Carter and Woods
Appalachian State’s 74-66 road victory over Davidson last night was due in large part to the return of two players, figuratively and literally.
Omar Carter, a 6-5 guard who made his ASU debut Nov. 12 with 35 points in a season-opening victory at Tulsa, had seen his scoring production drop in several games since. But his 25 points against Davidson – including 19 in the second half – provided a crucial punch.
And Mitch Woods, a freshman who had been bothered by a hip injury that left him sidelined in three of the previous five games, returned to the starting lineup and contributed significantly at point guard.
Carter, a junior transfer from Charleston Southern, endured a slow start last night but hit 7 of 10 field-goal attempts in the second half and made a clutch 3-pointer with 1:20 left that squelched a Davidson rally. He also wound up with a team-leading seven rebounds.
“For me, it’s been mental,” said Carter, who has weathered sporadic scoring totals since the impressive debut against Tulsa. “I’ve got to take my time. Coach (Jason Capel) has been preaching that to me all year.”
Capel said: “Omar has proven he can score the ball. It’s fun having a guy like that you can put in some many different positions to score…. When teams focus on Donald (Sims) the way they do, Omar has to be one of the guys to step up and I thought he did that in the second half. He did a good job in the post, he did a good job driving. He made good decisions with the ball. He didn’t over dribble. He played in a nice rhythm and got easy baskets.”
Woods, a 6-3 point guard, had just one turnover in 27 minutes. He wound up with five points and four rebounds.
“We need Mitch, and I’ve been very adamant about that all season,” Capel said. “Even as a freshman, he brings a calm to the team. He brings a toughness. He’s one of our two best defenders. He’s a coach’s son. He’s a smart kid, he’s strong…he’s smart enough to know he can beat his guy and he’s strong enough to get to the basket and finish.
“Him being healthy brought confidence to this team. He’s already a leader and having him back is a huge asset.”
Woods’ presence frees quick and sharp-shooting Sims to play off the ball, and provides complement to both Sims and Carter in the backcourt.
“You don’t get too many freshmen who can calm a team down and do what he does,” Carter. “Defensively, he brings a lot of energy.”
Sims said: “It frees me off the ball, I can use some screens better. Teams can not worry about me as far as all eyes on me when I have the ball. He’s a facilitator. He gets me going, he gets everybody going. And he’s great defensively, and we need his toughness defensively.”