Tired Legs Crumble at Davidson

Davidson 77, College of Charleston 68

Top Performers

Nick Cochran 15 points, 5 rebounds, 3 assists

Andrew Lawrence 18 points, 5 rebounds, 4 assists, 1 steal

Honorable mention: Matt Sundberg 8 points (3-3 FG) in 12 minutes

We've known for a while now that January 10-19 was going to be a tough stretch for the Cougars. Not only the level of competition (including three straight road games against rivals The Citadel, Georgia Southern and Davidson) but also the immediacy of playing 5 games in that span. Concluding said stretch with a road game against Davidson looked like an uphill battle and in the end, it seemed as though the challenge of playing all these games took their toll on the Cougars. Less than 48 hours after a hard fought defensive battle in Statesboro, the Cougars looked winded and exhausted after the first 10-15 minutes of game time. After that it was almost all Wildcats.

I thought the Cougars played winning basketball for a lot of the first half. They were getting Cohen and Brooks in early foul trouble, they were making shots and the defense was holding up. But there were two early signs that things could swing late in the opening half. First was Baru picking up his first foul 32 seconds into the game. Then he picked up his second after sitting on the bench a few minutes. Baru's defense on Cohen, all the way out to the arc, was great but he can only help you if he's on the floor. The second bad sign was when Willis Hall had his face split open from an elbow. It required Willis to go to the locker room for the majority of the game and his return would come with Davidson already hosting a double-digit lead.

The absence of Willis and Adjehi opened up more minutes for Theo Johnson and Matt Sundberg. While both played admirably, there were obvious issues in rebounding and team defense with guys whose minutes have been limited this season. Both lost track of the ball at times and despite Sunny D's impressive efforts offensively he still had trouble containing Jake Cohen. It was during this extended reserve-playing stretch late in the half that the Wildcats made a 10-0 run that proved to be the difference maker. 

The fatigue factor manifested itself in several sections of the box score. The most glaring is the rebounding margin. Without our two leading rebounders for much of the game, the Cougars lost the edge 31-23. Not only that but the Cougars gave up nine offensive rebounds, ensuring the Wildcats would have multiple cracks at the basket. I also look at the 20 personal fouls the Cougars committed. The SoCon Saturday refs were by no means consistent but AT, Willis, Adjehi and Matt were finding themselves out of position when they sent the best free-throw shooting team in the world to the line again and again. Mental and physical fatigue.

I still think Davidson is beatable (especially in Charleston) and I still think the Cougars can peak at the right time to make a splash in Asheville. Anthony Stitt needs to bust out of whatever shooting slump he's in (0-21 last two games) and Nori needs to start shooting again. The team needs more from the backcourt than just Andrew Lawrence. Props again to Matt for taking advantage of his first playing time in nine games. What the Cougars need now is some rest, some more rest and then a refocused effort in the Citadel rematch Thursday.