Welcome Mason Nation and A10 fans! We’re running a little late today because Daylight Savings Time is a creation of the devil. Let’s get started.
Today we’ve got the scorching hot Davidson offense against the mighty Rhode Island defense. Rhody didn’t look good yesterday, giving up 1.3 points per possession against St. Joe’s and needing a 50 point outburst in the second half to win. Davidson can hurt Rhody in all the same ways that the Hawks did, and more. For more on this game, you can listen to this pod right here.
Rhody has the personnel to extend their defense out to the perimeter and not get smoked inside. I think we see a lot of Cyril Langevine for them today, but I’ve said that the last two games and he’s been saddled with foul trouble. He changes Rhody’s complexion on defense if he gets a full complement of minutes today. Everyone knows how well Davidson can shoot, but they can also backcut you to death if your defense extends too far. Langevine’s rim protection can help with that.
Rhody shot 45% from three on volume yesterday, which is unusual for them. They’ll need a similar performance against Davidson’s base 2-3 zone to keep pace. Similar to St. Joe’s, Davidson wants to let you shoot if it means they’re keeping you out of the paint. Stay tuned!
Final: Davidson 58, URI 57
Kellan Grady thought he had an open lane to the rim before Langevine soared over for an explosive block at the rim. I told you to watch out for that guy! URI got the ball with 29 seconds left and 19 on the shot clock, and Davidson’s defense held them to a Stan Robinson jumper, which went halfway down before rattling out. Kellan Grady grabbed the rebound, but his momentum took him out of bounds, giving URI the ball with ten seconds on the clock and a one point deficit.
If you’re reading this, you already know what happened next. EC Matthews tried to drive on Kellan Grady but got stoned, then passed it up to Jeff Dowtin, who had to heave up a prayer. The ball went out of bounds with 0.6 on the clock, and Davidson closed it off from there. It’s tough to describe how well Davidson defended those last two possessions – Stan Robinson is probably the guy you want shooting if you’re Davidson, and when they got the ball back to EC Matthews, Grady didn’t give him an inch of daylight. Absolutely clutch performance from a Davidson team that only hit one field goal in the last 14 minutes, a Kellan Grady floater.
1:27 second half: URI 57, Davidson 56
The stat tracker says that Davidson hasn’t hit a field goal since 14:04 left in the half. I’m sitting here watching and I knew it was bad, but I can’t believe it’s that bad. All of their points have been free throws over a 12 minute span.
EC Matthews hit a gigantic three and Kishawn Pritchett had one go halfway down before rattling out. This would be a brutal, brutal loss for Davidson. Opportunity feels like it’s slipping away here as the Rhode Island crowd is ROWDY. Davidson ball out of the timeout after an EC Matthews turnover.
4:15 second half: URI 53, Davidson 52
Davidson looked like they were about to take control yet again, but Rhody hit consecutive threes from Jeff Dowtin and Jarvis Garrett, then Dowtin added a jumper. Davidson missed a layup and turned the ball over during that stretch. It’s an 8-0 Rhody run over the last 1:22 and the Rhody crowd is going wild.
7:09 second half: Davidson 49, URI 45
It feels like Davidson should be in control, but they’ve missed a few easy looks at the rim. They also wasted yet another possession on an unusual turnover where Peyton Aldridge zigged when Riegel thought he was gonna zag, and then Stan Robinson drew a charge on Kellan Grady on a fast break. They keep coming up empty.
Rhody’s defense is clamping down but they’re still not hitting shots. Jared Terrell only has 5 points, Dowtin 4. EC Matthews is doing the heavy lifting and keeping them in this game with 17 points. Matthews hit a tough layup in the paint to cut the lead to four, and this place is going nuts.
11:49 second half: Davidson 47, URI 39
We’ve had Cyril Langevine against Will Magarity in the frontcourt for a couple minutes and that’s a matchup that favors Rhody. Langevine has already drawn a couple fouls on Wildcats, but he missed both free throws he took. He also stayed in front of Aldridge on the last possession and forced him into a missed jumper. Despite all that, a couple fouls on Rhode Island have given the Cats some free points, and they’ve extended the lead.
