The scene was surreal: Davidson's Stephen Curry standing off tothe corner with two defenders draped over him while his teammateswere playing in a virtual 4-on-3 power-play, making one wide-open 3-pointer after another.
The nation's leading scorer was held without a point for thefirst time in his stellar career Tuesday night, attempting onlythree shots. Yet Curry's teammates scored almost at will in the No.24 Wildcats'78-48 rout of Loyola, Md.
'I've never been in a situation where I've stood in the cornerfor 25 seconds every time,' Curry said.
The bizarre strategy by Greyhounds coach Jimmy Patsos left theparticipants dumbfounded, the crowd stunned, and plenty of questionsof why Patsos stuck with the plan even after Davidson scored 18straight points in the first half.
'I thought their coach was trying to prove a point and I didn'tappreciate it very much,' Davidson coach Bob McKillop said.
But Patsos was making no apologies for using a triangle-and-2defense - on one player.
'Anybody else ever hold him scoreless?' Patsos said. 'I'm ahistory major. They're going to remember that we held him scorelessor we lost by 30?'
That willingness to apparently accept defeat to shut down thenation's most dynamic scorer was met with criticism Wednesday.
'If the coach thinks that that's what he needed to do to win thegame, then I'm all for it,' said Fran Fraschilla, an ESPN analystand former coach at St. John's. 'But if the object is to try to shutone guy down, knowing that you're not going to have much of a chanceto win, then I think it creates a problem.'
Curry, the darling of last season's NCAA tournament, came inaveraging 35 points a game.
Wednesday's games
(Men)
No. 6 Texas 70, Oregon 57 - At Lahaina, Hawaii: Damion James had21 points and 12 rebounds to lead the Longhorns over the Ducks inthe third-place game of the EA Sports Maui Invitational.
(Women)
Montana 59, Illinois 57 - Montana's Mandy Morales hit a leaning15-footer with 0.7 seconds left for the win in the opening round ofthe Cancun Caribbean Challenge.
Jenna Smith led the Illini with 19 points.
