NEWS

The ‘Cats defeated the Bonnies on Feb. 27 in Belk Arena.

‘Cats Begin A-10 Tournament Play Wednesday Against Bonnies

DAVIDSON COLLEGE WILDCATS

TOURNAMENT INFORMATION

CONFERENCE TOURNAMENT HISTORY

*Big South Member from 1990-92

WILDCAT SCRATCHES

• The eighth-seeded Davidson Wildcats enter the 2023 Atlantic 10 Men’s Basketball Tournament 15-15 overall.
• The Wildcats closed the regular season winning four of their last five contests, including a 68-54 win at Rhode Island Saturday evening.
• Davidson, which received a first-round bye, will meet ninth-seeded St. Bonaventure in Wednesday’s second round.
• The Wildcats defeated the Bonnies 74-61 in their only matchup of the 2022-23 campaign on February 22 in Davidson.
• Since joining the Atlantic 10 in 2014-15, Davidson has won two regular season titles (2015, 2022), a tournament championship (2018), made three NCAA Tournaments (2015, 2018, 2022), totaled 99 league wins (11.0 per year) and made the A-10 Tournament semifinals every year.
• In their nine years as league members, the Wildcats have recorded an average regular-season finish of 4.7 in the 15-team conference.
• On Tuesday, Foster Loyer (2nd Team) and Sam Mennenga (3rd Team) were selected all-conference.
• Loyer was also voted to the league’s all-academic squad, becoming the ‘Cats first since joining the A-10.
• Davidson is 76-53 all-time in conference tournament play and has won 13 tournament crowns (12 – SoCon, 1 – A-10).
• The Wildcats, last year’s regular season champion, fell to sixth-seeded Richmond, 64-62, in the 2022 title game at Capital One Arena in Washington, D.C.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS

• Foster Loyer, who has scored 952 of his 1,177 career points at Davidson, ranks among league leaders in scoring (16.6/7th), 3-pointers made (69/7th), free-throw percentage (.918/1st), 3-pointers per game (2.3/7th), assists per game (4.4/4th), steals per game (1.8/4th) and minutes per game (35.2 / 7th).
• Fellow captain Sam Mennenga also ranks among A-10 statistical leaders in several categories — scoring (15.5/11th), rebounding (6.6/9th), field-goal percentage (.515/11th) and 3-point field-goal percentage (.382/14th).
• In addition to contributing 10.3 points per game in Atlantic 10 play, Grant Huffman averaged 12.5 points the last six games of the regular season.
• Loyer and teammate David Skogman (.881) rank 1-2 in the league in free-throw percentage.
• The Wildcats are 9-4 on the season when making at least eight 3-pointers in a contest.
• 14 of Davidson’s contests this season have been decided by five or fewer points, including eight in league play. The Wildcats are just 5-9 in those contests.

LAST TIME OUT | DAVIDSON – 68, RHODE ISLAND – 70 MARCH 4, 2023 | KINGSTON, R.I.

• Foster Loyer scored 21 of his game-high 33 points in the second half as Davidson closed out the regular season with a convincing 68-54 victory at Rhode Island Saturday evening inside the Ryan Center.
• A redshirt senior from Clarkston, Mich., Loyer finished 10-of-22 from the floor, made five 3-pointers and finished perfect at the charity stripe (8-for-8) en route to his fifth career 30-point outing.
• Loyer was joined in double figures by his backcourt mate Grant Huffman, who added 14 points to go along with 4 assists.
• After Rhode Island (9-21, 5-13 A-10) tied the contest 20-20 to open the second half, the Wildcats responded with nine unanswered points, capped by seven straight from Huffman to take the lead for good.
• Davidson, which shot 56 percent after intermission, started the final stanza 10-of-14 (.714) from the floor and pushed the margin to as many as 17 in the final minute.
• Ishmael Leggett and Brandon Weston were the lone Rams in double figures with 14 and 11 points, respectively.
• Despite both teams struggling to score in the first 20 minutes, Davidson used an 11-0 run midway through the period to erase an early deficit, before going to the half up, 20-18. During the ‘Cats spurt, they held the Rams without a point for almost 10 minutes.
• The Wildcats forced 20 turnovers converting them into 14 points at the other end, all coming in the final frame.

GET BETTER EVERY DAY

• One of the Wildcats’ philosophies is to get better everyday, and Davidson has seen the fruits of that labor at the end of the year.
• Since 2003-04, the Wildcats own a 116-34 record in the month of February.
• Davidson is 53-32 in March during that time.