Last year Saint Joseph's suffered just two defeats in 32 chances, did not lose a game in the regular season and advanced to the Elite Eight in the NCAA Tournament.
In the opening contest of its new campaign, things were a little different. St. Joe's was spanked by Kansas, 91-51, at Phog Allen Fieldhouse. The Hawks were held to under 30 percent shooting, handed one of the most lopsided losses in school history and sent home with their tails between their legs.
After that beating, the Hawks realized that something had to change, and that adjustment came in the form of Chet Stachitas.
The junior swingman scored 25 points and went 4-for-5 from behind the arc as St. Joe's bounced back in dominant fashion with a 76-61 victory over Davidson.
Stachitas, who has been molded into a sixth-man type of player -- scoring points off the bench, making hustle plays, providing a spark -- started against Kansas, but was expected to go back to the bench after star swingman Pat Carroll returned from a dislocated shoulder.
Instead, Hawks coach Phil Martelli kept Stachitas in the starting lineup and sat freshman Abdulai Jalloh, who did not hit a shot from the floor against the Jayhawks.
The decision paid off almost immediately as Stachitas hit two three-pointers that led to an early 14-0 run by the Hawks.
"My preference would be to bring Chet into the game for a spark so we could be a little deeper," Martelli said after the game. "But the two young guards [Jalloh and Pat Calathes] haven't put as much value on defense as we need them to. They're just not ready defensively."
And defense was exactly what helped St. Joe's to pull away from Davidson, especially during a 17-7 run to close out the first half. The sequence stretched the Hawks' lead from two points to 12 at the break. They also outrebounded the Wildcats 35-29 and forced 15 turnovers.
"Their defense broke our rhythm and our discipline," Davidson coach Bob McKillop said.
Davidson, which already had upset Missouri, 84-81, and had a valiant second-half effort against No. 10 Duke before losing, 74-61, has proved a difficult team to defend. The Wildcats are scoring more than 68 points per game with four starters returning from last year's 17-win squad.
Carroll was a little rusty in his return, as he hit only three of 10 shots and two of eight three-pointers. The senior, who is expected to lead the Hawks after the departure of last year's National Player of the Year Jameer Nelson and his backcourt partner Delonte West to the NBA, still managed to score nine points in his return. He added three rebounds, four assists and one steal.
Davidson made a run of its own in the second half on the strength of five treys, cutting the Hawks' lead from 64-40 to 69-59 with just less than two minutes to play. But Carroll showed why he is the leader of this team, as he calmly sunk a three from the left wing to stop the Wildcats' run and put the game away.
Dwayne Lee, who is replacing Jameer Nelson at the point, played well, scoring 13 points and dishing out six assists.
"Dwayne Lee can play this game," Martelli said. "He can absolutely guard anybody, and I think he'll make more shots. He ran his team today. [Against Kansas] we were kind of rudderless for a while."
