By now, you’ve heard the Elon University men’s basketball team lost on Wednesday, Feb. 27 to the Davidson College Wildcats in a tight game before a sold out, rowdy Alumni Gym.
That’s old news. More old news is that the Phoenix clinched the Southern Conference North division title, ensuring a first round bye in next weekend’s conference tournament in Asheville.
On the other side of the bracket sits the Davidson Wildcats as the South division champions. So when the two met in Alumni Gym on Wednesday night, it was more than just another regular season game.
If the top two seeds win out in Asheville on March 9 and 10, the two will collide with more at stake than just another win on the resume: A trip to the NCAA Tournament.
Davidson is no stranger to the big dance. Many are well aware of the 2008 run to the Elite Eight behind emerging NBA superstar Stephen Curry when the Wildcats knocked off Gonzaga University, Georgetown University and the University of Wisconsin.
They returned to the tournament last season but fell to the University of Louisville in the first round.
On the other hand, Elon has never been to the NCAA Tournament. To get there, the Phoenix will most likely have to go through the Davidson Wildcats again on Monday, March 11. That’s if both teams can get there.
What did Wednesday night tell the Elon players, coaches and faithful? Two things.
“This loss shows us that we can play with anybody in the league,” junior guard Jack Isenbarger said.
To junior forward Lucas Troutman, the six-point loss said something else.
“It just says we’re not where we want to be yet,” he said. “We’re not the best we can be yet. The focus now is getting to be the best we can be by March. That’s always been our goal since the beginning of the year. That’s what we can take from this game: To be the best we can be.”
In recent memory, Davidson has been the benchmark to which Southern Conference teams measure up. When Elon coach Matt Matheny arrived on campus four years ago after coaching with Davidson coach Bob McKillop for 16 seasons, Wednesday night was the night he envisioned for the Elon basketball program. It lived up to all of his expectations.
“When I got here four years ago, we dreamed of atmospheres like that,” he said. “As I stood courtside before the tip, I thought, ‘Wow, this is really special.’ (Junior forward) Ryley Beaumont said to me before he was getting ready to go out for the starting lineups, ‘can you believe this?’ What our community and our student body is doing in terms of supporting our team touches me personally and our players absolutely love it.”
Both Elon and Davidson are guaranteed two more games. The Phoenix close out the regular season on Saturday, March 2, at home against the University of North Carolina at Greensboro while Davidson welcomes Georgia Southern University to Belk Arena.
Davidson’s one conference loss came in the form of a 13-point loss in Statesboro, Ga. against those very same Eagles. Since then, the Wildcats have rattled off 13 straight wins in a row.
Elon’s only matchup against the Spartans in Greensboro saw the Phoenix win their sixth straight game in the midst of a seven-game winning streak.
The second guaranteed game comes Saturday, March 9 in the quarterfinals of the Southern Conference tournament. That’s when it becomes win or go home for good, as neither team has the resume to receive an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament.
The path is simple for the Phoenix. Win two games next weekend in Asheville, and Elon could get a shot at revenge against Davidson and the chance to go to the NCAA Tournament for the first time in program history.
It’s a similar path for Davidson, though. Win two games next weekend and it doesn’t become a game of revenge for the Wildcats, but a game of survive and advance, whether it be against Elon or any of the other 10 conference teams.
Eleven days from now, we could be talking about another hype game surrounding the Phoenix and the Wildcats. That’s the goal, at least.
“I certainly hope we get to that point and play them again,” Matheny said.