Dave and Busters

By Kyle Whelliston on March 21, 2008 8:54 PM | Permalink

O Wildcats, dispatchers of Zags, plain-sight stealers of ACC-level recruits! You play a fair game, you play a square game, and you win in everything! Davidson's red and black machine won its 23rd game in a row, but its first at the NCAA tournament since 1969, when ol' Lefty Driesell paced the Wildcat sidelines. A lot of us weren't even born then!

Mid-Majority SoCon Player of the Year Stephen Curry, teenage idol, crowned boy-king of western North Carolina... nobody will ever pronounce your name wrong, ever again. If they do, they have to wear a red Davidson No. 30 jersey for two days as penance... and we will do our best in enforcing that law.

Twenty-four points in the first 14 points of the second half -- against every type of defense ever invented -- on the way to four-oh. Eight 3-pointers, but none as big as the one with a minute to go that split open a tie and greased Gonzaga's skids.

As for Gonzaga, that school we once offered backhanded respect to with a five-letter acronym, one that hasn't had a losing record in the NCAA Tournament since Dan Monson led the Zags on that miracle 1999 run to the Elite Eight (out of a No. 10 seed, you'll remember), their second straight first round loss brings them just one game above .500 all time at 12-11. And they're now in the odd situation of watching San Diego march on to the Round of 32, fellow members in a league that Gonzaga is supposed to lord over. What of the G-Men's future? Are they in for a long summer of "are they mids again" speculation? Does Mark Grier hold the WCC's One Ring after all? We'll deal with all that later. Onward, Cats, onward still!

(10) DAVIDSON 82, (7) GONZAGA 76

GONZAGA 25-8 (13-1) -- G. Carr 9-21 2-2 26; J. Pargo 5-10 6-8 18; S. Gray 7-12 0-0 21; J. Heytvelt 5-6 1-3 12; M. Bouldin 4-8 0-0 8; A. Daye 3-13 0-1 7; D. Pendergraft 2-3 0-0 5; A. Kuso 0-1 1-2 1; L. Gurganious 1-1 0-0 2; M. Downs 0-0 0-0 0; A. Sorenson 0-0 0-0 0; R. Sacre 1-1 0-0 2; I. Brown 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 28-55 8-14 76.

DAVIDSON 27-6 (20-0) -- S. Curry 14-22 4-6 40; J. Richards 4-14 5-7 15; M. Paulhus Gosselin 2-6 2-2 7; A. Lovedale 4-8 4-6 12; T. Sander 1-1 0-0 2; B. Meno 0-0 0-0 0; W. Archambault 1-3 0-0 2; S. Rossiter 2-2 0-0 4; B. Barr 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 28-57 15-21 82.

Three-point goals: GONZ 12-27 (J. Heytvelt 1-1; D. Pendergraft 1-2; J. Pargo 2-5; M. Bouldin 0-1; A. Daye 1-6; S. Gray 7-12), DAV 11-22 (J. Richards 2-7; M. Paulhus Gosselin 1-3; W. Archambault 0-1; B. Barr 0-1; S. Curry 8-10); Rebounds: GONZ 33 (J. Heytvelt 8), DAV 27 (A. Lovedale 13); Assists: GONZ 14 (J. Pargo 6), DAV 18 (J. Richards 9); Total Fouls -- GONZ 19, DAV 18; Fouled Out: GONZ-D. Pendergraft; DAV-None.

Yes, I've written about it.