Reactions to Stephen Curry Erupting for 40 Points in Davidson's Win Over Gonzaga

I covered the Raleigh Regional and got to see the fantastic game between Davidson and Gonzaga. Davidson sophomore guard Stephen Curry showed the nation why he is such a special player, as he erupted for 40 points, 30 of which came in the second half, and led the Wildcats to an 82-76 win over the Bulldogs in a first-round Midwest Regional game Friday. Here are quotes from players and coaches on Curry's amazing game.

Davidson coach Bob McKillop
Last year against Maryland he had 32 and left the court with about 17 seconds, fouling out to a standing ovation up in Buffalo. I think the world, the basketball world, saw what Steph could do last year. They have seen him and they have looked at Davidson from a not very strong conference and well, he's doing it at a not very strong conference. But if you look at who he's done it against consistently - and today he did it against man-to-man, three different guys, he did it against the diamond-and-one, he did it against the 3-2 zone, he did it against constant switching, and he did it against players who were sitting on his top side, sitting on his bottom side, and he did it against a variety of defenses and was magnificent in his performance.

Gonzaga coach Mark Few
He reminds me of like a (former Gonzaga player Dan) Dickau. He has a nice, high pocket, very simple shot, doesn't need space or time to get it off. It's simple. All great shooters have a nice, simple stroke. Ball doesn't travel too much in their hands. His dad has done a great job with him.

And it's something we saw and clipped it and showed our guys. We did everything. We had our man defense where we don't leave him, which we were in primarily. We had a triangle-and-two. We tried zone which actually worked very well down the stretch. You know, to me, the game came down to a minute left in the game, we had an offensive rebound there and we just quite didn't squeeze it and they took it from us.

A lot of his points come off plays like this, where there's an offensive rebound or scramble and he toes up on the line and they are trained to find him in a scramble situation, and it doesn't have a whole lot to do with your man-to-man defense, because you're pursuing rebounds. He probably had nine points just off of that, and then he had a couple in transition, too.

They find him, they know their roles, and you know, we actually guarded him probably, you know, as well as we could. I thought Steven did a heck of a job of trailing him, he had some tough shots, and he missed some shots, too.

Gonzaga guard Jeremy Pargo
He's a very resilient guy and had some tough looks, and you have to appreciate when a guy steps up like that and plays that hard for his team. We tried to change some things, and he's a great player and he made shots.

Gonzaga guard Steven Gray
He has a quick release. That's something we talked about this week. Personally, I don't know if I ran off that many screens trying to defend someone. He knows how to use them really well. He sets them up really well. So I mean, he's very knowledgeable in that way. You know, I was just trying to chase him off and make things as difficult as I could.

Davidson guard Jason Richards
When Steph gets hot, he's not going to cool off. I think you saw today, he had 40 points and had so many great shots for us. When he's shooting the ball like that, you have got to give him the ball. He's our leading scorer and everybody knows that. He had a great game today and had some great shots and really brought us back in the game.

Davidson coach Bob McKillop
It was like an opening-night star performance on Broadway, and he was the star, but he had a great cast with him. The audience was sensational. There was a lot of music, great songs, lots of dancing. So it was a Broadway opening that really got great reviews in the New York Post, the New York Daily News, and Newsday, and the Times.

Davidson forward Andrew Lovedale
It was a big game for us. Steph is just an amazing player for us, his teammates. It is more than just playing basketball between us and Steph. He's an amazing guy off the floor. We just do whatever we can to try to get him open and give him open shots because if he's not free, he always looks out for us, too. He's a team leader even though he's just a sophomore. He tells you where to be and directs you on the basketball court. I think he's just an all-around great guy. It's fun to play basketball with him.

Davidson coach Bob McKillop
I've seen this happen. I've seen it for two years. I mentioned yesterday that when I first saw Steph in individual instruction in his freshman year in September and October, I boldly stated to our alumni gathering that this is someone special. He has an uncanny ability to get the ball released. He's got a great ability to get open, and he's got teammates who are sensational in their willingness to get him open... But setting screens is one thing. Getting the ball, using the screens and getting open and then delivering, and that's why this is so exhilarating, because everyone took part in this, and Steph comes out at the 40 and we are absolutely thrilled with that. But he is one of a kind when it comes to using screens and getting shots off.

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Curry himself is a quiet interview and not nearly the boastful person one might expect from a team's star player. But he did have some nice things to say about his dad, 16-year NBA veteran Dell Curry.

Stephen Curry on pointing toward his dad in the stands, continuing a tradition that Dell did when he was a college player
Well, he's been there my whole life. I think the things I do on the court kind of come from him, so he's in my head during the game and I like to keep him involved. I mean, I plan to be involved in my kids' life if that's what it is. I mean, this is just a great team effort. We were down the whole game pretty much and towards the end of the second half, we had to come up with some stops and Andrew came up with some huge rebounds down the stretch and got us extra possessions and extra shots. It has not really sunk in yet but we have more work to do in the tournament.

Going to enjoy this for a little bit, and then move on.