Wildcats know their roles

Curry's late hot streak aided by Davidson's screens

RALEIGH -- The four-inch scratch on Thomas Sander's right shoulder showed just how hard Davidson had to work to claw back into its 74-70 win against Georgetown on Sunday.

Guard Stephen Curry seized the headlines, outscoring the Hoyas 25-22 in the final 14 minutes, but the rest of the Wildcats had done their part to secure Davidson's first round of 16 appearance in almost 40 years.

Sander and the other Davidson post players surrounded and frustrated Georgetown center Roy Hibbert into one of his worst games of the season. Hibbert fouled out in 16 minutes, and that left a big hole in the Hoyas' defense.

Point guard Jason Richards kept Davidson afloat in the first half, scoring 12 of his 20 points, while Curry struggled to get open. The other Wildcats did what Davidson does best -- take care of the basketball.

Davidson had only five turnovers, while Georgetown committed 20. That sloppiness sank the Hoyas, because Davidson used those miscues to get its offense going.

The Wildcats scored 47 points in the second half, 15 of them ignited by Hoyas mistakes. Davidson shot 52 percent in the second half.

"Gonzaga was a signature win for us," coach Bob McKillop said. "But this is a Hall of Fame signature win. It is really special."

McKillop helped motivate his team to the victory. He preaches three elements to his team: trust each other, have fun, and play to win. He questioned one of those in a team huddle early in the second half.

"We were down 16 points, and Coach asked us if we were having fun," Richards said. "That got us smiling a little bit."

Davidson's players went back to a freewheeling style, where Curry runs off screens in the open court and looks for gaps.

Sander, Andrew Lovedale and Stephen Rossiter set most of those screens. The trio also contributed 19 points and 12 rebounds, and Rossiter's defense created the final Georgetown turnover in the last minute.

"Everyone just believed in each other," reserve guard Bryant Barr said. "We didn't get frustrated. We knew we could still get it done."