Stephen Curry's world changed last weekend.

He took college basketball by storm, going from little-known to well-known with 40-point and 30-point games in wins against Gonzaga and Georgetown, but remained calm through it all.

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Friday

• Midwest Region game: No. 10 Davidson (28-6) vs. No. 3 Wisconsin (31-4), 7:10 p.m.
• Where: Ford Field, Detroit.
• TV: KDKA.

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He also smiled through it all, facing the bright lights of television cameras, fielding questions on ESPN and enduring constant incorrect pronunciation of his first name (it's STEFF-in).

"It's kind of unreal to be part of this," Curry said after Davidson knocked off eighth-ranked Georgetown, 74-70, Sunday in the second round of the NCAA tournament. "These are things I've always dreamed about. To be part of this, going to the Sweet 16, is huge."

Davidson has reached the Sweet 16 for the first time in 39 years and is getting the obligatory mass attention of a mid-major gone big-time, for a week at least.

"We can't get caught up in that," Curry said. "It's going to be different, but, if we just stay focused on our task, it won't be a distraction."

That doesn't mean that the Wildcats, who will face the Wisconsin Badgers in the Midwest Region semifinals Friday night in Detroit, won't enjoy it.

"You've got to enjoy it, have fun at everything you do," Curry said. "Just being on this big stage is huge. We will definitely enjoy it, but I think we can go further. This isn't the end for us. We'll come out against Wisconsin and compete hard and have confidence going into that game, too. We're just looking forward to the rest of this experience."

The experience in Raleigh was one to savor for the Wildcats, who scored a breakthrough victory against Gonzaga and followed up against Georgetown.

"Gonzaga was a signature win," coach Bob McKillop said.

And the victory over Georgetown? "It's like a Hall of Fame signature win," he said.

The Wildcats had the support of a sellout crowd. Curry's father, Dell, who was celebrating with Davidson fans, raised both arms and pointed skyward, then got a high five from Thomas Ross, the president of the college. Stephen Curry, swarmed by photographers, inched over to press row and pointed toward his father and acknowledged fans as the small Davidson pep band belted out "Sweet Caroline," the team's staple victory tune.

Curry, who, as a freshman, had 30 points in a first-round loss to Maryland last season, is just the sixth player to score at least 30 points in each of his first three NCAA tournament games. The list includes Wilt Chamberlain and Oscar Robertson.

Curry is averaging 25.7 points and shooting 45 percent from 3-point range. He set a Davidson record this season with 152 3-pointers, and he has scored 1,603 points in two seasons.

But McKillop said there is much more to Curry than numbers.

"You can look at his face and features and his jump shot, and you can look at his statistics, and you can see some glamorous statements about who he is, but what you don't see is his heart," McKillop said. "His heart is bigger than all those stats."

That fits well with a hard-working veteran team. Each Davidson player is awarded a penny after practice for his effort, and the players put the pennies in a jar in the locker room.

After the wins against Gonzaga and Georgetown, Max Paulhus Gosselin said that maybe it's time for a raise.

"I think after this weekend, we should get a dollar each," said Paulhus Gosselin. "The jar is about full right now. The mentality is to get better every practice, and I feel like all those pennies have added up and we're playing our best basketball in March. Maybe now our goal will be to play our best basketball in April, which would be fantastic."

The Wildcats have not lost since Dec. 21 and said they learned valuable lessons from early losses to North Carolina, Duke and UCLA and from rallying from 20 points down to beat Elon in the final minute in a 20-0 sweep of Southern Conference opponents in the regular season.

And Curry is undaunted by slow starts, as evidenced by 30 points in the second half against Gonzaga and 25 in the second half against Georgetown.

"We definitely don't quit," Curry said.