“If Oklahoma can’t stop him, how is Loyola College going to stop him?” Patsos said.

So Patsos put two defenders on Curry. At first, Curry was confused, but by the third possession he realized what was happening. Davidson’s coaching staff thought about trying to run Curry off screens, but he waved them off.

“I think in the second huddle he said, ‘Coach, I’ll just stand in the corner and keep two guys with me and we’ll play four-on-three,’ ” McKillop said. “And that’s basically what he did.”

With Davidson whipping the ball around the perimeter, somebody was always open. Andrew Lovedale scored with ease inside, finishing with 20 points and 10 rebounds. Bryant Barr hit six 3-pointers and scored 18 points.

Davidson turned a 9-4 deficit into a 22-9 lead, all with Curry hanging out in the corner.

“I had all day to shoot,” Barr said.

Patsos did not budge from his strategy, even as the lead grew to 34 points.

McKillop, clearly annoyed, kept Curry in the game until the final minute while his reserves continued to hit open 3-pointers.

“I thought when we had reached a point of 15 points, 18 points that he was going to say: ‘O.K., there’s no need to continue this. We’re not going to leave Bryant Barr open anymore. We’re not going to leave Will Archambault and Lovedale open anymore,’ ” McKillop said. “It just seemed puzzling to me why he continued to stay in it.”

Patsos, in his fifth season at Loyola and fresh off signing a contract extension, defended himself.

“I’m not too worried with how people perceive me,” said Patsos, a former assistant under Gary Williams at Maryland. “Why, for playing triangle-and-two? They only had 78. The problem is we had 21 turnovers and 48 points.”