NCAA Tournament First Round: Davidson falls to Kentucky in a tight battle

The college career of one of the most entertaining mid-major players in recent history has come to an end.

We just watched Peyton Aldridge play his last game in a Davidson uniform. Let that phrase sink in, and if it saddens you, so be it.

The Kentucky Wildcats were simply too agile and too tall for Davidson, out-lasting the Atlantic 10 champs, 78-73. Yet still, thanks to the shooting of Jon Axel Gudmundsson in the second half, this game never truly felt out of reach for Davidson until it was too late.

In fact, much credit must be given to Davidson for not throwing in the towel when they easily could have, especially since they trailed by double digits at halftime. After that point, they made a furious run at Kentucky, tying the game on multiple occasions and finding themselves within two points of John Calipari’s Wildcats with three minutes left.

However, Kevin Knox and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander quickly left their marks on the game, allowing Kentucky to seal the win (even though the final minute lasted for quite a while since Davidson’s hot hand finally returned at that point).

Even though the road is over for Bob McKillop’s squad, Davidson can hold its head high knowing that it snapped one of the most durable, interesting streaks in college basketball:

Sadly, this is the end of the road for a large group of this Davidson team. This veteran team managed to capture some March magic when it won the Atlantic 10 Tournament last week, and they gave Kentucky quite a scare tonight.

Kentucky will face the winner of Arizona and Buffalo on Saturday.