Davidson Wildcats backups have become unstoppable against team’s starters

One of the Davidson College men’s basketball starters’ toughest opponents is the second team, coach Bob McKillop says.

“When we put our starting unit, the Black team, against the Red team, which is the second unit, the Red often holds its own — or even wins,” McKillop says.

The reason for that, according to the Davidson’s coach, is the Red team’s mobility.

“They don’t get stuck in the paint,” he says.

Part of that mobile Red unit is a 6-foot-8 junior who might, at first glance, look like a player who tends to position himself near the basket.

But McKillop says Nelson Boachie-Yiadom is a mobile big player who is comfortable working at several positions when Davidson has the ball.

“I’ve challenged our other big players not to get stuck in the paint,” McKillop says.

Davidson (9-5, 5-2 Atlantic 10) takes its three-game winning streak on the road for a noon game Sunday at UMass (5-3, 4-1). The Minutemen also have won three in a row.

Boachie-Yiadom, who played scholastic basketball in London, is seeing an increasing amount of time on the court.

He averaged 9.7 minutes a contest in Davidson’s first nine games, but that average has climbed to 14 minutes in the past five games. Boachie-Yiadom played 19 minutes against Fordham.

His time on the court included a play in which he dribbled the ball three-quarters of the length of the floor and finished with a dunk.

At the time when Boachie-Yiadom signed with Davidson, scouting services rated his ballhandling and passing abilities as above average.

“I’m comfortable enough with my (ballhandling) skills to dribble like that,” said Boachie-Yiadom, who is averaging 1.4 points and 2.2 rebounds while averaging about one-third the playing time of a starter.

He said he “really enjoyed going down the floor like that. “And that dunk felt pretty good.”

But he says his primary concern is not statistics.

“I just go in there and do my job,” he says. “It’s important to know your role, to be willing to sacrifice to do what is needed for the team.”

Another mobile part of that Red unit is 6-5 sophomore Mike Jones.

“The fascinating aspect is that last year, he never cut (to the basket),” McKillop says. “He roamed on the perimeter, looking for a shot.

“Now he’s cutting. He has all the instincts.”

Jones is averaging 8.0 points in the Wildcats’ last three games and scored 11 points against Saint Joseph’s on Jan. 12.

He was a standout wide receiver in high school in Minnesota, and McKillop says he thinks that experience is helping him on the court. He says Jones is able to move well and find openings.

“I think all of that goes back to his wide receiver days in football,” McKillop says.

Schedule break ahead

After Sunday’s game, which will be carried by the CBS Sports Network, Davidson has a nearly one-week break before facing A-10 title contender St. Bonaventure at home next Saturday.

Then the Wildcats are off again for a week before a Feb. 6 contest at Fordham.

Steve Lyttle on Twitter: @slyttle