Jordan Watkins making most of his chance at Davidson

Sophomore guard Jordan Watkins is taking full advantage of his increased playing time with the Davidson Wildcats.

Watkins, who has struggled with shoulder injuries during his career at Davidson, is now one of the healthy ones for the Wildcats (9-4, 1-1), who face George Mason (6-9, 0-2) in an Atlantic 10 game at 7 p.m. Saturday at Belk Gym.

In the two games that he has started in place of Brian Sullivan (concussion symptoms), Watkins is averaging 18.5 points and has made 10-of-16 3-pointers. His 23 points last Saturday against St. Bonaventure were a career high.

“I definitely felt ready to step in,” said Watkins, a former Providence Day standout. “Last year, coach (Bob McKillop) pushed me a lot and put me in difficult situations … so I was pretty much ready.”

Watkins was a regular member of Davidson’s rotation last season, but he dislocated his shoulder and missed the final nine games. He was again injured again this preseason and had to sit out the Wildcats’ first five games.

Now, he’s one of only seven scholarship players available to McKillop, who continues to juggle an injury-plagued roster. Sullivan and guard Jordan Barham (ankle) are game-time decisions for Saturday. Watkins, along with forward Andrew McAuliffe and guard Rusty Reigel, have had to step in.

“Jordan has really emerged,” McKillop said. “He, Andrew and Rusty are three guys who maybe weren’t cemented in our rotation in the season. But they are now.”

Around the A-10

Davidson’s Jack Gibbs continues to be the nation’s fifth-leading scorer, averaging 23.8 points, trailing only James Daniel (Howard), Buddy Hield (Oklahoma), Kahlil Felder (Oakland) and Josh Adams (Wyoming) ... George Mason’s Shevon Thompson leads the league in rebounding (11.0 per game), is third in field goal percentage (60.7) and had 17 points and 14 rebounds in a loss against St. Bonaventure on Wednesday … Dave Paulsen is in his first year as coach at George Mason, replacing the fired Paul Hewitt … Dayton is studying the feasibility of upgrading University of Dayton Arena, one of the country’s iconic buildings and the host of the NCAA tournament’s first-round games … Virginia Commonwealth is still the same old VCU under new coach Will Wade, leading the league in steals (10.2 per game) and assists-turnover ratio (plus-6.07).

This story was originally published January 8, 2016 at 12:44 PM with the headline "Jordan Watkins making most of his chance at Davidson."