Despite shooting a lowly 33% from the field, UD was able to maintain their poise enough to defeat Ole Miss to advance to the NIT final.
As has been the case many times this season, the Flyer’s defense was instrumental in the victory disrupting the Rebels offense with physical play and intensity. UD ended with a +3 rebounding margin and held Ole Miss to 34% shooting from the field.
“What happened was our defense bailed us out,” said coach Brian Gregory.
Free throw shooting was also crucial as Chris Johnson knocked down 9-11 en route to a game high 22 points. Johnson also added 10 rebounds and 4 steals in 32 minutes of play.
“Chris has been tremendous,” said Gregory. “I’m going to keep coaching him. If he does something wrong or he’s got to do something better, he’s going to hear about it. And he’s a guy that doesn’t flinch at that.”
Marcus Johnson also had a solid game scoring 12 points on 4-8 shooting.
The Flyers will now take on North Carolina in the NIT championship on ESPN Thursday at 7pm ET at Madison Square Garden. The Tar Heels were victorious 68-67 in overtime over Rhode Island.
In their best performance of the season, the Flyers overcame many of the deficiencies that haunted them all season to defeat Illinois 77-71.
It was quite the sight to see Dayton channel their athleticism coupled with good decision-making? And play as a unit amidst a fury of substitutions? And close out a game down the stretch, albeit in a scary fashion.
“Our seniors did a good job of sticking with it and hanging tough,” said UD coach Brian Gregory.
Per usual, UD made it closer than it needed to be missing late game free-throws committing mindless fouls. Though in the end, the lead built on strong defense and hot shooting earlier in the game proved to be enough.
The Illini were led by Demitri McCamey (13 points, 10 assists) though his effort was not enough as UD’s strong defense helped neutralize Illinois’ front court. Mike Davis and Mike Tisdale never got into the flow of the game combining for just 15 points. Tisdale was in foul trouble all game and ended up fouling out with 7:53 to play.
“We knew that Illinois was a good team and that they were going to make a run. We knew down the stretch we had to keep our poise,” said UD guard Chris Johnson who led the way with 18 points.
UD now moves into the Final Four of the NIT and will play Ole Miss Tuesday, March 30 at 7pm ET at Madison Square Garden.
Who knew that the key to the Flyers inconsistencies was … the jerseys?
Sporting their flashy black jerseys last night, UD came out in the first half and connected on 9 of 18 three-pointers taking a five-point lead into halftime. The lift came from the bench (Rob Lowery and Paul Williams finished with a combined 24 points) and in transition where UD outscored the Bearcats 14-5.
“Tonight was the best response we’ve had in a while,” said coach Brian Gregory.
UC made run after run at the Flyers but each time, UD held firm coming up with loose balls and hitting big shots.
“I wanted to be aggressive. Outside shots weren’t falling so I wanted to drive and be more aggressive,” said UD senior Marcus Johnson.
Johnson played with great energy finishing with a team high 16 points, 7 rebounds and 4 assists.
Deonta Vaughn led Cincinnati scoring 28 points and moved into third place on the UC all-time scoring list behind Oscar Robertson and Steve Logan.
UD will play in Champaign against the University of Illinois tomorrow night at 9pm. The game will be televised on ESPN2.
Stingy defense and tenacious rebounding were the difference on Wednesday night as the Flyers blew out the Redbirds 63-42.
"Yes, we had a very poor offensive night and certainly we had some shots that could have easily fallen," Illinois State coach Tim Jankovich said. "But over time, they deserve a lot of credit because they keep a great deal of pressure on you. They're very athletic and they're very deep. And it's a good recipe."
The Flyers had a +15 rebounding advantage and held ISU to only 33% shooting and held them without a field goal for right minutes in the second half. Osiris Eldridge, the Missouri Valley Conference leading scorer, was held to just 4-15 shooting.
“I didn’t have any doubt how our guys would respond. They have done it their whole career and [UD Arena] is special to them, to me and all of us,” said UD coach Brian Gregory following the final game at home this season.
Sophomore Chris Johnson paced UD with 13 points and 9 rebounds after being re-inserted into the starting lineup for Rob Lowery.
UD will travel down to Cincinnati on Monday to play UC at 9pm at Fifth Third Arena. The game will be televised on ESPN.
The trend of blowing leads and playing not to lose, as opposed to playing to win continued last night against Xavier.
The only difference was that Dayton is now out of chances to prove there are worthy of an NCAA bid after falling 78-73 to the Musketeers in the second round of the Atlantic 10 tournament.
“I’m disappointed at this point. For 32 minutes, I thought we played pretty good. Unfortunately some of the things that haunted us this whole year came back,” said UD coach Brian Gregory.
And those deficiencies came back with a vengeance as the Flyers absolutely fell apart in the final 8 minutes of the game getting outplayed in every facet of the game. At the most important time of the season, the Flyers looked perplexed (which has become the norm) as Xavier started their comeback. And UD showed no sense of urgency to right the ship. Instead, the Flyers wilted because of their lack of leadership and intelligence on the floor.
