University of North Carolina Athletics
Know Your Opponent: Davidson
December 6, 2015 | Men's Basketball
Davidson (DavidsonWildcats.com)
Location: Davidson, N.C.
Rankings: No. 55 KenPom, RV AP
Record: 5-0
Carolina Series History (Last Meeting): Carolina leads 63-11 (UNC 90, Davidson 72, Nov. 22, 2014, Charlotte)
If you can't get fired up for what figures to be the most wide open game of the season, you probably aren't reading Know Your Opponent to begin with. But since you are, go ahead and make plans to be thoroughly entertained for two hours starting Sunday night around 6 p.m.
Last fall, Davidson was set to begin a new era in its first season as a member of the Atlantic-10. Two-time SoCon Player of the Year De'Mon Brooks was gone from a team that went 15-1 in its final season in that conference and the Wildcats were picked to finish 12th out of 14 teams in the A-10. All Bob McKillop's team did was rattle off nine straight regular season wins to claim the outright league title and earn an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament for the first time in program history.
After a disastrous end to 2014-15 that saw the Wildcats crash out of the A-10 tournament with a 20-point loss to VCU before a 31-point loss to Iowa in their NCAA opener, McKillop again had to replace a conference player of the year due to the graduation of Tyler Kalinoski. The response? Davidson is 5-0 for the first time in 47 years, it ranks in the top 20 nationally in offensive efficiency according to KenPom.com and no team in the land is better at limiting turnovers.
The McKillop formula is as simple as it is effective - protect the ball, take and make 3s at a high rate and push the tempo. Having a shooter like junior Jack Gibbs (he of the 41-points-on-17-shots performance against Charlotte) doesn't hurt. Neither does returning a senior duo like Jordan Barham and Brian Sullivan, the latter of whom basically never leaves the court and dropped 33 on the Tar Heels two seasons ago in Chapel Hill.
Forwards Peyton Aldridge and Jake Belford round out the starting five, with 6-9 Oskar Michelsen leading the way off the bench as another threat from deep. In all, four different Wildcats have attempted at least 22 3s through five games, led by Sullivan's 19 of 44 (43 percent) start.
Davidson has all but completely eschewed offensive rebounding this season, making up for the reduction in possessions with the aforementioned elite ball security. McKillop, much like his opposite number Roy Williams, recruits players who fit his system and lets them play without much in the way of live ball overcoaching. If the shots are falling for both teams Sunday, get set for one of the most compelling non-conference matchups of the year.
