This is by far the best team Davidson has had since Stephen Curry's final season in 2008-09, as the Wildcats return four starters.
Junior forward Jake Cohen is surprisingly tough in the low post at 6-foot-10 and can score from the perimeter. De'Mon Brooks is a superb athlete at 6-7, and the rest of the players seem to know their roles on a team that's typically well coached by Bob McKillop.
A 74-61 win against Richmond on Monday showed that the Southern Conference coaches knew what they were talking about when they chose Davidson to win the South Division.
Duke's move of Ryan Kelly into the starting lineup in place of Miles Plumlee didn't work out so well.
Kelly made a basket and one of two free throws for Duke's first three points, but was whistled for two fouls in the first 95 seconds.
The player who replaced Kelly wasn't Plumlee. Rather, sophomore Josh Hairston got the call in what appeared to be an expanded role as he played eight first-half minutes.
Plumlee, meanwhile, infuriated the Duke coaching staff with a clumsy, ill-advised foul of Nik Cochran eight-tenths of a second before halftime that helped Davidson take a 35-34 lead at the break.
Guard Austin Rivers continues to score off the dribble and prove for Duke that he already is one of the best freshmen in the nation.
You can't help but think, though, that he will be much, much better by the end of the season. Rivers still has trouble sometimes deciding where and when to pass, and he has yet to display his ability to shoot jump shots from the mid-range or 3-point range.
His game will become well rounded as the season progresses, and the Blue Devils will get better as a result
