M. Basketball Faces Western Carolina in SoCon Title Game Monday

1S Davidson Wildcats (24-7) vs. 3N Western Carolina Catamounts (17-17)

Date: March 5, 2012 - 9 p.m.
Site: U.S. Cellular Center (6,600 capacity) - Asheville, N.C.
Audio: John Kilgo calls the action with Logan Kosmalski and Ken Hall on the Davidson Radio Network (1660 AM, 1350 AM, 1450 AM, 104.7 HD3, online at DavidsonWildcats.com and mobile devices with Radio.com and TuneIn Radio Apps)
Video: ESPN2 (Jon Sciambi and LaPhonso Ellis)
Web sites: Davidson (DavidsonWildcats.com), Western Carolina (CatamountSports.com)

Full game notes (PDF)
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Layup Line
• Davidson continues play in its 57th Southern Conference Tournament in the championship game Monday night. The No. 1S Wildcats will take on No. 3N Western Carolina at 9 p.m. in the U.S. Cellular Center.
• The contest will be televised live on ESPN2 with Jon Sciambi and LaPhonso Ellis calling the action.
• Davidson and Western Carolina played just once in the regular season, and the Wildcats earned an 88-67 victory way back on Jan. 12, in Belk Arena.
• The Wildcats are 2-4 against Western Carolina in the SoCon Tournament, and the Catamounts earned an 82-77 victory in the last meeting, the quarterfinal round of the 1999 tournament in Greensboro.
• Western Carolina has won the last three SoCon Tournament games over Davidson, including a 69-60 decision in the 1996 title game, the Catamounts' only SoCon Tournament Championship.
• The Wildcats are led by two SoCon Players of the Year. De'Mon Brooks earned the honor from the SoCon coaches, and Jake Cohen got the award from the media association. While the media association (began voting in 1951-52) and the coaches (began voting in 1989-90) have differed on their selections over the years, it's the first time two players from the same team have split the honor.
• Davidson coach Bob McKillop was named Coach of the Year in the coaches' poll. It's his eighth SoCon Coach of the Year distinction.
• The Wildcats are 17-3 in their last 20 contests and are coming off an 83-67 win over Elon in the SoCon Tournament semifinal round Sunday night.
• This will be Davidson's 18th appearance in the SoCon Tournament championship game. The Wildcats are 10-7 overall in the finals and 1-2 in title games in Asheville.
• The SoCon Tournament is in Asheville for the first time since 1995. Davidson played in the tournaments there from 1984-88 and from 1993-95.
• Davidson owns a 10-7 record in SoCon Tourney games in Asheville. The Wildcats won the tournament in 1986 and also advanced to the championship game in 1987 and 1994.
• The Wildcats' win over Furman in this year's quarterfinal round snapped a three-game SoCon Tournament losing streak for Davidson. The Wildcats lost their first game in each of the last two tournaments.
• Saturday's win against Furman was Davidson's first neutral site contest this season (the Kansas game in Kansas City is considered a Jayhawk home game by the NCAA).
• Western Carolina enters Monday's contest as the SoCon's hottest team and has won its last seven contests.
• The Catamounts are coming off an 82-77 victory over UNCG in yesterday's semifinal.
• The Catamounts will attempt to make SoCon Tournament history tonight. Since the SoCon Tournament went to its current format in 1993, no team has won four games in four days to win the title. Four teams have reached the championship game - Western Carolina in 2012, Elon in 2008, Charleston in 2009, Furman in 2002 (Elon and Furman lost to Davidson).
• The SoCon Tourney has had many different formats since its beginning in 1921. The last team to win four games in four days when other teams had first-round byes was Clemson in 1939 (defeated North Carolina, Wake Forest, Davidson and Maryland).
• Georgia won four games in four days to win the title in 1932 but there were no first-round byes.

