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Davidson loss may mean Curry-less Big Dance

College of Charleston upends Wildcats in Southern Conference semifinals

Image: CurryAP
Davidson's Stephen Curry shoots over College of Charleston's Jeremy Simmons and Donavan Monroe, right. Curry and the Wildcats were upset in the Southern Conference tournament semifinals on Sunday.

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. - Antwaine Wiggins didn’t score a single point on Sunday night during College of Charleston’s 59-52 win over top-seeded Davidson in the Southern Conference tournament semifinals, but he lived up to his nickname.

“That’s the Curry stopper,” teammate Tony White Jr. said.

The 6-foot-7 Wiggins helped force Wildcats star guard Stephen Curry into a 5-of-18 shooting night, including 2-for-11 from 3-point range. The nation’s leading scorer still led Davidson with 20 points, but his Wildcats may be in grave danger of missing the NCAA tournament this year after reaching the Elite Eight one year ago.

Davidson coach Bob McKillop pointed out that four nonconference losses have come against Duke, Oklahoma, Butler and Purdue and that, “26 wins is 26 wins.” McKillop has a supporter in College of Charleston (26-7) coach Bobby Cremins. His Cougars are now responsible for two of Davidson’s (26-7) losses, including a 77-75 win on Feb. 7 that snapped the Wildcats’ 43-game SoCon winning streak.

“I really hope they get serious consideration for an NCAA bid after what they did last year,” Cremins said.

The Southern Conference never has received an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament.

White scored 17 points and Andrew Goudelock scored all 12 of his points in the second half as the Cougars rallied to deny Davidson’s bid for a fourth straight SoCon tournament title.

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The Cougars, who have won eight straight games, play Chattanooga in Monday’s SoCon tournament championship game. It is the second time in three years that College of Charleston has made it to the title game.

Goudelock had two 3-pointers in the first three minutes of the second half to help trim a 29-20 halftime deficit to 31-29, and the Cougars used an 8-0 run moments later to grab their biggest lead at 40-33. Goudelock had a baseline jumper in the run, which Donavan Monroe capped with a driving layup, and Davidson never got closer than three the rest of the game.

The Cougars went 6-for-6 from the free-throw line in the final 40 seconds to seal the win.

“They turned it into a half-court game and got us out of our rhythm,” Curry said. “We had good looks at it throughout the whole second half. Even down the stretch we had five or six good looks at a 3 to tie it up and make it a new ball game, but we just couldn’t find the baskets.”

Curry, who scored 43 points in Saturday’s quarterfinal win against Appalachian State, credited the Cougars for making Davidson take tougher and deeper shots. The Cougars credited Wiggins.

“I think he frustrates him a little bit just because Antwaine is long,” White said. “He’s 6-7 with probably a 7-2 wingspan, and that would frustrate anybody.”

Wiggins knew he couldn’t let up against Davidson’s top player.

“I could tell by his expression that he was getting a little tired, but I knew he was going to keep coming at me.”

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Curry missed his first three 3-point attempts, but his first long-range connection put the Wildcats up 14-11 with 9:10 left in the half. His second 3-pointer came with 2:39 before intermission and gave Davidson its largest lead of the half at 29-17. Curry didn’t hit a single 3 in the second half.

The Wildcats shot just 34.5 percent in the first half, while the Cougars were even worse at 21.2 percent. College of Charleston rebounded by shooting 46.4 percent from the field in the second half.

“We weren’t ourselves in the first half,” Cremins said. “They took us out of our game. We were frustrated and just trying to get to the locker room. I was glad to be down only nine.”

The Cougars hit only 20 shots from the field in the game, but Davidson knocked down just 18.  

More on: Stephen Curry | Davidson

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