Despite being selected 11th out of 14 in the Atlantic 10’s 2025-26 Preseason Men’s Basketball Poll, Davidson (9-5, 1-1 A10) was one of the league’s biggest surprises during the non-conference stretch.
A perfect 5-0 opening to the campaign with wins over Washington State, Bowling Green State and even an upset of Boston College marked the Wildcats’ best start in a decade. Utah State finally put an end to that run, but head coach Matt McKillop and Co. responded by defeating North Carolina A&T, The Citadel, Mercyhurst, and even battled Saint Mary’s to the brink.
However, just ahead of conference play, things seemingly went south. It was a 68-63 loss to Temple at home, in which Davidson went down by as much as 16, that sparked a three-game losing streak. The Wildcats followed that by falling to No. 17 Kansas, with the Jayhawks dominating for a full 40 minutes.
Opening A10 play against Duquesne at home, it was Davidson losing out in double-overtime after leading for the majority of regulation and missing on two buzzer-beating attempts. With program legend Stephen Curry seated courtside as a nine-point lead dwindled away in an 89-83 loss, it began to feel like issues were compounding.
“It’s been a tough two weeks,” McKillop said. “Many teams can say the same exact thing but we’re still in this learning process, and interestingly enough, we saw ourselves getting better despite the losses because it was just a little mistake here or there, but it was all correctable.”
On Saturday night in Philadelphia, Davidson met Saint Joseph’s for the second game of conference play, and it looked like the Wildcats were in for much of the same. Allowing the Hawks a 29-20 halftime advantage by shooting 6 for 20 from the field and 3 for 11 from deep with nine turnovers practically sent Davidson packing early.
It was in the second half against St. Joe’s where the Wildcats were finally able to steady the ship by limiting the turnovers, moving the ball well, and correcting those little mistakes. Ultimately, Lower Merion, Pa. native Sam Brown and Roberts Blums lifted the Wildcats late to pull off a 62-56 comeback win on the road.
At one point, Blums scored eight straight Davidson points to will the Wildcats within range and tie the game, 49-49, on his way to 11 points from 3-of-6 shooting. Brown, who transferred from Penn, where he played under current St. Joe’s head coach Steve Donahue, had a game-high 13 points, including the dagger three with 32 seconds remaining.
Amid all the storylines, the message from McKillop heading into Philadelphia was clear: Play with confidence. In the second half against St. Joe’s, that much was evident.
“We talked about getting our swagger back,” McKillop said. “I actually checked to see if [the kids] still use that word but you’ve got to feel what we did in those last four minutes and the result to really believe it. I hope we carry this the way we should and we continue to work the way we’ve been working.”
For a team that returned no starters from last season, compiling talent from the transfer portal while returners like Blums, Hunter Adam, and Nick Coval have stepped up, winning is a learning process. Going on the road is never easy, and some coaches will say it’s one of the most difficult things to do in college basketball, especially for a new roster still trying to develop chemistry.
Coming back from down double-digits in the second half after being challenged early is a testament to Davidson’s growth, and McKillop knows it’s a performance that can galvanize his locker room.
“We were good enough to win a lot of those games,” he said. “It was all little things that were correctable and, with a new team, this is how you get better. Game by game, day by day, but it takes the right mentality, and our guys certainly showed it.”
After getting punched in the mouth with a three-game losing streak, capped off with the double-overtime loss and even a slow offensive start on Saturday, Davidson could have easily wilted. But it’s the way this team responds to adversity that continues to impress around the conference.
It’s all better preparing this inexperienced rotation for the physicality and intensity of A10 play with another road trip this week as Davidson meets the surging Loyola Ramblers in Chicago on Wednesday. But if the Wildcats play their style, with an unmatched swagger despite ranking just 333rd in KenPom’s adjusted tempo, McKillop is confident his team will continue to scrape out wins.
“We could have been on our heels,” he said. “But we just kept responding. And the physical and mental toughness from our guys to make the plays they did throughout the second half, especially in those last six minutes. It’s going to be a grind every night in this league, and our loss [to Duquesne] was quite the grind. I’m thrilled that our guys get to see the results of all their hard work and grind out a win.”
