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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Davidson’s Curry belongs with elite

Nancy Armour Associated Press

DETROIT – On the red trim at the bottom of his shoes, Stephen Curry has written in black marker, “I can do all things.”

Yes, yes he can.

Because of him, Davidson is marching on.

Curry scored more than 30 points for a third straight game, and the 10th-seeded Wildcats pulled off another surprise Friday night, rolling over third-seeded Wisconsin 73-56 to advance to the finals of the Midwest Regional of the NCAA men’s basketball tournament.

Little Davidson has become so big, even LeBron James is on the bandwagon, snagging a seat a few rows behind the Wildcats bench.

“It just shows what we’re doing here at Davidson,” Curry said. “We got guys that are in the spotlight and they’re coming to our game and watching us play. It’s pretty cool to give him something to be happy about and cheer about and just entertain him.”

Curry, the son of former NBA sharpshooter Dell Curry, outscored the Badgers all by himself in the second half, 22-20. He finished with 33 points on 11-of-22 shooting, including six 3-pointers.

Add in his 30-point effort against Maryland in last year’s NCAA tournament, and Curry joins Clyde Lovellette of Kansas, Jerry Chambers of Utah and Glenn Robinson of Purdue as the only players to score 30 or more in their first four career NCAA tournament games.

“In the NBA, I never experienced this as a player. I don’t think even in all my playoff games in my career that I’ve felt like this,” said Dell Curry, who was getting congratulatory high-fives at the end of the game. “To see your son succeed and have fun on a national stage is great.”

Davidson (29-6) extended the nation’s longest winning streak to 25. The Wildcats will try to make it 26 Sunday, when they play Kansas for a trip to the Final Four.

This marked the second time in three tournaments that a double-digit seed got this far. In 2006, 11th-seeded George Mason reached the Final Four. It’s the furthest Davidson has advanced since 1969, when Lefty Driesell’s squad got to the East Regionals before losing to North Carolina.

This is exactly what Davidson’s happy band of travelers was hoping when it boarded all those buses. The Board of Trustees paid the way – bus fare, tickets and a hotel room – for students who wanted to make the 11-hour ride from North Carolina, and a few hundred took them up on the offer.

The nation got an idea of what Curry can do last weekend, when he scored 40 against Gonzaga – 30 in the second half alone – and 30 against Georgetown.

But big, brawny Wisconsin (31-5) was supposed to be different.

Badgers defensive specialist Michael Flowers has made many a perimeter player ineffective, and Wisconsin was holding opponents to 53.9 points, best in the nation. Their 3-point defense was even stingier; in the second round last weekend, Kansas State didn’t manage a single bucket from long range.

Instead of being intimidated by the big stage the Wildcats shot 49 percent from the floor, and were 12 of 24 from 3-point range.

“Michael did a pretty good job of chasing Curry and trying to force some things,” Wisconsin coach Bo Ryan said. “He made some tough shots. But so did some of the other guys. I thought they got a lot of contributions when they needed them. And that’s how you get to keep playing in the NCAA tournament.”

Flowers led the Badgers with 12 and three others finished in double figures, but the Badgers never found their offensive rhythm. The defense that was so fearsome all year also never materialized.

“It’s hard for a defense to sustain themselves for a whole 40 minutes. Eventually, you’ll find yourself open,” Curry said.