Davidson men’s basketball falls to Dayton in Atlantic 10 opener, 72-59

Davidson knew its men’s basketball team had talent, but felt its best strength was the lack of a true ball handler.

During the summer, as the Wildcats prepared for this season, it was clear they didn’t have one primary player on their roster who needed the ball in his hands to facilitate or score.

Rather, it seemed like a well-rounded bunch of players who bring different skills and assets to the table.

Senior Grant Huffman is a scoring guard, but also the offense’s all-around “go-to guy.” Six-foot-seven freshman Bobby Durkin is one of the team’s better 3-point shooters, as well as one of the team’s strongest rebounders.

“We believed that this was gonna be a great team — in terms of a team that shares the ball, can rely on different guys, can run actions for the right guy — we’ve just gotta get better,” head coach Matt McKillop told The Charlotte Observer after Wednesday’s 72-59 loss to Dayton. “We took the court tonight believing we were gonna win this game. There were moments where we were a better team, but not enough. And for us to do what we want to do in this league, we gotta be better than tonight.”

Exactly nine years after its first Atlantic 10 game, Davidson (10-4) tipped off its conference slate Wednesday against Dayton. In front of 3,244 inside Belk Arena, Durkin led the Wildcats with 14 points on a night where Davidson’s bench contributed more than half its points.

Both teams entered Wednesday riding seven-game win streaks. Dayton (11-2), the preseason Atlantic 10 favorite, jumped out first and used a 10-0 run to a commanding 15-point lead during the first half.

“There’s a reason why they were the preseason favorite,” McKillop said. “That’s the team that we saw today. They’re a challenge to defend because they have front-court players, as talented as DaRon Holmes (who scored 18 points), and then they’ve got elite shooting on the perimeter.”

Davidson, which didn’t have a preseason All-A10 player for the first time since joining the conference, kept the game competitive, scoring in spurts and playing aggressive defense. Freshman Rikus Schulte’s first career 3-pointer capitalized a 7-0 run that brought the Wildcats closer.

But Davidson’s offense just could never really get anything going against Dayton’s stingy defense. Whether passing the ball around the perimeter, or trying to drive, not much was leading to shots.

The Wildcats’ home crowd remained into it, reverberating emphatic “defense” chants even when their team trailed by double digits. McKillop called a timeout with 15 seconds left to emphasize that he wanted his players to fight until the final whistle.

“Every single possession, we have a chance to do something,” McKillop said. “We didn’t always make the right decision. We didn’t always execute defensively. We gave up too many second chances. But the fight was there, and I attribute a lot of that to the excitement generated from our crowd.”