SPORTS

 

DAVIDSON, N.C. — Coming off the longest game in school history, the Davidson Wildcats just missed setting a school record during an 85-50 dismantling of UMass Saturday night in Belk Arena.

The Wildcats shot 72.1 percent from the floor (31-of-43), just shy of the 72.4 percent (42-of-58) performance Davidson had against Marshall on Jan. 10, 1981.

Additionally, Davidson had 20 assists on 31 buckets, and the Wildcats scored enough points (52) in the first half to win.

Safe to say, they bounced back from their four-overtime loss at George Washington Wednesday night.

“They came out focused and with tremendous toughness,” said Davidson coach Bob McKillop.

The Wildcats (11-10, 5-4 A-10) jumped on the Minutemen early and took control with 16-2 run that stretched the lead to 24-9 at the 10:30 mark of the first half. Thirteen unanswered points late in the half made it 47-19, and Luka Brajkovic’s layup pushed it to 52-22 at the break.

Davidson’s lead grew to 40 at the 7:18 mark of the second half after a Kellan Grady layup capped a 9-0 spurt and to make it 76-36.

Grady led all scorers with 19 points, while Jon Axel Gudmundsson added 15 points with seven assists. And freshman Hyunjung Lee chipped in 16 points off the bench, connecting on four of his five 3-point attempts.

“Lee’s not afraid,” said Grady. “When he’s aggressive, that’s when he’s at his best, and he was aggressive tonight. We don’t want Lee passing up any shots — ever.”

Brajkovic and Carter Collins scored in double figures as well, with 12 and 11 points, respectively.

Tre Mitchell’s 14 points led UMass (9-13, 3-6).

Up Next
Davidson returns to action Friday night when it visits VCU for a 7 p.m. tip on ESPN2.