By Mike Cranston
Associated PressSPARTANBURG, S.C. ó Wofford had cut Davidson’s lead to four with less than seven minutes left in a 78-61 loss to the Wildcats on Thursday.
On back-to-back trips, the Terriers appeared to have Stephen Curry bottled up in a double team near midcourt.
Curry dribbled around two defenders the first time and hit a 25-footer. He sliced between two Terriers the second time and drilled a mid-range jumper.
“Doggone,” Wofford coach Mike Young said. “I’ve seen him have great nights; we all have. That would certainly qualify, in my opinion, as one of his great nights.
Curry busted out of his semi-slump with 39 points, and Davidson recovered from its first SoCon loss in more than two years.
“Steph, he just set the tone for it,” said Davidson coach Bob McKillop, who indicated Curry became more vocal in practices after the loss to the College of Charleston. “He’s talking more. He’s more engaging. He’s more engaged. You saw that tonight.”Curry, who had made only 17 of 47 shots in the previous two games, went 5 of 8 from 3-point range. He continually beat defenders off the dribble in rallying the Wildcats from a seven-point deficit early in the second half.
“It’s hard to imagine a kid scores 39 points and you think you did a good job on him,” Young said. “We had the majority of his things contested.”
Curry shot 14-for-24 in his 27th career 30-point game. Andrew Lovedale added 10 points and nine rebounds for the Wildcats (21-4, 14-1).
“I had a lot of confidence tonight,” Curry said. “When your shots are falling, you start to feel pretty good.”