Monster Game of the Week Preview: Davidson vs. Vanderbilt

R-E-S-P-E-C-T.

Despite the fact that the Wildcats have yet to beat a D1 opponent, Davidson has the respect of every SoCon team. At the bare minimum, they have the respect of our Scanning the SoCon bloggers. How else can you explain a team that hasn't won a game yet getting the Monster Game of the Week nod?

The fact is that Davidson has earned that respect. They've earned it with consistent play. They've earned it by being the best program in the conference for the last decade. They've earned it by going to the Elite Eight back in 2008. The nation respects Davidson in a way they don't respect any other team in the SoCon (sorry, College of Charleston). As they head into this game, they are probably considered the favorite by many people. Over an SEC school. On a neutral court. Yes, Davidson has earned respect.


Vanderbilt beat Nicholls State by 15 and then was hammered by what is supposed to be a relatively mediocre Oregon team by 28 points. The Wildcats know all about disappointing losses though, after they fell to a mediocre Wisconsin-Milwaukee team by five points last Saturday.

This ought to be a fun one, even if it is on Thanksgiving afternoon.

Kedren Johnson has been leading the Commodores through two games. He leads the team in points and assists and is second in rebounds. He is a 6-4 sophomore guard, averaging 38 minutes per contest, 19.5 points, five rebounds, and 4.5 assists per game. He has been a total stud for the Commodores through two games.

Kyle Fuller is a 6-1 junior guard, and is averaging 16 points per game. He's also averaging 3.5 assists per game. He has been the other star for the Commodores so far. Kevin Bright is a 6-5 guard, and is averaging ten points per game and eight rebounds per game.  How will these three guards do in this one? The big question may be who contains these guys defensively for the Wildcats. They have not been great in perimeter defense so far this year, so guarding all three guards may be difficult for Davidson.

Vanderbilt ranks #217 in eFG% defense according to KenPom.com. That's not good for the Commodores. They also have not gotten many steals, and have not guarded well at all against two point shots.

Davidson has been itching to get back on the court to erase the terrible taste of back-to-back losses to New Mexico and UW-Milwaukee. The big question for the Wildcats is where has Jake Cohen gone? He's still coming up with rebounds, but his offense is almost non-existent at this point. Yes, he's averaging ten points and 6.3 rebounds per game. But he's shooting 32% from the floor, and making 61.5% from the free throw line. He also is shooting just 22% from three point range. For a guy that many people picked as the preseason SoCon Player of the Year, this has been really bad. Everyone has to think he will eventually get going. He's too good of a player not to eventually get going.

De'Mon Brooks is averaging 20 points per game with 6.3 rebounds per game. He is shooting 50% from the floor. The debate between whether Cohen or Brooks should be preseason SoCon Player of the Year has seemed ridiculous at this point. Brooks has completely outplayed Cohen to this point in the season.

JP Kuhlman is second on the team in scoring with 13.7 points per game and leads the team in assists with 5.3 per game. He's not a great defender. Personally, I really enjoy watching Tyler Kalinoski off the bench. He is averaging 11.7 points per game off the bench. Chris Czerapowicz is averaging 11 points per game on 67% shooting from three point range. This guy can light it up from anywhere on the floor.

The Wildcats are brilliant offensively. It's very difficult to imagine Vandebilt being able to contain this offense. Very few teams ccan control them. The Davidson defense is not particularly good either, so Vanderbilt may be able to put some points on the board too.

The winner of this game gets the winner of Marist-West Virginia on Friday. The loser gets the loser of that game. The Mountaineers did not look good at all against Gonzaga. There is a real chance for the winner of this game to advance to the championship game of the Old Spice Classic, likely against a really good Gonzaga team.

LEAD PIPE LOCK PREDICTIONS THAT ARE SURE TO GO WRONG

--Davidson will score a ton of points.
--Vanderbilt will score in bunches, too.
--Cohen will be pressing, and will not have a particularly productive night.
--Czerapowicz will be mispronounced on TV several times, but he will be the leading scorer in the game.
--Davidson 81, Vanderbilt 77. The Commodores are going to be tough for the Wildcats to guard on the perimeter, but Davidson is too much offensively for the SEC school. This will be another close game, but Davidson finally comes out on top in one.