Davidson goes cold late in second half, loses NIT home opener 89-81 to Lipscomb
The final dagger on Davidson’s basketball season came with 35 seconds left on the clock, but the bleeding had already begun.
The Wildcats led for most of Tuesday’s NIT first-round game, only ceding the lead to Lipscomb with less than five minutes left in the second half. It was a back-and-forth contest to that point, the teams trading 3-point bombs — and the lead — from possession to possession.
And then, ice.
Davidson went shockingly cold, just as it had in the team’s Atlantic-10 semifinal loss to St. Louis, allowing the Bisons to roll off an 18-4 run.
A few baskets from all-conference guard Kellan Grady eventually brought the Wildcats within 3, but even his 31 weren’t enough.
With 35 seconds left, Lipscomb’s Eli Pepper hit a corner 3 that all-but silenced Davidson’s raucous crowd. For as promising a season as the Wildcats had, by the end of Tuesday night’s 89-81 loss, they had nothing left to give.
Three who mattered
Luke Frampton: The redshirt freshman guard started the game 5-for-5, including three 3-pointers, to give Davidson an early advantage. But he was clearly fatigued later in the game as his shots stopped falling. He finished with 19.
Garrison Matthews: Lipscomb’s leading scorer changed the entire pace of the game when he was fouled twice midway through the second half. That not only slowed the game down, but gave Matthews a few of his 14.
Kellan Grady: After a subpar 3-for-17 shooting effort in Davidson’s A-10 tournament semifinal loss, the all-conference guard came back to normal at home and finished with a game-high 31.
Observations
▪ Both teams shot better than 50 percent from 3-point range in the first half, although seven of Davidson’s first-half 3s came from Frampton and Grady (four and three, respectively). Davidson then proceeded to go 3-for-13 from behind the arc after halftime.
▪ Despite a similar number of turnovers for both teams — Davidson had 15, Lipscomb 13 — the Bisons were much more efficient in turning those giveaways into points. Lipscomb outscored Davidson 23-9 off of turnovers.
▪ Lipscomb had nine players go for double-digit minutes, compared to just six for Davidson. That depth meant the Bisons were able to roll in fresh bodies, while the Wildcats’ key starters were forced to keep running while on empty.
Worth mentioning
▪ The first foul of the game didn’t come until 9:39 left in the first half, almost unthinkable in today’s college basketball. By comparison, the first foul of the ACC Championship game between Duke and Florida State on Saturday came less than two minutes into the game.
▪ This year’s NIT is experimenting with a new set of rules, including a farther 3-point line and wider post area, more in line with the size of NBA courts. Additionally, teams no longer can attempt ‘one-and-one’ free throws, with fouls past a certain threshold resulting in an automatic two free throws.
▪ Jon Axel Gudmundsson, Davidson’s leading scorer and the Atlantic-10 Player of the Year this season, surprisingly went scoreless through the first 15 minutes of the game. He eventually finished with nine.
They said it
“It was a combination of us just missing shots and not getting stops, as simple as that sounds.” – Grady.
“In the second half, I just sort of lost my legs.” – Frampton on his fatigue after playing 36 minutes.
“Our guys just fought and fought and fought ... but we just didn’t have enough in the tank.” – Coach Bob McKillop.
This story was originally published March 19, 2019 at 9:34 PM.
