 percent), their best outing in nearly two years. Davidson?s final shooting totals were sparked by a second-half clip of 70 percent (21-30), which included making 8-of-10 treys.
The Wildcats continued their dominance on the boards throughout the affair, outrebounding UIC 41-22.
Despite the loss, Illinois-Chicago had five players in double figures led by Josh Mayo?s 26 points as he six of nine on threes.
Like Davidson, the Flames shot better than 50 percent from both the floor and beyond the arc, but hit just eight free throws to the Wildcats? 16-of-23 total from the line.
Davidson returns to action when it hits the road looking for its third straight win against Missouri in as many years with a 2 p.m. tip Sunday, Nov. 19. Illinois-Chicago continues its five-game road swing at Bradley on Sunday at 2 p.m.
Clemson 67, Furman 58
Clemson, S.C. -- Vernon Hamilton scored 13 points to pace three Tigers in double figures, and James Mays recorded a double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds to guide Clemson to a 67-58 victory over Furman Wednesday evening in front of 5,500 fans at Littlejohn Coliseum.
Leading 18-16 with 3:50 remaining in the first half, Clemson reeled off a 10-0 run on the strength of four layups and a Hamilton jumper to claim a
28-18 advantage with 1:52 before intermission. Furman answered with a pair of foul shots from Moussa Diagne and George Brozos to cut the lead to 31-20 at the break.
After shooting just 21.7% (5-of-23) from the field in the first half, Furman held the hot hand to start the second half trimming the deficit to
38-31 with 14:17 left. Diagne buried a three to start the half, followed by an Eric Webb trey. Stanley Jones added two points in the paint and Brozos capped the run with a three-point play.
The Tigers put the game out of reach witha 20-9 spurt to up the margin to 58-40 with 8:09 remaining. Hamilton started the run with a steal and a layup, but Julius Powell came off the bench to hit two treys in a fifty-second span to power the run. Furman sunk three treys in the final
6:18 to provide the final margin.
“We did a decent job of handling their press tonight, but we did not make good decisions in the half court offense,” said Furman coach Jeff Jackson.
“It was a great learning experience for us to play on the road in this environment.”
Diagne and Brozos led Furman with 11 points apiece. Brozos connected on
3-of-5 shots from floor, including 2-for-2 beyond the arc, while adding a team-high eight boards. Despite scoring just two first half points, Robby Bostain finished with nine points and eight rebounds.
The Paladins were 14-of-28 from the field in the second half to finish at 37.3% for the contest. Furman connected on 9-of-20 attempts from three-point range and 11-of-15 from the foul line while committing a season-high 19 turnovers.
K.C. Rivers joined Mays and Hamilton in double figures for the Tigers with 10 points. Clemson shrugged off a 9-of-21 (42.9%) effort from the charity stripe to shoot 48.2% from the field. The Tigers held a slim 37-35 edge on the boards, but recorded seven blocked shots.
Furman, now 2-1 on the season, continues its four-game road trip when it travels to face Bowling Green at 2:00 p.m. on Sunday. Clemson will host Appalachian State on Friday evening.
East Tennessee State 71, Chattanooga 70 (OT)
JOHNSON CITY, Tenn.--East Tennessee State withstood a career night from Keddric Mays and stole a win from Chattanooga after a Courtney Pigram three-pointer with 1.8 seconds left in overtime gave the Bucs a 71-70 victory in Johnson City.
A 12- foot Casey Long jumper with 22 seconds left in the extra period gave the Mocs a 70-68 advantage, Following an ETSU timeout, the Chattanooga defense extended the Buccaneer offense well beyond the arc before a forced attempt from Pigram found the mark with less than
two ticks remaining.
Both teams struggled from the floor in the first half, shooting below 40 percent from the floor and combining for 21 turnovers. An off-balance runner from Kevin Bridgewaters at the first-half horn knotted the score at 29.
The Mocs started the second half with a 7-0 run punctuated by Mays’ sixth three-pointer of the night to grab a 36-29 lead. East Tennessee State slowly battled back and took its first lead of the second half at 50-48 on a Brad Nuckles three with 6:42 remaining. Back-to-back three-pointers by Mays and Long pushed the Chattanooga advantage back to four.
A Pigram three trimmed the Chattanooga lead back to a single point, but Keddric Mays’ career-high eighth three-pointer of the night put the Mocs back on top by four with 2:55 left. Pigram answered with a hanging jumper on the next trip to cut the deficit to two at 59-57. Two Nuckles free throws with 45 seconds remaining tied the score at 59.
East Tennessee went to the free throw line on each of its first three possessions of the extra period, but could only convert 3-of-6 attempts and led 62-59. Nicchaeus Doaks drained a three with four minutes remaining to tie the score at 62. On the Mocs’ next possession, two Bridgewaters free throws gave Chattanooga its first overtime lead.
Dequan Twilley, who was 2-of-10 from the field on the night, hit a three-pointer from the top of the key to energize the crowd and take the lead back for the Bucs at 65-64. Chattanooga answered by going inside to Doaks on its next possession. The resulting two free throws gave the lead back to the Mocs.
After a Pigram three in transition gave the Bucs the lead, Casey Long scored on back-to-back jumpers and gave the Mocs their final lead at 70-68 with 22 seconds remaining.
Overall the game witnessed 14 lead changes and eight ties, including seven lead changes and four ties in overtime.
Mays’ 26 points and eight 3-pointers were both career highs. Nicchaeus Doaks scored 11 points and grabbed nine rebounds. Casey Long scored nine points and tied a career-high with 11 rebounds. He also added six assists.
The Mocs (1-1) out-shot ETSU 38.7 percent to 37.1 percent, but turned the ball over 24 times. Chattanooga also continued to shoot well from behind the three-point arc, making 12-of-29 attempts for 41.4 percent.
Pigram led ETSU (2-1) with 29 points and was 7-of-13 from three-point.
Chattanooga will continue its longest road trip of the year, facing top-ranked Florida in Gainesville on Saturday night in the opening round of the Las Vegas Invitational.