Davidson Wildcats trying to turn around a season that’s gone wrong early

The basketball season has been a surprising struggle so far for the Davidson Wildcats.

Heading into Saturday’s game at Northeastern, the Wildcats (3-5) haven’t yet lived up to preseason expectations -- that a group returning its top six players from last year’s 24-win team would compete for the Atlantic 10 title and a spot in the NCAA tournament.

Instead, Davidson has played well only in fits and starts. The Wildcats went 1-2 in a tournament in Orlando, Fla., last week, losing to Marquette and Temple and beating Fairfield.

How is coach Bob McKillop responding?

“Fighting,” he said Wednesday.

There have been some mitigating factors for the Wildcats:

▪ Starting sophomore guard Luke Frampton -- among the best 3-point shooters in the A-10 -- is on a personal leave of absence. McKillop told the Observer on Wednesday that Frampton will not return this season.

▪ Senior guard KiShawn Pritchett, who would qualify as the Wildcats’ “glue guy,” but who has struggled with knee problems his entire career, still hasn’t played this season and there is no set timetable for his return. Pritchett also has had to deal with the recent deaths of two of his cousins, McKillop said.

▪ McKillop said sophomore backup guard David Czeropiwicz recently had hip surgery and will miss the rest of the season.

“I think we’re in a very unique situation,” McKillop said. “We’re missing some things. But everybody has injuries. We have shown at times that we can put some productive minutes together. But we haven’t done that enough. That’s why there’s the inconsistency.

“Maybe we haven’t shown enough resiliency. But resiliency becomes a byproduct of experience. I think our guys are understanding that more than ever before.”

The absence of Frampton (who left the team last week before the Orlando tournament) and Pritchett has tested the Wildcats’ depth, which was a perceived strength of the team heading into the season.

But it’s meant increased minutes for largely untested players like junior forward Bates Jones, redshirt freshman guard Mike Jones and true freshmen forwards Hyunjung Lee and David Kristensen.

It’s also pushed sixth-man Carter Collins, a junior guard whom McKillop said was the team’s most improved player during the offseason, into the starting lineup.

“Carter was instant energy for us coming off the bench,” McKillop. “Now he’s starting and we miss that.”

That still leaves McKillop with his three other starters -- senior guard Jon Axel Gudmundsson, junior guard Kellan Grady and sophomore forward Luka Brajkovic. Grady has been excellent, averaging 17.3 points, 4.0 assists and 4.4 rebounds.

Brajkovic and Gudmundsson have struggled with consistency. Gudmundsson (10.6 points, 5.6 rebounds, 2.9 assists) has yet to find the form that won him A-10 player-of-the year honors last season, when he averaged 16.9 points, 7.3 rebounds and 4.8 assists).

“Jon now has a target on him,” McKillop said. “As the A-10 player of the year, he’s put a tremendous amount of pressure on himself. He hasn’t been enjoying playing the game. It’s made him struggle. That takes away one of his greatest strengths from last year: you could see he loved playing the game. Now he’s trying to find that joy again.”

McKillop says his goals for this team haven’t changed. But because of these early stumbles, the Wildcats are likely already out of the at-large conversation for an NCAA tournament berth and will now likely have to win the A-10 tournament to get there for a 15th time in program history.

The league will be tougher than ever: Dayton and Virginia Commonwealth have already shown why they’re considered conference favorites (although VCU stumbled recently against Power 5 opponents Purdue and Tennessee).

“We still have wonderful goals in front of us,” said McKillop. “Trying to become the best team we can, that hasn’t been destroyed. Our work ethic hasn’t dropped off. Our attention to detail hasn’t dropped off. Our feelings about each other are stronger than ever.

“I’m convinced something good will come from this adversity. It has educated us; sharpened us; toughened us; hardened us.”