Charlotte, N.C. – No. 22 Davidson downed N.C. State 72-67 Saturday afternoon at Time Warner Cable Arena, home of the NBA’s Charlotte Bobcats. It was the first loss for the Wolfpack on the year. The game was a hard-fought contest that mirrored the Wolfpack’s 66-65 victory over the Wildcats in Raleigh last December.
State jumped out to an early lead with two quick threes from freshman forward C.J. Williams. By 14:48 in the first half, the Pack held an 11 point lead at 16-5. But Davidson’s junior standout guard Stephen Curry, a preseason All-American, had other plans. He scored 11 of the ‘Cats first 14 points on his way to 44 points, and slowly led Davidson back into the game.
“He’s already a NBA prospect,” Williams said. “He never stops going. He has a great motor, he’s a great player, he’s a great shooter.”
The game was played evenly through the rest of the half, but with State slightly in control most of the way. The only time the Pack lost the lead was at 2:56, when the Wildcats went ahead by one just to have the lead taken away again on State’s ensuing possession. The Pack entered the locker room leading just 41-37.
The second half continued the trend that ended the first half: two teams constantly scrapping for the lead. State continued to hold a slight edge until a Curry shot tied the score at 50.
From there, Davidson scored six straight points to grab a 56-50 lead. But the Pack continued to fight, coming back to play even with the Wildcats again.
With 2:55 left in the game, the score was tied 64-64. Junior forward Brandon Costner took an inbound pass and muscled his way to the basket and a two point State lead.
Curry then took matters into his own hands. He shot a free throw, a two and a NBA length three to give the ‘Cats a 70-66 lead.
“He’s not just a great shooter,” coach Sidney Lowe said of Curry. “He’s a great basketball player.”
After a Costner free throw cut the lead to three, Davidson took time off the clock. Then Curry missed a three pointer with 25 seconds left that would have sealed the deal for his team. After a Wolfpack rebound and a out-of-bounds on Davidson later in the possession, State had the ball in the offensive zone down 70-67 with 10.8 seconds do go. But Costner missed a three pointer off the back of the rim, sealing the deal for the Wildcats. Curry would make two free throws to give his team a 72-67 victory.
State had all of its three point shooters in the game for the final play, minus senior guard Courtney Fells, who hurt his shoulder during a play midway through the first half. Fells played some after his injury, but sat out for most of the second half. But the Pack was proud to still be in the game at all despite his absence.
“To not have [Fells] in there, and for us to still be with it [says a lot],” senior center Ben McCauley said.
A big thing State will have to work on is rebounding, a statistic they struggled in last year, and have continued to struggle this year. Davidson out-rebounded the Pack 45-39, and had 21 offensive boards.
“They all crash, and they crash hard,” McCauley said. “But we have to really concentrate on the defensive end, and defensive rebounds.”
But State proved in the game that the team can play with top-25 squads.
“This team is a top-25 team,” McCauley said. “We take out that we can play with those teams. If we’re playing them well at their place without one of our starters out there…we got to take a lot out of it.”
