Davidson-Elon Preview

3/10/2008 12:53 PM

By NICOLINO DI BENEDETTO
STATS Writer

Davidson has dominated the Southern Conference for the last three seasons - but has dominated Elon for much longer.

On Monday night, the Wildcats will seek their third consecutive conference championship by beating upstart Elon for the 12th time in a row.

The 23rd-ranked Wildcats (25-6), owners of the longest winning streak in the nation at 21 games, have won 35 straight conference games by an average of 17.8 points, en route to back-to-back SoCon titles. In three seasons, they are 54-6 in league play.

They haven't been tested in this year's tournament, winning 82-49 over Wofford on Saturday before an 82-52 semifinal victory over UNC Greensboro the following day.

"Hopefully, at the end of the season, we'll be the best team we've been all year," said Wildcats forward Thomas Sander, who had six points and five rebounds Sunday after not scoring in two games. "(Monday), we could take another step."

Stephen Curry, the league's player of the year and the son of former NBA guard Dell Curry, will likely play a factor in top-seeded Davidson reaching its third consecutive NCAA tournament.

The sophomore guard, who is fifth in the country with 25.2 points per game, made 10 of 17 shots - 4-of-8 from 3-point range - to finish with 26 points against UNC Greensboro, the last team to beat the Wildcats in the SoCon tournament in 2005. That came after he went 5-for-10 from beyond the arc to total 19 points against Wofford.

If Curry can continue his impressive shooting against Elon (14-18), he could be in line for his second straight tournament MVP award.

He scored 36 points against the Phoenix on 12-of-18 shooting in a 74-64 victory on Feb. 6. He wasn't as effective in the previous meeting on Jan. 9, going 4-for-15 for 15 points. However, he came up big in the final 1:38, scoring the last five points of the contest to rally Davidson to a 59-57 win.

Curry's performances have helped the Wildcats extend their winning streak over the Phoenix to 11 games since Dec. 2, 2000.

Seventh-seeded Elon is looking to win its first conference tournament to gain its first NCAA tournament berth. The team advanced to the final by beating Charleston 75-61 on Sunday after surprising Chattanooga - the No. 2 seed - 60-57 on Saturday. The Phoenix opened the tournament on Friday with a 52-37 win over Furman.

The three-game run has matched their longest winning streak of the season.

Montell Watson, third on the team with 10.9 points per game and its leader with 3.5 assists, has been solid of late. The senior guard scored 15 points Sunday, nearly matching his average of 15.4 over the last seven games.

Watson hasn't come close to that type of production against Davidson, averaging 4.0 points and 2.5 assists in eight career games. He missed all five of his shots - including three 3-pointers - in the last meeting to finish with one point and five assists.