BG MBB travels to Davidson.

This game will be interesting.

BG is heading to Davidson, NC to play Davidson.  The Wildcats are right in the heart of college basketball power and have been a high-performing mid-major for many years.  I remember watching them playing at UM once.  The crowd was small because there was a Michigan football game on. Anyway, I also remember telling someone who was with me that the little guy with a funny shot was someone whose Dad played in the NBA.

Bob McKillop coached their for 32 years, winning 634 games and 63%.  Believe it or not, that's not in the Top 100 of coaches.  Coaches before him included Lefty Driesell and Terry Holland.

Overall, they have played in 15 NCAA Tournaments and made the Elite Eight three times.  The last time was 2008 when Curry was there.

They have won 13 conference tournaments and 25 regular season titles.

Today, they play in the A-10, the #7 conference.

Bob McKillop retired in 2022 and was replaced by his son, Matt.  Matt is 48-49 coming into this year, but is off to a 3-0 start with 2 D1 wins.

Blue Ribbon had them 12th in the A-10, and in the conference poll.

Kenpom-wise, they are #127 and BG #129.

They played BG last year at the Stroh.  The Wildcats blew out to a big lead, BG dragged it back with a late second-half run, but the Wildcats kind of held the Falcons at arm's length the rest of the way, winning 91-85.

It was notable as a game where we saw BG play at full health. Campbell scored 30 on 10-13 shooting. Towns with 11 boards. Johnson made 5 3FGs.

Davidson leads the overall series 2-1.  There was another home and home in the 1980s.

Davidson is no different than any other mid-major...85% of their scoring walked out the door.

As mentioned, they are 2-0 in D1 games. They beat #159 Washington State by 16 at home, and won @Charlotte by 7 in a rivalry game.

The key thing to note is that they can shoot.  The average D1 tries 40% of their shots from 3FG.  Davidson tries 49% and makes 40%, #10 in the nation. They also make 57% from 2FG and 76% of their free throws. Overall, they are the #12 shooting team in the country. They make 45% of their points on 3FG and only 11 other teams have a higher percentage.

Their offense is 1.14 points per possession, or that should read only 1.14 points per possession, #103 in the country.  With that kind of shooting, you'd expect to be better, but they are well below average at turnovers and getting to the line and among the worst offensive rebounding teams in the nation.

They are good on defense. They hold their opponents to 43% shooting on 2FGs and 29% on 3FGs. They are top-100 forcing turnovers but bad on the defensive boards as well.

Their leading scorer is Hunter Adam, a Kiwi who has been at Davidson 2.5 years.  He scored only 3.2 last year, but this year is scoring 16.  He is making 70% from 3FG in 20 minutes a game. 

Parker Friedrichsen is scoring 10 PPG and making 56% of his 3FGs in 22 minutes.  Nick Coval, a R-Fr, is also scoring 10 PPG on 83% of his 2FGs and 100% at the line in 25 minutes.

Manie Jones, a r-So who is from England, leads the team with 3.7 rebounds per game. Sam Brown, a Penn transfer, leads them with 4.5 assists per game.

They play a big rotation.  No player has played more than 25 minutes a game, and 10 of them are between 25 and 14.  This is new for them...last year, they ran a much tighter rotation.

This is a good test for BG.  After watching UA literally 3-bomb BG out of the Stroh Center, this will be a chance to guard a team that can really shoot.  Forcing turnovers (which leaves them not shooting) would certainly help.

Kenpom gives DC a 63% chance of winning. ESPN is over 40.  Vegas makes them a 4.5 point favorite.