POSTGAME INTERVIEWS VIDEO
CHARLESTON, S.C. – Preseason Southern Conference Player of the Year Andrew Goudelock (Stone Mountain, Ga.) scored a game-high and career-high tying 33 points to lead College of Charleston to an 82-73 win over Davidson in the team's league opener on Thursday night before the 10th-largest crowd in Carolina First Arena history.
Both the Cougars (5-3, 1-0) and Wildcats (3-4, 0-1) couldn't miss from the floor and made little mistakes in a see-saw battle in which the lead changed 14 times and the score was tied on 10 different occasions. CofC returned to its old ways with a season-low eight miscues after averaging 15.7 in the seven games prior to the matchup.
Davidson led for the majority of the first half by as many as eight, but the Cougars' 58.6 shooting percentage kept them in the ballgame as they inched closer in the final three and a half minutes before the break. A three-pointer by Goudelock at the 3:30 minute mark evened things up at 40-all and his heroics didn't stop there. He would sink a last-second jumper from the left side to send both teams in the locker room with the scored tied at 44.
The Wildcats could never outdistance themselves by more than one or two points in the second half as six costly turnovers contributed to nine of the Cougars' points to take control of the game. Goudelock was fouled by Davidson's Tom Droney and was sent to the line where he converted a three-point play to give CofC a 62-59 lead with 9:29 to go in regulation.
A one-handed layup by sophomore Andrew Lawrence (London, England) was also key as it put the Cougars out in front, 71-67, with 4:45 left which prompted Davidson to call a timeout to regroup. The Wildcats were only able to get within two in the final five-minute stretch to give CofC its fourth win in the last five meetings between the two South Division rivals.
Junior Antwaine Wiggins (Greenville, Tenn.) contributed nine points, seven rebounds, two assists, two blocked shots and two steals in the winning cause, while Lawrence had nine and freshman Trent Wiedeman a near double-double with 10 points and eight rebounds.
Davidson was paced by preseason All-SoCon Team selections Jake Cohen and JP Kuhlman who had 23 and 16 points respectively.
The Cougars will host Georgia Southern (2-6, 0-1) in their second SoCon test in the course of three days on Saturday, Dec. 4, at 6 p.m. (ET) at Carolina First Arena. Tickets can be purchased by calling 1-843-953-COFC (2632) or visiting the CofC Athletics Ticket Center online at www.CofCSports.com/tickets.
POSTGAME NOTES
• For the eighth time this season, CofC used the starting lineup of senior Donavan Monroe, senior Andrew Goudelock, redshirt junior Antwaine Wiggins, sophomore Willis Hall and senior Jeremy Simmons (5-3).
• With the win, the Cougars picked up their 13th all-time victory in the 61-game series versus Davidson. They are now 10-3 all-time in SoCon openers and are an undefeated 2-0 when playing the Wildcats in a season-opening contest next to a 75-69 victory to commence the 2003-04 season. CofC has won four of the last five meetings between the two South Division rivals.
• The Cougars had 4,361 fans in attendance against Davidson to mark the 10th all-time largest crowd in Carolina First Arena history.
• Andrew Goudelock registered only his second 30-point game of his career with a career-high tying and game-high 33 points against Davidson. Goudelock matched his previous high of 33 against Appalachian State on Jan. 21, 2009. He has now recorded 1,893 career points to date which ranks third all-time behind former players Ken Gustafson (2,135) and Greg Mack (1,901).
• Donavan Monroe knocked down his 100th career three-pointer which ranks 11th all-time in program history and fell six points shy of reaching the 1,000-point plateau with 994 career points to date.
• The Cougars shot better than 50 percent from the floor for the fourth time this season (50.8) and are 4-0 when doing so against opponents.
• CofC made a season-low eight turnovers in the ballgame, while forcing Davidson to 11.
• Trent Wiedeman led the team in rebounding for the fourth time this year with a team-high eight boards. He had a near double-double with 10 points to turn in back-to-back games in double figures. He poured in 12 at No. 25 North Carolina on Nov. 28.
POSTGAME QUOTES
College of Charleston Head Coach Bobby Cremins
On the game …
“Davidson is a great basketball team and has a great basketball coach. They were very well prepared. In the first half, they drove us crazy, but it turned out to be a classic. It was like a Southern Conference Tournament game. There were some big plays. Andrew Goudelock's three, Andrew Lawrence's layup and Jeremy Simmons' passes were big. It was a fun game to be a part of. Obviously, it could have gone either way. Simmons made a great block. We started playing better defense. It was a great Southern Conference game. But, there is no question we need more balance on our team and we are working towards that.”
College of Charleston Senior Guard Andrew Goudelock
On carrying the team …
“I never feel like I have to carry the team by myself. It's always a team game and I'm a 'team first' type of person. I would be the first person to tell you it's not about me. My teammates do a good job of getting me the ball.”
College of Charleston Freshman Forward Trent Wiedeman
On his play …
“Davidson is a really physical team and we knew that coming in. They kept telling us it was going to be a very physical game. I knew I would have to play very physical and not get pushed around.”
Davidson Head Coach Bob McKillop
On the game ...
“It was an exciting basketball game in an electric environment. You understand why Charleston is as good as they are. They took Carolina and Maryland to the wire at their places. They are a superb team and they present a wide range of weapons. It was a very close game.”