15:40 second half: Davidson 43, URI 37
Kellan Grady hit two threes to open the half, and Peyton Aldridge added a three-point play to take a six point lead. Oskar Michelsen drew a charge on Andre Berry, and with a chance to take control, Davidson got a really uncharacteristic shot-clock violation. Andre Berry and Peyton Aldridge traded buckets and the lead stayed at six. Feels like there’s no way this game isn’t coming down to the wire.
Halftime: URI 33, Davidson 32
Kishawn Pritchett is now Davidson’s leading scorer with 9 points, all on threes, as Aldridge and Grady haven’t connected from deep yet. Davidson feels lucky to only trail by one. They’ve got a couple uncharacteristic turnovers on backcuts that it looks like were the result of poor anticipation – one pass JAG wasn’t even looking for, and another where Aldridge stopped when the passer was trying to lead him. They need that backcut game working since Rhody is sticking tight to shooters outside the arc.
Davidson finishes the half 4-11 from deep, while Rhody was 5-11. Rhody rarely shoots that well, but Davidson is looking to prevent penetration, so looks will be there.
Minutes watch: Langevine and Berry split 10 minutes apiece for Rhody, while Michelsen and Magarity had 11 and 9 minutes for Davidson. My guess is we see more Langevine and Michelsen frontcourts after the half. JAG, Aldridge, and Grady played all 20 minutes for Davidson. Matthews, Dowtin, and Robinson went for 17, 16, and 15 minutes while Terrell was limited to 12 minutes with foul trouble.
2:56 first half: Davidson 29, URI 29
Role reversal – Davidson started 1-7 from three while Rhode Island is 4-9. Davidson has also been a little sloppy, missing a few looks at the rim and having a couple careless turnovers. Rhode Island’s defense is really extended – it looks like they don’t mind giving up inside looks if they can stop the threes. Kishawn Pritchett buried consecutive looks, but Davidson is still only 3-10 from deep. It’s a good sign for them that the game is tied and they haven’t heated up yet. Rhody is still sending double teams at Aldridge to get the ball out of his hands.
Rhody’s offense is using the whole shot clock most times down the court, and they’re relying on shotmaking a little bit more than good looks at this point. EC Matthews is 3-4 from deep, including a couple heat checks, and Cyril Langevine has a couple nice finishes inside against Davidson’s smaller interior defenders.
7:03 first half: Davidson 23, URI 23
Cyril Langevine changes the game defensively for Rhody. He hedged hard on a ballscreen for JAG, then got back out to give a strong contest on a Will Magarity three-point attempt that missed. Davidson is suddenly cold from the field and Rhody’s hitting threes. Davidson started 6-7 but they are now 4 of their last 12. Fatts Russell is in for Rhody and JAG basically bullied him out of the way and got an easy layup at the rim – watch out for that matchup, as Davidson’s taller guards can pick on Fatts. Fatts made up for it by forcing a steal on an entry pass to Aldridge, but he’ll get picked on in isolation.
Rhody’s starting to send double teams at Aldridge. Aldridge found a wide open Rusty Riegel with a crosscourt skip pass, but Riegel couldn’t hit it. Jared Terrell just picked up his second foul, so I doubt we see any more of him this half.
11:49 first half: Davidson 16, URI 15
Rhody’s given away a few possessions with turnovers. Jarvis Garrett slipped in the backcourt and lost his handle on the ball, which led to an easy breakaway dunk for Kellan Grady. Cyril Langevine is in the game now and already got a monster helpside block that looked close to a goaltend, but the officials allowed it. Davidson hasn’t taken a three in the last few possessions as their backcut game is working, but they’ve missed a couple at the rim.
14:12 first half: Davidson 13, URI 12
Peyton Aldridge started the game with a quick turnaround over Stan Robinson. Jon Axel Gudmundsson (hereafter JAG) is getting to the rim with ease, as Rhody’s big Andre Berry is out of the paint because he has to chase Oskar Michelsen, who’s already hit a three. Davidson is getting whatever they want inside, but JAG missed an easy finish at the rim. Once again Andre Berry opened all the scoring for Rhode Island with their first six points. Jared Terrell and EC Matthews hit consecutive threes after Davidson opened up a 13-6 lead. Both teams came to play and we’re watching some beautiful basketball right now.
