January 18, 2003
DAVIDSON STOPS FURMAN 65-57
DAVIDSON, N.C. -- Matt McKillop scored a game high 18 points to lead Davidson to a 65-57 win over Furman in men’s basketball action Saturday night at Belk Arena.
McKillop, a freshman guard and the son of Wildcats head coach Bob McKillop, converted 5-of-9 field goals, including a pair of three-pointers, and all six of his free throws in his second career start to pace Davidson (9-5, 3-1 SoCon). Karim Souchu led Furman (7-12, 1-4) with 16 points.
“I thought we had some good looks in the second half but we just didn’t knock down enough of them and Davidson did,” said Furman head coach Larry Davis, whose team suffered its sixth consecutive road loss and 12th straight defeat to the Wildcats. “They did a good job of getting the ball to their shooters, and they made some big shots.”
Furman shot only 33.3 percent from the field (20x60) while Davidson converted 47.8 percent of its field goal attempts (22x46). The Wildcats, who entered the game as the nation’s leading free throw shooting team, made 15-of-20 charity stripe opportunities (75.0 percent) while the Paladins knocked down only 8-of-13 free throw attempts (61.5 percent).
Furman raced to a 20-7 lead over the game’s first eight minutes but then hit the skids offensively and failed to score from the 11:57 mark to the 4:36 juncture. In the interim Davidson reeled off 20 straight points to take a 27-20 lead on a 3-pointer by Brendan Winters before Karim Souchu ended the Paladins’ scoring drought with a pair of free throws to make it 27-22.
Trailing 31-27 at intermission, Furman rallied to take a 34-33 lead following a pair of Jason Patterson free throws just under two minutes into the second half.
The Paladins later pulled even twice, first at 43-43 on a dunk by Souchu and later at 45-45 on a basket by Sanders with 12:00 to go, but Davidson gained control over the next three and a half minutes with a 9-0 run highlighted by an offensive rebound and layup by McKillop for a 54-45 advantage with 8:30 left.
A free throw by Paco Gonzalez and 3-pointer by Tony Carter pulled the Paladins to within five points at 54-49. Davidson, however, answered with a bucket and two free throws by Winters to quickly regain its nine-point spread, which was never serioulsy threatened thereafter.
Winters joined McKillop in double figures, finishing the game with 13 points, and Michel Lusakueno led all rebounders with nine boards. Furman forged a slim 35-34 rebounding advantage and 19-10 margin on the offensive glass, but the Paladins failed to convert the opportunities into points as Davidson outscored Furman in the paint 20-12.
The game marked the season debut of 6-foot-9 sophomore center Cedric Price, who failed to score and committed three fouls in seven minutes of action. Price, who missed the final two-thirds of the 2001-02 season due to a knee injury, had sat out the first 18 games of the current campaign.
Furman returns to action on Monday when it takes on the College of Charleston in Charleston in a 7:00 p.m. game.