Nov. 24, 2008

DAVIDSON, N.C. (AP) -Stephen Curry scored 39 points and No. 24 Davidson beat Florida Atlantic 76-60 on Monday night in an NIT Season Tip-Off consolation game.

Andrew Lovedale added 13 points and 13 rebounds for the Wildcats (4-1), who overcame 37.1 percent shooting with a 49-38 rebounding edge.

Curry shot 13-of-21 from the field, including 5-of-9 on 3-pointers.

Xavier Perkins scored 24 points and Shavar Richardson had 19 for the Owls (3-2), who cut Davidson's 11-point halftime lead in half in the opening minutes of the second half.

Down 41-30, Florida Atlantic pulled within 44-39 on Richardson's hook shot with 16:18 left. But Curry scored 12 points during a 15-1 run, capped by a pair of free throws with 11:33 left to put the Wildcats up 59-40, their biggest lead of the game.

The Owls managed to whittle Davidson's lead back to 10 points twice later in the half, the last time at 68-58 on two Perkins free throws with 6:05 left.

But Barr's 3-pointer, followed by a pair of Curry free throws, pushed the Wildcats' lead back to 15 points and gave them some breathing room.

With Curry scoring 20 points in the first half, Davidson - which dropped three spots in the latest AP Top 25 poll after losing to then-No. 14 Oklahoma in the second round of the NIT Season Tip-Off on Nov. 18 - never trailed. The Wildcats scored the game's first six points and built double-digit leads from there.

However, the Owls made it interesting, cutting Davidson's lead to 13-10 on Richardson's 3-point play with 14:07 left, and twice pulling within five points midway through the half, the last at 20-15 on Carderro Nwoji's 3-pointer with 11 minutes remaining.

But Curry got the Wildcats out of those jams both times. He hit a short jumper and a 3-pointer to give Davidson some breathing room, then fed Lovedale on back-to-back layups followed by another 3 with 9:06 left to put the Wildcats back up 27-15.

Florida Atlantic would pull no closer than nine points the rest of the half, with Will Archambault's hook shot with 40 seconds left giving Davidson a 41-30 lead at the break.