Brendan McKillop is among the returning starters for this year's Wildcat basketball team. (Tim Cowie photo)

SOURCE: Davidson College sports information
Trips to Puerto Rico and New York City, games against West Virginia, Vanderbilt and St. John’s, a home contest against Charlotte and an appearance in the ESPNU BracketBusters highlight the 2010-11 Davidson College men’s basketball schedule, announced by coach Bob McKillop Wednesday.

Download a copy of the schedule (PDF). CLICK HERE>

“Our schedule presents us with an exciting and very challenging season,” McKillop said. “Top to bottom, the Southern Conference is the strongest it has been since I have been at Davidson. Every night will be a battle for everyone. Our non-conference schedule presents us with superb opponents, both home and away, and puts us on magical stages in great cities.”

All told, seven teams that finished the 2009-10 season with RPIs in the top-100 in the country, including two in the top-30, are on the Wildcats’ slate, according to the NCAA’s RPI ratings. Davidson will play two of those teams, Wofford (73) and College of Charleston (85) twice in conference action.

Following a home exhibition against Lenoir-Rhyne, the Wildcats open the regular season at Penn in the storied Palestra Nov. 13, the beginning of a five-game road swing. Davidson travels to San Juan for the Puerto Rico Tip-Off Nov. 18-21, where the ‘Cats will face 2010 Final Four participant West Virginia in their first game of the tourney, which will be televised live on ESPNU.

The Wildcats and Mountaineers last met in 2008 at the Jimmy V Classic in Madison Square Garden, when Stephen Curry led Davidson to a 68-65 win with 27 points and 10 assists. West Virginia leads the all-time series 18-16 against their former Southern Conference rivals, and prior to the 2008 contest, Davidson had not played the Mountaineers since the 1994 Postseason NIT.

In addition to Davidson and West Virginia, the field for Puerto Rico Tip-Off comprises North Carolina, Hofstra, Minnesota, Nebraska, Vanderbilt and Western Kentucky. Davidson will draw either Vanderbilt or Nebraska in its second game of the tournament.

The Wildcats close the road swing at 2010 NIT Final Four participant Rhode Island Nov. 27, and open the home slate against Monmouth in Belk Arena Nov. 29. It will be the ‘Cats’ first game against the Hawks since 1990.

For the second consecutive season, Davidson opens Southern Conference play on the road in the city of Charleston. The Wildcats take on College of Charleston Dec. 2, and meet The Citadel Dec. 4. Davidson returns home to renew its series against Charlotte in Belk Arena Dec. 11. The teams last met in 2007.

The Cats also play in the Madison Square Garden Holiday Festival, the nation’s longest-running holiday tournament, for the second straight year Dec. 20-21. Davidson plays St. John’s in the first game and meets either St. Francis (N.Y.) or Northwestern in the second contest. Davidson has not played St. John’s since 1989, McKillop’s first season as coach of the Wildcats, and is 6-10 all-time against the Red Storm.

It will be a homecoming for McKillop, who played high school basketball at Chaminade on Long Island and college basketball at Hofstra. He began his coaching career at Holy Trinity High School and coached at Long Island Lutheran before coming to Davidson in 1989. His son, senior guard Brendan McKillop, was born in Mineola and averaged 12 points and 4.5 assists in front of friends and family members during last year’s Festival.

The Wildcats travel to Vanderbilt Jan. 2, for their first game against the Commodores since 1985. Davidson returns to the pool of the ESPNU BracketBusters, a two-day event pitting NCAA Tournament hopefuls against each other. The Wildcats are 1-1 in all-time BracketBusters, defeating Winthrop in 2008 and falling at home to Butler in 2009.

The 18-game SoCon slate features two games (home-and-home) against each of the league’s Southern Division foes, two games each against North Division opponents UNCG and Elon and single contests against Appalachian State (home), Samford (home), Western Carolina (away) and Chattanooga (away).

The defending North Division champion Mountaineers are in Belk Arena Jan. 5, and defending league champion Wofford plays at Davidson Jan. 15. The Southern Conference Tournament is back in Chattanooga, Tenn., in The McKenzie Arena March 3-7, and Monday’s championship game will be televised live on ESPN2 at 9 p.m.

Davidson returns three starters and eight lettermen from last year’s team, which finished 16-15 overall and 11-7 in the SoCon, placing third in the South Division.

More information on DavidsonWildcats.com.