Curry tough

to stop
By Steve Behr
sports@wataugademocrat.com

The best way to beat Davidson is easy: Just stop Stephen Curry from scoring and take your chances with the rest of the Wildcats.

The problem is stopping Curry, who is fourth in the country in scoring with 25.8 points per game.

Appalachian State (17-11, 12-6 SoCon) gets a second chance at the Wildcats (21-6, 18-0) Wednesday night at Davidson’s Belk Arena.

Appalachian State is the last Southern Conference team to beat Davidson, being the Wildcats 81-74.

However, the first meeting this season did not go so well for the Mountaineers. Curry scored 38 points and the Wildcats rolled to a 71-60 victory at the Holmes Center on Dec. 26. The sharpshooting sophomore has been the Southern Conference’s Player of the Week five times this year, including four straight until Georgia Southern’s Louis Graham captured the honor this past week.

It’s not like the Mountaineers have not faced high-scoring opponents recently. The leading scorer in the nation, Niagara’s Charron Fisher, averaged 27.8 points per game before last weekend, but the Mountaineers held him to 21 points. Despite that, Niagara dealt Appalachian State a heartbreaking 76-75 loss when Stanley Hodge hit a last-second 3-point shot.

But Fisher, at 6-foot-4, likes to post-up smaller guards and go to the foul line. He also likes to drive to the basket.

Curry is an outstanding perimeter shooter and can also drive to the basket and go to the foul line. Curry, the son of former Charlotte Hornet Del Curry, could very well reach the NBA when he is finished at Davidson.

“You have to limit his touches,” Appalachian State forward Jeremy Clayton said. “It’s like with Fisher. They are two of the top five scorers in the nation, so we have to limit his touches and make his shots tough.”

Curry is more than a scorer. He leads the conference in free throw percentage (90.0 percent), is second in steals (2.0 per game) and is ninth in assists (2.93 per game). He’s also made 113 3-point shots, the most in the conference.

Clayton said it was important for Appalachian State to shake off its loss to Niagara and concentrate on Davidson. The Mountaineers are in a tie with Chattanooga for first place in the North Division.

“We’ve got to put this behind us,” Clayton said. “We’ve got to get ready for them. We don’t need to drag (Niagara) with us.”