Series History
• Davidson leads the all-time series 37-20 and is 7-2 in the last nine meetings.
• The series began with an 82-76 Wildcat win in 1977.
• The Wildcats are 2-4 against Western Carolina in the SoCon Tourney and 26-9 under head coach Bob McKillop.
• Many Wildcat fans remember the Catamounts dashing Davidson's NCAA?Tournament hopes with a 69-60 win in the 1996 SoCon Tourney title game in Greensboro. Davidson went undefeated in conference play with a 14-0 record that season and came into the game with a 25-3 overall record.
• Last meeting: Davidson forward Jake Cohen scored 26 points to go over 1,000 for his career and led the Wildcats to an 88-67 win over Western Carolina Jan. 12, in Belk Arena.
• Cohen, who came into the game with 987 career points, took care of the milestone early as the junior scored the Wildcats' first 13 points of the game. His 13th point came on a 3-pointer from the top of the key just 3:56 into the contest and gave Davidson a 13-5 lead.
• He finished the night 8-for-13 from the floor and 4-for-4 from 3-point range while registering six rebounds, three assists and four blocked shots. Chris Czerapowicz posted 13 points, five rebounds and two blocked shots for the Wildcats, and Clint Mann scored 11.
• JP Kuhlman had 12 points, five rebounds and five assists. Nik Cochran and De'Mon Brooks each scored eight, and Cochran added a game-high seven assists.
• The Wildcats had 18 assists on 24 made baskets and committed just four turnovers. Davidson also blocked a season-high seven shots on the defensive end and held the Catamounts to 38 percent shooting from the field, including 29 percent in the second half.
• Harouna Mutombo led Western Carolina with 17 points and posted eight rebounds. Brandon Boggs scored 13 points, and Tawaski King collected nine points and eight rebounds.

Academic All-American
• JP Kuhlman has been named third-team Capital One Academic All-America by the College Sports Information Directors of America.
• He is the seventh Davidson men's basketball player to garner Academic All-America honors and the first since Derek Rucker earned first-team accolades in 1988.
• He has a 3.80 grade point average in religion and plans to attend medical school after graduating from Davidson.

Claw Marks
• With the best overall record in the SoCon, the Wildcats have clinched the league's automatic bid to the NIT.
• Ninety-eight percent of the 'Cats' scoring and 96 percent of their rebounding comes from juniors, sophomores and freshmen.
• The 'Cats have posted 20 wins under head coach Bob McKillop 10 times, including six of the last eight seasons. Davidson has won 20 games in a season 19 times.
• Davidson has won its eighth SoCon division title in the last 11 seasons and the 11th title under head coach Bob McKillop.
• The Wildcats rank eighth in the nation in team free-throw percentage (.766). Nik Cochran, Jake Cohen and JP Kuhlman all rank in the top-12 in the SoCon.
• Davidson has made 20 or more free throws in 11 games this season.
• Davidson hit all of its free throws (14-for-14) against Duke Nov. 18, for the first time since 2008 (Appalachian State, 6-for-6). The 'Cats also made all seven attempts against Chattanooga Feb. 4.
• Davidson changed the starting lineup for the first time this season against Samford, Feb. 15, as Chris Czerapowicz got his first career start. The 'Cats are 3-1 since the change.
• The Wildcats have led at halftime in 26 games.
• JP Kuhlman has been named to the Cousy Award watch list. The award is given annually to the nation's best point guard.
• By defeating Kansas 80-74 Dec. 19, the Wildcats defeated a ranked opponent for the first time since topping Wisconsin 73-56 in the 2008 NCAA Tournament.
• It was Davidson's first win over a ranked opponent in the regular season since defeating No. 15 South Carolina Jan. 16, 1974.
• It was the 'Cats' first win over a ranked opponent on the road since defeating No. 17 St. John's 88-84 Jan. 4, 1972.
• Davidson finished the campaign with a 6-5 record in non-conference games.
• Davidson did not give up a 3-pointer at UNCW Nov. 26 (0-for-3).
• The 'Cats' game against Georgia Southern Jan. 7, was the 300th in Belk Arena, which opened in 1989. Davidson won the contest 96-74.
• Davidson returned seven of its top eight scorers and four starters from last season. Players who accounted for 81 percent of the team's scoring and 87 percent of the team's rebounding are back in uniform this year.

Davidson Milestone Watch
• Fellow juniors Jake Cohen and JP Kuhlman have registered their 1,000th career point. Cohen's came against Western Carolina Jan. 12, and Kuhlman topped the mark at Appalachian State Jan. 14. Both players were Preseason All-SoCon selections.
• Jake Cohen is 26 blocked shots away from breaking the school career record. Frank Ben-Eze needs 12 to crack the top-10.
• Cohen needs 52 rebounds to crack the top-20. The junior is one of three players in school history to record over 1,000 career points, 500 rebounds and 100 blocked shots (Jamie Hall '82, Detlef Musch '93). Davidson did not keep blocks as a stat until the 1976-77 season.
• De'Mon Brooks is 228 points away from 1,000 and 150 rebounds shy of 500.
• Nik Cochran is 256 points short of 1,000.

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