Davidson 83, Georgia Southern 56
DAVIDSON, N.C. - JP Kuhlman scored 19 points, while Jake Cohen and Nik Cochran each netted 18 to lead Davidson to an 83-56 Southern Conference men's basketball victory over Georgia Southern Wednesday night in Belk Arena.
Cohen had eight rebounds to lead the Wildcats (14-13, 8-8 SoCon), and De'Mon Brooks added 10 points and four boards off the bench.
Kuhlman and Cohen both shot 8-for-10 from the field, while Cochran was 5-for-7 and 6-for-6 from the free-throw line. Brooks also made all six of his free-throw attempts.
Ben Drayton led Georgia Southern (4-24, 0-15 SoCon) with 16 points, and Eric Ferguson posted 10 points and eight rebounds. Rory Spencer scored 10, and Tré Bussey added nine.
Davidson shot 56 percent from the field in the game and scored 42 points in the paint. The Wildcats got 25 points off 19 Eagle turnovers and added another 20 points off 13 offensive rebounds. The Wildcats controlled the glass 40-21 and capitalized on 23 free-throw attempts by making 18.
After trailing 10-5 early in the game, Davidson used a 28-2 run over 9:28 to open a 21-point cushion, following a pair of Cochran free throws. Cochran scored seven points during the run, while Cohen and Brooks each had six.
The margin grew to as many as 35 after a Cochran 3-pointer sparked a 10-0 run that made the score 76-41 with 4:54 left in the contest.
Wofford 81, Samford 68
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - After taking an 18-point lead at the half, the Wofford men's basketball team defeated Samford 81-68 on Wednesday night at the Pete Hanna Center. The Terriers shot 59.6 percent for the game and were 7-of-12 from behind the arc in the victory.
Wofford is 15-12 on the season and 12-4 in the Southern Conference and Samford is 12-15 overall and 4-11 in SoCon play. The Terriers were led by Noah Dahlman with 21 points, followed by Cameron Rundles with 17 points and Jamar Diggs with 14 points. Tim Johnson led the team with seven rebounds. The Bulldogs were led by Josh Bedwell with 15 points, ten of which were in the second half. John Peterson added 14 points.
Wofford scored first, but was down 8-5 four minutes into play. The Terriers regained the lead with a lay-up by Noah Dahlman to make it a 9-8 game at 15:25 in the half. Wofford slowly built a lead at 18-13, which included two free throws after a technical foul on the Samford bench. The Terriers then used a quick 10-0 run that included six points from Jamar Diggs and four points by Noah Dahlman for a 28-13 advantage with 10:24 on the clock.
Kevin Giltner hit a three for a 31-18 lead at 6:57 in the second half. The teams traded threes on four straight possessions and the score was 38-26 with 3:40 remaining in the half. The Terriers outscored the Bulldogs 8-2 in the final three minutes to take a 46-28 lead at the break. Noah Dahlman, Jamar Diggs and Cameron Rundles all scored in double-figures as the Terriers shot 66.7% in the first half.
Samford scored first to open the second half, but after a bucket and free throw by Noah Dahlman the Terriers had a 51-30 lead. The Bulldogs scored the next six points to cut the lead to 51-36 at 14:45 in the second half. Threes by Cameron Rundles and Kevin Giltner enabled the Terriers to push the advantage to 61-38 at the twelve-minute mark.
The Bulldogs were able to chip away at the lead and the score was 65-47 with 7:37 left in the half. Wofford answered with a lay-up and free throw by Noah Dahlman for a 68-47 lead with 5:51 on the clock. Tim Johnson scored the next three points for the Terriers, but Samford answered with back-to-back threes by Josh Bedwell and a lay-up from John Peterson to cut the lead to 73-59 with 2:35 left in the game. The Bulldogs kept scoring in the final minutes, but the Terriers sealed the win with a three by Matt Steelman with 52 seconds left. Samford did score five points in the final 39 seconds for an 81-68 final score.
Wofford shot 59.6 percent from the floor and was 58.3 percent from three. Samford was 45.8 percent overall and was 26.3 percent from behind the arc. The Terriers had a 31-25 lead on the glass, but did commit 17 turnovers. Wofford is 7-0 against SoCon North teams and 6-1 in conference road games this season.
Georgia Tech 62, Chattanooga 53
ATLANTA, Ga. --- The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga men's basketball team fell short, 62-53, in its bid to knock off Georgia Tech Wednesday night in Alexander Memorial Coliseum. Chattanooga is now 14-14 overall and 10-5 leading the Southern Conference North Division.
It was a sloppy effort for the Mocs with 20 turnovers. The Yellow Jackets scored 24 points off those 20 miscues and scored 11 more points at the free throw stripe making 17 of 27 compared to UTC's six of 11.
Omar Wattad led Chattanooga with 18 points and three steals. DeAntre Jefferson added 14 points and nine rebounds.
Glen Rice, Jr., led all scorers with 27 for Tech, while posting seven rebounds and four steals. Iman Shumpert had a double-double with 19 points and 11 rebounds. The duo accounted for 46 of the Jackets' 62 points and 18 of their 34 rebounds.
The Yellow Jackets opened the second half with a three-pointer by Maurice Miller at 18:53 to go up eight, 31-23. Chattanooga closed to within three, 32-29, on a Ricky Taylor layup at the 15-minute mark.
Georgia Tech got the lead back to eight, 37-29, on three free throws and a layup, but the Mocs were pesky. They scored eight of the next 10 points to get within two, 39-37, on a Jefferson layup at 9:54.
Chattanooga had the ball with a chance to tie, but a turnover in the lane led to a Rice three-pointer giving Tech breathing room as it built its lead back to seven points on a Shumpert layup one possession later making it 44-37 at 8:30.
Taylor's three-pointer at 6:32 brought the Mocs to within four points at 48-44. But that's as close as UTC would get down the stretch.
Taylor had 13 points on an off shooting night. He scored 11 of his 13 in the second half. The trio of Wattad, Jefferson and Taylor scored 45 of Chattanooga's 53 points.
The Mocs shot just 37.5 percent for the game, making 21 of 56 shot attempts. That included a five for 27 performance from behind the three-point line, 18.5 percent.
Chattanooga got off to a tough start missing its first 11 three-pointers of the game. Tech ran out to a 19-8 lead with 7:30 left in the half as UTC went scoreless for more than seven minutes.
But the Mocs started to find their range. They out-scored the Jackets 15-7 over the final six minutes to close to within three, 26-23, behind Wattad's 12 first-half points. Shumpert hit a circus shot falling backwards in the lane at the buzzer to give Tech a 28-23 halftime lead.
UTC returns to the friendly confines of McKenzie Arena for a key two-game Southern Conference stretch hosting Furman and Wofford. The Paladins are up first on Monday, February 21, at 7 p.m., followed by the Terriers on Wednesday, February 25.