Wednesday, March 6, 2024 6:00 p.m.
Belk Arena, Davidson, N.C.
The Rambler Road Dogs are off the leash again for the last time in the regular season, Wednesday night at 6 p.m. at Belk Arena in Davidson. Riding high from their first win over a ranked foe in almost three years, Loyola still needs to win out and hope for a stumble by Richmond for a share of the A-10 title.
Davidson has been without their best player, David Skogman, for most of the conference season. But nevertheless, the Wildcats have played nearly every team tough as nails. Eight of their 11 conference losses have come by 5 points or fewer, and four of their last five losses have been between 1- and 3-point games. Their two losses to league-leading Richmond came in overtime and by three points in regulation. They lost a wild OT game at St. Bonaventure, 81-80, only a few days before the Ramblers lost there by 15 points.
As a result of their tight losses—even against some of the best teams in the league --- the metrics have rewarded Coach McKillop’s squad. At 5-11 in conference, 15-14 overall, the ‘Cats rank only 10 KenPom spots behind the 13-3 in conference, 21-8 overall Ramblers. In the first meeting between Loyola and Davidson at Gentile Arena on Feb. 4, Loyola won 76-61 behind four Ramblers in double-digits. The Davidson duo of Reed Bailey and Grant Huffman each scored 23 points in that one, but no other Wildcat has more than five.
The hallmark of Davidson’s game is taking care of the ball, making opponents work hard on long possessions, and physical play by big bodies inside. Their size is really impressive—they have the 14th highest average height in college hoops this season. But they have some weak spots, too. They are second from the bottom in the league in effective field goal percentage, three-point field goal percentage, and offensive rebounding. Since losing their top three-point shooter David Skogman for the season to a foot injury on Jan. 20, they’re shooting only 28.5% as a team from behind the arc.
The likely starters Wednesday night are 6’4” senior guard Grant Huffman, 6’5” senior guard Connor Kochera, 6’7” freshman forward Bobby Durkin, 6’11” sophomore Reed Bailey, and 6’10” sophomore Sean Logan.
Huffman is the leader in scoring and assists at 12.9 and 5.1 respectively, plus he adds 5.1 rebounds per game. Kochera (out of Arlington Heights and St. Viator) averages 12.5 points and 4.3 rebounds. In the frontcourt, rookie forward Bobby Durkin is another Chicago-area player from Darien and Glenbard West; he averages 8.5 points and 4.6 boards. Bailey averages 12.8 points and 5.8 rebounds. Logan was the top frontcourt bench player before Skogman’s injury, and is their top shot-blocker with 1.6 blocks per game in addition to 2.6 points and 3.3 boards.
Coach McKillop rarely goes much deeper than eight players, so the bench consists of 6’3” sophomore guard Angelo Brizzi, 6’4” guard Archie Spadone, and 6’7” freshman forward Hunter Adam. They each average between 11 and 19 minutes per game, and Brizzi leads the bench players with 5.7 ppg.
The Ramblers still have
an outside shot at the outright league title and #1 seed (5% according to our old friend Matt Hackman). A share of the regular season title is also possible if Richmond loses either at home to St. Joe’s or on the road at George Mason and the Ramblers win out. Dayton could still pass the Ramblers for #2 seed or drop to #4 depending on Tuesday night games.
But for the Ramblers, they’ll need to finish the conference season 7-2 on the road with a win at Davidson for the best outcome to hold true. It will be an uphill battle on Davidson’s Senior Night, which is their last home game of the season (and there’s also a $5 beer special for this game at Belk Arena).
Loyola game notes: https://loyolaramblers.com/news/2024/3/ ... olina.aspxDavidson game notes: https://davidsonwildcats.com/news/2024/ ... ay-rematchTV/Streaming video: ESPN +
https://www.espn.com/watch/player/_/eve ... =401596942Radio/Streaming audio: https://loyolaramblers.com/watch/?Live=181&type=Live Live stats: https://davidsonwildcats.com/sidearmsta ... ll/summary Vegas odds: Davison by 1.5