The game that ended Steph Curry’s college career was right here
On March 23, 2009, Steph Curry and Davidson College lost to Patty Mills
and the St. Mary's Gaels in a NIT game

>Saint Mary’s Patty Mills drives between Davidson’s Steve Rossiter,
left, and Stephen Curry for two of his 17 first half points in NIT
second round action Monday, March 23, 2009 at McKeon Pavilion in Moraga,
Calif. (Karl Mondon/Staff)
By JEFF FARAUDO | Bay Area News Group
PUBLISHED: November 23, 2023 at 6:00 a.m. | UPDATED: November 23, 2023
at 6:01 a.m.
https://www.eastbaytimes.com/2023/11/23/the-game-that-ended-steph-currys-college-career-was-right-here/

MORAGA — For Patty Mills, then a sophomore on the Saint Mary’s
basketball team, confirmation that the Gaels’ 2009 second-round 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 80-68 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.”

On Friday, the Gaels (2-3) will welcome Davidson (3-3) 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.

>Saint Mary's Mickey McConnell, left, and Carlin Hughes wrestle with
Davidson's Stephen Curry for a loose ball in the first half of the NIT
second round game Monday, March 23, 2009 at McKeon Pavilion in Moraga,
Calif. (Karl Mondon/Staff)
>Steph Curry in a scrum with Saint Mary’s Mickey McConnell, left, and
Carlin Hughes. (Photo by (Karl Mondon/Staff)

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.”

>Saint Mary's College came up with their own version of March Madness
in a t-shirt design for their NIT second round game against Davidson
Monday, March 23, 2009 at McKeon Pavilion in Moraga, Calif. (Karl
Mondon/Staff)
>The t-shirt pitted Curry against Mills. (Photo by Karl Mondon/Staff)
(Karl Mondon/Staff)

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.”

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Fifteen years later, Mills, 35, stayed true to his assessment that the
Gaels did a “decent job” defending Curry.

“But there was one vivid transition pull-up 3,” Mills said. “It was a
very, very deep 3 . . . a jaw-dropping moment and could have been a
momentum shift for Davidson.”

“We’d seen some good players,” Bennett said, “but you could feel right
away, this guy’s a little different.”

Curry’s shot gave Davidson an 11-8 lead but Saint Mary’s answered with a
10-0 run and went on to win convincingly.

Mills played 39 minutes and drew praise from Curry, who referred to him
as “relentless” afterward. His opinion hasn’t changed

“It’s why he’s still in the league,” Curry said this week. “Super quick,
can shoot, manages the game extremely well. Had a knack for creating
space and hitting tough shots. You respect guys like that who figure out
ways to handle any situation and still get their game going.”

Mills has played 14 NBA seasons, winning a championship with the San
Antonio Spurs in 2014. He is a basketball icon in his homeland of
Australia, a four-time Olympian whose 42 points against Slovenia and
Luka Doncic secured a bronze medal at the 2020 Tokyo Games. Mills will
play his fifth Olympics in Paris next summer.

Of course, Curry’s career arc has exceeded everyone’s expectations.
“Don’t get me wrong,” Bennett said, “I didn’t think he’d end up being this.”

When the noise stopped after the game, Mills and his future wife were
walking out the backdoor of McKeon just as Curry and his family were
leaving. They chatted briefly before going their separate ways.

“I think everyone knew where his career was heading,” Mills said, “but
that interaction was pretty cool.”

In all their on-court meetings since then, Mills said the subject of the
Gaels’ win over Davidson has never come up.

“I’m not one to talk a lot of trash,” Mills said. “Maybe I should start
now.”