January 5, 2003
The Davidson men's basketball team is definitely glad to be back in North Carolina. The Wildcats opened Southern Conference play with an impressive 86-72 victory over The Citadel in Belk Arena on Sunday afternoon. The 'Cats improved to 7-3 overall, 1-0 in the conference and extended their home winning streak to six. The Citadel, meanwhile, fell to 4-7 overall and 0-1 in league play.
Sophomore forward Conor Grace had a career-high 23 points, including five three-pointers. He also added eight rebounds and dished out five assists on the afternoon. Senior guard Peter Anderer extended his streak of double-digit games to eight, scoring 19 points on 7-of-10 from the floor and 4-of-7 from three-point range. The Bulldogs were led by Clyde Wormley with 11 points.
Davidson wasted little time taking control of the game. After trailing 7-6 at the 17:33 mark, the Wildcats went on an 18-0 run over a span of about eight minutes, taking a lead they would never relinquish. At one point, Grace had nine points on three three-pointers while the entire Bulldog team had managed only seven points.
"Conor Grace was sensational today," Davidson head coach Bob McKillop stated. "His inside-outside presence was terrific. This was probably the best game he's played at Davidson."
Wildcat senior point guard Wayne Bernard picked up his second foul of the half with over 10 minutes to play in the half. In previous games, this has spelled disaster for Davidson, but junior guard Terrell Ivory stepped in to lead the offense, hitting all three of his field goals and causing a Bulldog turnover. The Wildcat lead was 49-31 at the break.
Davidson had little trouble in the second half, extending the lead to as many as 24. The Citadel defense did come on stronger in the final period, causing nine Wildcat turnovers as compared to only two in the first half.
"Our assist-to-turnover ratio (23-to-11) is indicative of our players handling the ball with poise," said McKillop, "and it's also indicative of our players making the extra pass, things we didn't do in our two losses out in Arizona."
The Wildcats shot 49 percent for the game, their defense holding the Bulldogs to 35 percent. Davidson also shot 85 percent from the free throw line, with Grace and freshman Ian Johnson each shooting a perfect 4-of-4.
Along with Grace and Anderer, three other 'Cats scored in double figures. Freshman Brendan Winters had 13 points, eight rebounds and three assists. Bernard scored 10 points and added five assists, and Johnson also netted 10 points in 28 minutes of play. The 49 points scored by Davidson in the first half was the most points allowed in a half by The Citadel in two years.
Davidson heads on the road again to take on the North Carolina Tar Heels on Wednesday, Jan. 8, at the Dean Smith Center. Tip time is scheduled for 8 p.m. The Citadel returns home to face Emmanuel on Tuesday at 7:15 p.m.
