From One Rivalry to the Next: Cougs Travel to Davidson

Davidson (4-9, 0-0)

College of Charleston (6-7, 0-0)

Belk Arena

Tipoff at 2pm on CSS and MyTV Charleston

Wrapping up the out-of-conference schedule and kicking off 2014, the Cougars will face another familiar opponent on New Years Day as they head up I-77 to face the Davidson Wildcats. While the Citadel game is always built up as a regional rivalry, the real rivalry in the SoCon the past eight years was CofC-Davidson. Both teams were consistently atop the SoCon year in and year out with Coach McKillop, Steph Curry and Davy carrying the banner for the Southern Conference. Now, like the Cougars, the Cats are leaving the quiet local conference for a huge upgrade - the Atlantic 10. Hoping to continue a solid mid-major rivalry, both schools locked in over the offseason to continue to play one another once a year for the next few seasons. 

The names may be unfamiliar to most Cougar fans outside of SoCon Preseason Player of the Year De'Mon Brooks but as long as McKillop is on the sideline you can rest assured that this team will run like a well oiled machine. This will be one of the tougher games the Cougars play in 2014. Davidson has had Wojcik's number so far, defeating the Cougars not once, not twice, but three times last season including the SoCon Championship. It helps that this game is on the road where the Cougars have a sterling record in Wojcik's tenure, but the Wildcats are tuned in for one last tear through the SoCon and they'll look to take care of CofC for old times sake.

Are the Wildcats any good?

Don't let the record fool you. The Wildcats have played an even tougher schedule than CofC and have an OT win over Charlotte, an OT loss to #14 UNC and most recently a single digit loss at #8 Wichita State. The Shockers were the fifth ranked team Davidson has already played this season (UVA, Duke and New Mexico the others). Davidson struggled early putting together all the new pieces with Player of the Year Jake Cohen and fellow senior starters JP Kuhlman and Nik Cochran gone. An injury to De'Mon Brooks caused the slide to continue but in the last two games Davy has really turned it on. In Chapel Hill they pushed the Tar Heels to overtime and inside one of the toughest arenas to play at in the country they got the best from Wichita State. So yea, they're pretty good.

What do they do well?

For the past quarter-century and for likely many years to come Bob McKillop has/will have his players play smart, disciplined and effective. The "motion" offense they run catches a lot of flack from opponents who view it as a cop-out for setting moving screens and other ticky tack fouls but Davidson usually runs it to perfection. They never have the best athletes or players with last names you can pronounce but the Wildcats under McKillop will not beat themselves and you don't want to come down to the wire with them in the final minutes.

What do they struggle with?

Not necessarily a "struggle" to any other team in the country but Davidson's NCAA-leading team free throw percentage has dipped to 68.4% so...there's that. But seriously, not unlike the Cougars, the Wildcats have faced issues that come with integrating newcomers and former role players into consistent pillars of the team. They have struggled getting to the line and getting shots to fall. Also uncharacteristically they are not hitting their threes (barely 30% as a team), gosh I wonder what that's like. 

Matchup to watch for?

Canyon Barry is the type of player you could see playing for Davidson. He's smart both on and off the court, has a feel for the game, versatility as a lengthy and fluid player. I'd like to see how he matches up with these guys after watching the Cougars take on the Wildcats three times from the bench during his redshirt season. I don't think the Cougars can win with everybody chipping in their usual numbers. CofC needs an exemplary performance from at least one player and Canyon, despite his recent struggles, seems like a likely candidate. 

X-Factor

Nori Johnson. You can read my recap of the Citadel game or watch Wojcik's postgame presser to hear either of us gush over the switch that turned on when Nori started raining threes in the second half. It alleviates pressure on the rest of the team and allows each player to slide more into roles they are comfortable in. Whether that be Canyon coming in as a bench contributor, Baru facing less double teams or Stitt having more driving lanes it all depends on making shots from the outside. Like the game Sunday, this will be Nori and Willis' last time playing Davidson; I'd like to see them both leave it all on the floor once again.