Curry's college career ended with loss to Mills, Saint Mary's
For Patty Mills, then a sophomore on the Saint Mary's basketball team, confirmation that the Gaels' 2009 secondround NIT matchup against Stephen Curry and Davidson would not be just another game came from his girlfriend and future wife, Alyssa Levesque.
“My wife played on the women's team and they had to clear out their locker room for Davidson to come in,” Mills said this week. “I remember her telling me a lot of the girls had left their photos and numbers in their lockers for Steph.
“You could tell there was just this different vibe on campus that night.”
The Gaels ended Curry's college career, winning 8068 behind a 23-point, 10-assist, one-turnover performance by Mills but significantly aided by a frenzied capacity crowd of 3,500 — and then some — that had now-retired Davidson coach Bob McKillop scratching his head.
“Is this the atmosphere that they have for every game?” he asked afterward. “It just blows my mind that they have this kind of crowd. This is very similar to (Duke's) Cameron (Indoor Stadium) in terms of the noise level, the heat, the intensity, the passion.”
Today, the Gaels (2-3) will welcome Davidson (33) back to Moraga for the first time since that game, nearly 15 years ago.
The game will tip off at 1 p.m. — six hours before Curry and Warriors face the San Antonio Spurs at the Chase Center.
“There's a reason we're playing that thing at 1,” Gaels coach Randy Bennett said.
Asked in a phone interview Wednesday what the chances are that he'll get there, Curry said, “They're not dead, but I've got to figure out some logistics in terms of getting over there and getting to our game. Coach (Steve) Kerr, as much as he loves me, I'm pretty sure he's not dictating our preparation based on Davidson-Saint Mary's. But if it works out, I'll definitely try to be there.”
“It would be cool if he could make it,” Bennett said.
Back in 2009, the Gaels learned they would be playing Davidson in the hours after beating Washington State and the other future Splash Brother, Klay Thompson, in the NIT's opening round.
Tickets for the Davidson game sold out in 30 minutes, Bennett said.
The lure was Curry, barely 21 years old and appearing younger still. He hadn't yet won two MVP awards in the NBA or led the Warriors to four championships or proved to be the greatest shooter the
game has seen.
But a year earlier, at 6-foot-3 and maybe 180 pounds, he had lit up the NCAA tournament, averaging 32 points through four games, as the Wildcats came within two points of mighty Kansas in their bid to reach the Final Four.
“By the time we saw him, he was like a legend in college basketball,” Bennett said.
Saint Mary's was on its way to playing in the 2009 NCAAs, 18-1 and ranked No. 22 nationally approaching the end of January. Besides Mills, the Gaels featured Omar Samhan, Diamon Simpson and Mickey McConnell.
“Our most talented team,” said Bennett, who has taken nine other teams to the NCAAs.
But Mills broke his shooting hand in the first half of a 69-62 loss at Gonzaga and the Gaels lost three of their next four games. He was back in time for the West Coast Conference tournament, but Saint Mary's was bypassed on Selection Sunday.
The NIT wound up being more than a consolation prize, thanks to Curry and Co.
“To be honest, in kind of a weird, strange sort of way, it made up for not making the (NCAA) tournament,” Mills said this week. “The buzz around Moraga and the Bay Area was definitely a feeling ... (like) the Gonzaga game at home, but this was maybe five times that. It was just electric that whole week.”
On game night, students were wearing red T-shirts with Curry's jersey No. 30 and Mills' No. 13 printed on the front. The gym was nearly full before the teams even took the floor to warm up, and Mills still recalls the noise level.
“It's hard to describe ... there was no silence in the building,” he said. “That night was insane. It felt like the roof was coming off.”
“It was a special atmosphere,” Curry said. “Standing room only. It had a reputation. I had heard before about it being a very hostile environment. It definitely lived up to the expectations, for sure.”
The game plan emphasized limiting Curry's 3-point shot opportunities. Turns out he took 10 3's, making four of them.
“It was a personal challenge, and the sort of personal experience you don't get every week,” Mills said after the game. “It took the whole team to guard (Curry), and we did that, a little bit. He had 26, but we guarded him.”
Curry scored those 26 points after making 11 of 27 shots, to go with nine rebounds, five assists, two steals and six turnovers in 37 minutes.
“Curry was awesome,” Bennett said last week. “He's the best guy who's ever going to come in our gym.”