Eagles Lose SoCon Game to Davidson
1/17/2009 5:06:00 AM | Men's Basketball
STATESBORO,
The crowd was the sixth-largest in Hanner Fieldhouse
history, and largest since the facility underwent a renovation in 1995.
However, the Eagles fell to .500 in league play (3-3, 5-9 overall).
Tied at 7-all in the first minutes, Davidson went on a 16-3 run and never looked back. Antonio Hanson hit a 3-pointer, snapping a streak of nine straight misses dating back to the UNC Greensboro game. Julian Allen hit a 17-footer with a Wildcat in his face, capping a streak where the Eagles scored seven of the next nine points, cutting the deficit to 24-17.
The Wildcats (14-3, 7-0) went on another big run, this time 17-2 over the next six minutes and eventually took a 51-30 lead into the locker room.
Davidson shot 43.6 percent from the field in the first half compared to the Eagles' 33.3 percent. The Wildcats out-rebounded GS 29-15 in the half, including a 10-2 edge on the offensive end.
The 12 turnovers in the first half were more than what the Eagles committed during the UNC Greensboro game (8).
“If you're not ready to match them physically, you can't win a basketball game. It wasn't even a match up physically and I thought that was very evident on the court,” said head coach Jeff Price. “They just had way too many rebounds, too many offensive rebounds. We did not get enough offensive rebounds.”
Ben Drayton scored 13 of his team-high 16 points in the second half as the Eagles actually shot better than the Wildcats, 43.3 to 42.9 over the final 20 minutes.
Allen recorded his fourth career double-double, 11 points and 11 rebounds, in addition to his four assists to just one turnover in 28 minutes.
Hanson chipped in 14 points going 4-of-10 from the field and hitting all four free throw attempts.
Neither team took advantage of their free throws, 53.3 percent for the Eagles (16-30) and 68.2 for Davidson (15-22).
Stephen Curry finished with a game-high 28 points, one shy of his nation-leading season average, on 11-of-30 shooting. The Eagle defense held him in check beyond the arc as the junior All-America guard made only 3-of-16 attempts.
“I understand why we have a great crowd. I understand who is here playing, and I think that is great. However, it's always frustrating when you lose at home. Our team is in a rebuilding process right now and I understand that and we will continue to get better and keep working,” stated Price.
Andrew Lovedale added 16 points, 15 rebounds and three blocked shots for the South Division leading Wildcats who extended their streak to 37 straight regular season SoCon victories. Will Archambault added 14 points off the bench.
“We're a young inexperienced team... and if there was ever a time where you just want to turn around and play the next day this is it and luckily we play at Western on Monday,” said Price.
