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Curry, Davidson open season after dream run in 2008

Nov 14, 2008 - 11:15 AM Guilford at No. 20 Davidson 9:00 p.m. EST

DAVIDSON, North Carolina (Ticker) -- After wearing the Cinderella slipper to near perfection in the 2008 NCAA Tournament, Stephen Curry and Davidson begin their encore on Friday.

The 20th-ranked Wildcats open their regular season against Division III Guilford following a regional final appearance last season.

Curry took the country by storm in March, averaging 32 points a game to lead Davidson to its first trip to the Elite Eight since back-to-back appearances under Lefty Driesell in 1968-69.

As the 10th seed in the Midwest Region, the Wildcats topped Gonzaga before pulling upsets of Georgetown and Wisconsin to set up a matchup with eventual-champion Kansas.

The Jayhawks thwarted another upset bid from Curry and the Wildcats, who earned the regional's Most Outstanding Player award, emerging with a 59-57 victory on their way to the national championship.

Guilford, members of the Old Dominion Athletic Conference, went 24-5 last season and lost in the first round of the Division III NCAA Tournament.

Point guard Clay Henson is the Quakers' best returning player, averaging 12.9 points a game while shooting 37 percent from the arc (65-175). Guilford loses Ben Strong, its leading scorer (25.8) and rebounder (10.8). Strong ranks second on the program's all-time scoring list with 2,241 points.