Davidson spent about three hours in limbo Sunday afternoon, an uncomfortable pause made necessary by the Wildcats’ heartbreaking loss in the Atlantic 10 tournament final.
But then it all turned out all right anyway, as Davidson made the NCAA tournament field as a No. 10 seed on the strength of its excellent regular season. The Wildcats (27-6) will face No. 7 seed Michigan State on Friday in Greenville, S.C., as they head into March Madness for the first time since 2018.
Davidson, the regular-season season A-10 champion, received one of the 36 at-large bids in the 68-team NCAA tourney field. Gonzaga is the tournament’s overall No. 1 seed. The coaching matchup will be a good one: Davidson’s Bob McKillop vs. Michigan State’s Tom Izzo. The winner will likely face No. 2 seed Duke in Greenville on Sunday, as long as the No. 2 seed Blue Devils get by No. 15 Cal-State Fullerton Friday.
Coach Bob McKillop and his team watched the Selection Show together in Washington, D.C., the site of the A-10 final.
“We went from heartbreak to euphoria in a very short time today,” McKillop said in a phone interview. “It’s been an interesting emotional dynamic. We were thinking it was the end of the world, and all of a sudden we got a lifeline.”
McKillop’s starting point guard, Foster Loyer, began his collegiate career at Michigan State before transferring to Davidson. McKillop said Izzo was “effusive” in his praise of Loyer when the transfer was occurring and that Izzo had said that one day he hoped Loyer — who wants to be a coach — might come back to Michigan State as a graduate assistant.
McKillop and Izzo have been buddies for many years, the Davidson coach said.
“I would say it’s because of our age and our longevity, and we’re kind of cut from the same cloth,” McKillop said. “I would say we are good friends.... But I don’t look at the other bench. I concentrate on what we have.”
The two also have bonded over the Golden State Warriors’ sustained success, since McKillop coached Steph Curry in college and Izzo coached Draymond Green.
Davidson’s 2021-22 team has already accomplished a number of milestones. It won the A-10 regular season outright with a 15-3 conference record. And these Wildcats have more wins (27) than any Davidson team since the Curry era ended in 2009.
But win No. 28 proved elusive earlier Sunday, before the brackets were unveiled.
Davidson led for almost all of the final 13 minutes of the A-10 final against Richmond in Washington, D.C., including by a 60-54 margin with 1:35 to go. But from there the Wildcats collapsed, as Richmond outscored Davidson 10-2 in the last 95 seconds.
Among the biggest problems for Davidson in the final 1:35: On three straight possessions, the Wildcats fouled Richmond players on contested layups, giving Richmond three consecutive “and-one” opportunities. Richmond leapfrogged Davidson in that way, going ahead 63-62 on the strength of a trio of old-fashioned three-point plays.
“This team has had a history of closing out games this year,” McKillop said. “That’s probably been our staple and our strongest point. This time we just didn’t do it.”
Missed three-point attempts by Davidson’s Loyer and Michael Jones in the final 10 seconds assured there would be no comeback and automatic bid for the Wildcats.
After the game but before the brackets were announced, McKillop said of his squad: “It was a joy to coach this team… We’ve won 27 games. We went 15-3 in a very good conference. I think we have a pretty darn good resume to be in the tournament.”
Still, with sixth-seeded Richmond gaining the A-10’s only automatic bid with its upset over Davidson, no one was sure until the Selection Sunday bracket was announced Sunday night.
Davidson had made the NCAA tournament 14 previous times, but hasn’t won a game since its 2008 run to the Elite Eight that was fueled by Curry, the future two-time NBA Most Valuable Player. The Wildcats’ most recent appearance was 2018, when they came close to an upset as a 12 seed against No. 5 Kentucky before losing, 78-73.
