Ira Cronin WCNC Sports

I'm just back from the Southern Conference Tournament in Charleston, which was the first postseason Championship game I have covered as Greg Bailey covered Winthrop's win in Asheville over weekend on Saturday. It's now official! Tournament madness has begun for me in full!

The Wildcats are on an amazing roll right now, winners of 22 straight. It's the longest current winning streak in America. As potent as the Davidson offense is with Jason Richards handing out assists, and Stephen Curry pouring in buckets from all over the place, I was most impressed with watching them play suffocating defense in Sunday's semifinal against UNC Greensboro and Monday's Championship game against Elon. It shouldn't have surprised me. When Davidson and Winthrop (our other area school heading to the NCAA tournament) squared off a few weeks ago in the bracket buster game it was a defensive battle for both teams!

In the second half of Monday's game against Elon, when the Wildcats offense had gone cold for a stretch, it was their defense that kept them in the lead even while the Phoenix tried to make a run.

One of the best parts of my job is being able to be so close to the action, not only on the court with a courtside seat, but also standing there on the court with the players as they cut down the nets in celebration. The joy on the face of Coach McKillop and his players is something you only see this time of year. A time of year when the end of one amazing journey is over with one goal complete, and the road into the Big Dance and higher goals are still ahead.

We're gearing up to cover all the Hoops Hysteria for you like no one else can here at the Carolina's News Connection.

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