WILDCATS' FINAL POSSESSION

No second-guessing for Davidson

Play had worked before against Georgetown

KEVIN CARY

kcary@charlotteobserver.com

Staff Photographer

Davidson head coach Bob McKillop talks inside the huddle during a timeout while playing Kansas in the second half of the Midwest Regional final at Ford Field in Detroit. Kansas won, 59-57. DAVID T. FOSTER III-dtfoster@charlotteobserver.com

Davidson coach Bob McKillop said he didn't sleep well Sunday night.

Part of that was because of his team's late arrival in town. McKillop was up past 3:30 a.m. talking with supporters who celebrated the Wildcats' magical run to the Elite Eight.

But, he said, reliving Davidson's final possession in its 59-57 loss to Kansas also kept him awake.

"When you are so close to taking that next step," he said, "you always start replaying plays and moments that could have been different."

Jason Richards missed a long 3-pointer at the buzzer, and McKillop has heard the questions about the play ever since.

Why didn't Stephen Curry, the Davidson star who had propelled the Wildcats to a chance at the Final Four, take the last shot?

Why didn't McKillop have Richards, the national leader in assists, run the point and get Curry open from screens?

Davidson didn't choose that option, McKillop said, because Kansas had four guards on the floor. That would allow the Jayhawks to quickly switch off screens, and potentially keep the ball out of Curry's hands.

McKillop said the team's decision to run "Flat" -- where Curry had the ball from the outset -- wasn't something new. He had made a 3-pointer against Georgetown in the final three minutes of Davidson's 74-70 win on the same play by creating a shot off the dribble.

"That was a play in our arsenal that had worked," he said. "We went over it in the shootaround that morning. We were very comfortable with it."

McKillop said he asked Curry in the huddle if he was comfortable with the play. Curry said yes.

"Stephen offered a secondary option to the play, where we could run a screen for Bryant Barr," McKillop said. "He was thinking it through, writing it on the clipboard, and showing how make it happen. When I see and feel that kind of confidence from a player in response to a question, I know they are ready."

But McKillop said an unexpected stumble by Kansas confused Curry and the Wildcats for a moment.

Thomas Sander was supposed to screen for Barr. But he had to come over to help Curry once the Jayhawks rotated after the stumble.

"Thomas didn't have time to come over there (to Barr)," McKillop said. "The play was run as it should have been."

Curry said he was too off-balance to shoot in the final seconds, and passed it over to Richards.

"If you told me Jason Richards would have an open 3-pointer with a chance at the Final Four back in November, I'd take that deal," McKillop said. "I'd take it in November, December, anytime."

The shot missed, but McKillop said he's not second-guessing himself.

"If that shot goes in, we are geniuses."