Jake Cohen dribbles around a Greensboro defender. He had his best game ever, scoring 27 points. (Tim Cowie photo)
Coach Bob McKillop
By DAVID BORAKS
DavidsonNews.net
Davidson College Coach Bob McKillop wrote the headline for Saturday’s 78-67 victory over UNC-Greensboro. “Kind of a storybook game,” he said in a post-game interview. It was Senior Day – the last home game for seniors Ben Allison and Brendan McKillop. He hit a personal milestone: Win No. 400 in a 22-year-career. And the crowd at Belk Arena included ex-coach Lefty Driesell and players from the “Lefty Era” at Davidson who were in town for a reunion.
The game itself also had a storybook quality, as the Wildcats broke open a tie with just over 8 minutes go with a command performance of shooting.
See a gallery of photos from the game and the weekend tribute to Mike Maloy ’70, CLICK HERE>
Jake Cohen scored a career-best 27 points and Brendan McKillop had 17 to lead the Wildcats to the win in their final regular season game. It was the ninth win in the past 10 games for Davidson, which will head to Chattanooga next week for the Southern Conference tournament.
Brenda McKillop celebrated. (Tim Cowie photo)
Coach McKillop said the win gave his team “some momentum” heading into the tourney, and he thinks the Wildcats, though sitting in fourth place in the South Division, have a chance to surprise.
“I don’t think there’s ever been a conference tournament in my tenure … where so many teams could come out on top and get a bid (to the NCAA tournament),” he said.
Added Cohen: “It’s a great time to be playing our best basketball, going into next week.”
Saturday’s win raised Davidson’s record to 17-13 overall, 10-8 in the Southern Conference. UNCG fell to 6-23 overall and 6-12 in the league.
BIG DAY FOR COHEN
Cohen scored 16 points in the first half, and hit 11 of 14 shots overall, including 3 out of 4 three-pointers, to finish his best game ever.
Brendan McKillop hit five out of 10 shots from the field – all three pointers, and several at key moments. He said afterward it was “a perfect storm. We just wanted to get that win and get some momentum for our conference tournament in March.”
Nik Cochran had 9 points for Davidson, while De’Mon Brooks added 8. For Greensboro, Trevis Simpson and Brandon Evans both had 18 points.
The Cats opened up a 14-point lead at one point in the first half, helped by Jake Cohen’s hot shooting. (He had 16 points in the first half.) An 8-2 run by the Spartans at the end of the half left the Wildcats with a 39-32 lead going into the locker room.
SPARTANS RALLY IN 2nd HALF
UNC-Greensboro came out shooting in the second half, completely erasing the Cats’ lead after 6 minutes. The two teams traded leads until 8:15 left, when the score was tied at 54-54.
Then Davidson broke the game open with three straight three-pointers. On the first, Cohen found himself in trouble underneath the hoop and spotted McKillop open at foul circle, who drained the three-pointer. A half-minute later, De’Mon Brooks took a pass from Cohen way outside, and hit a second three. Another 30 seconds later, Tom Droney stole the ball in Greensboro’s end, dribbled up the left side, and saw McKillop on the right. He zipped a pass to the senior guard, who hit another three.
Those triples were the start of a 16-2 run that put the cats ahead 70-56 with 2:57 left.
Brendan McKillop said later that the Cats started making defensive stops at just the right moment. “Coach always harps to land the plane and stay in the system,” he said.
Greensboro played tight defense down to the final seconds, but couldn’t close the gap. In the final 30 seconds, the Spartan’s Trevis Simpson stole the ball from Nik Cochran at half court, ran it in for a big dunk. But that was the end of the scoring, and the Cats walked away with a 78-67 win.
DAVIDSON PLAYS UNCG AT TOURNEY
Davidson and UNCG will meet again next Friday, March 4, in the first round of the Southern Conference Tournament in Chattanooga, Tenn.
GAME NOTES: Davidson honored the Men of the Lefty Driesell coaching years and Mike Maloy ’70 at halftime of Saturday’s game. … Davidson has won 10 or more league games 18 times under McKillop, including the last 11 campaigns. … Tom Droney is the first freshman to start every game in a season during McKillop’s 22-year tenure. … The ‘Cats improved to 9-3 in Belk Arena this season. … It’s the second straight season Davidson plays the same opponent in the first game of the SoCon Tourney as it did in the last game of the regular season. … Davidson fell 66-59 to Elon last year.
- Marc Gignac
Davidson College Sports Information
RELATED LINKS
See the box score from the UNCG vs. Davidson game, CLICK HERE>
See a gallery of photos from the game and the weekend tribute to Mike Maloy ’70, CLICK HERE>
