GAME NOTES: Former Southern Conference rivals will collide at TD Arena on Saturday as the Davidson Wildcats take on the College of Charleston Cougars.

Davidson heads to South Carolina with an 8-1 overall ledger following its 78-58 rout of Niagara at Belk Arena last Saturday. The victory was the sixth in a row for the Wildcats, who are in their first season as a member of the Atlantic 10 Conference. The program has never before racked up eight wins through nine games during the tenure of coach Bob McKillop, who is in his 26th season at the helm of the ship. Davidson has won 10 of its last 11 true road tests dating back to last season.

The Cougars had a three-game winning streak snapped on Tuesday when they fell, 90-85, to Charlotte in overtime. Charleston has defeated all three of the teams who have visited TD Arena this month. This will be its last home game in 2014 as it has a pair of tough road tests at LSU and Miami-Florida slated before it makes its Colonial Athletic Association debut at William & Mary on Jan. 3.

Davidson leads 53-15 in the all-time rivalry series with College of Charleston. Last season, the Cougars snapped a three-game skid in the series with the 76-64 road upset, marking the first win over Davidson on its home court since 2009.

The Wildcats rank among the Division I leaders in assist/turnover ratio (1.80/2nd), assists per game (19.0/3rd), 3-point field-goal percentage (.421/T-11th), scoring margin (+18.9/12th) and free-throw percentage (.761/13th).They have been led by the dynamic duo of Tyler Kalinoski and Jack Gibbs, who are averaging 17.2 and 15.2 ppg, respectively. Niagara had no answer for Kalinoski last weekend, as he tallied 17 points, seven boards and six assists to propel the team to victory. Gibbs finished with 11 points on 4- of-5 shooting from the floor, while Oskar Michelsen and Jordan Barham provided 10 points apiece off the bench. Although the Wildcats are leading the A-10 in scoring offense (88.6 ppg), they are tied for 10th in the league in scoring defense with an allowance of just under 70 ppg.

Charleston edged George Mason (61-60) and suffered setbacks to some power conference opponents such as Connecticut (65-57), Texas A&M (59-50) and West Virginia (86-57) in November. The challenging schedule has appeared to had a positive effect for rookie head coach Earl Grant's squad, which took a 12- point lead into the intermission of its battle with Charlotte. The Cougars finished 16-of-26 from beyond the arc, but were outscored, 44-34, on two-point field goals and outrebounded, 37-31, by the 49ers. Joe Chealey poured in 30 points, while Canyon Barry racked up 21 points, eight boards and six assists in the loss. Anthony Stitt and Adjehi Baru also made an impact with 11 points apiece. Chealey (11.9 ppg), Barry (11.3 ppg) and Stitt (10.1 ppg) all own double-digit scoring averages.

The Cougars do not have a great deal of upperclassmen on their roster, but the lack of experience will not be as big of a factor at home. Davidson could find itself in trouble if it doesn't bring its top game because its looking ahead to its Dec. 30 trip to Charlottesville to tangle with the Virginia Cavaliers. McKillop's teams typically come prepared, but the Wildcats' love of 3-point shooting could be a huge disadvantage if they come out of the gate cold and fall behind this hungry Charleston squad early considering the venue.