The climax of the disappointment last night, and for that matter the entire season, came when Rob Lowery threw a light jab at Xavier guard Terrell Holloway after Holloway tried to steal the ball before Lowery called the timeout. No question Holloway’s challenge for the ball occurred after the timeout was granted, but it was not a dirty play and surely did not warrant Lowery’s reaction.
Before the technical foul on Lowery, Xavier led 70-68 Xavier lead with 37 seconds on the clock and UD had possession. After the technical foul, UD’s hopes of advancing in the A-10 tournament and receiving a bid for the NCAA tournament were officially over.
By no means do I put the loss on Lowery’s idiotic play late in the game. But the similarity between his decision, and the decision making of UD as a whole this season is strikingly obvious. Of all the plays to end UD’s dreadful season, a frustration filled jab after blowing a lead is sad, but fitting.
My final thought before our NIT invitation arrives is simple: there are no excuses for this season’s poor play. No season-altering injuries. No suspensions or misconduct off the floor.
This year was on the players because when the time came to make a big play down the stretch or energize the team in the face of adversity, everyone on the floor looked at each other – waiting and hoping someone would take the lead.
With 5:58 left in regulation, GW’s Damian Hollis connected on a jumper to tie the game at 55.
After that, it was all UD as the Flyers closed on a 15-5 run to knock off the Colonials in the first round of the A-10 tournament.
Strong performances down the stretch were turned in by senior big man Kurt Huelsman (6 points, 3 rebounds) and Marcus Johnson (16 points, 4 rebounds 3 assists).
Though as a whole, the Flyers victory was rather unimpressive getting outrebounded by 3 and allowing GW to shoot 44% from the floor.
Conversely, UD improved their team foul shooting converting 26-34 (76%) and limiting their turnovers to just 11.
UD will now face Xavier in the second round of the Atlantic 10 tournament on Friday at 6:35pm ET in Atlantic City.
Should the Flyers want to have a chance against regular-season co-champion Xavier (23-7, 14-2), they will need to play better than they did tonight. Xavier is a very disciplined team with a very strong backcourt featuring Terrell Holloway, Jordan Crawford and Dante’ Jackson.
It will be up to London Warren, Rob Lowery, Marcus Johnson and other UD guards to match Xavier’s intensity from the onset for the Flyers to pull the upset.
UD’s own Arlen “Bucky” Bockhorn, who has been providing color commentary for the Flyers for the past 41 years.
Congratulations to Bucky not only for a superb career on the radio but also as a member of UD’s Hall of Fame, All-Century team and a player for the NBA’s Cincinnati Royals in the 1950’s and 60’s.
A popular t-shirt in the UD student section this year on the back reads: “Tradition Doesn’t Graduate.” However this year’s Flyer club has unfortunately made it clear that UD tradition can take a year off.
Saturday night’s 71-66 loss to St. Louis solidified this point. Dayton, a team with superior athletes, far more experience (St. Louis starts all freshman and sophomores and have only 1 upperclassman on their roster) and a home crowd to cheer them on, were beat by a team that excels at what UD has failed to grasp all season: fundamental execution.
Time and time again, the Billikens would run their offensive sets with great efficiency and patience, which led to open shots and easy drives. Last night’s game again proved that smart play and coaching to a team’s strengths will render more success than relying on team speed and athleticism to win games. It’s unfortunate for the Flyer Faithful that coach Gregory elected the latter leaving UD on the wrong of end of so many winnable games.
After finishing a disappointing seventh in the A-10 with a record of 8-8, the Flyers will host George Washington on Tuesday at 7:00pm. Click here for the entire A-10 tournament bracket.
St. Louis’ MO is to play a methodical, slow-paced game where they run their offensive sets until they exploit a defensive break down and play a packed in style of defense. In the Flyers victory against UMass last week, they had 28 fast break points. Against Richmond? Zero. Look for UD to push the pace and try and capitalize on the Billikens lack of athleticism and team speed.
Adjust and Execute
UD made countless errors in the second half of their loss at St. Louis last month that ended up leading to their defeat. Guard play and ball control were two areas where UD struggled mightily. If the Flyers can minimize turnovers and play stronger half-court defense, UD’s superior athletes and home crowd should be enough to get the win.
Respect the Walk-Ons
Since tomorrow night’s game will likely not affect the Flyers chances of making the NCAA Tournament, I’d argue seniors Dan Fox and Luke Hendrick deserve the start. Sure they may turn the ball over or not play smart defense, but unfortunately, that has been a trend from all UD guards this season.
In a last ditch effort to keep their at-large bid alive, the Flyers were thoroughly outplayed in the second half and unable to match Richmond’s intensity.
"We had too many empty possessions. Twenty turnovers in a low-possession game works out to just about a turnover every other possession. Our defense was good enough to win and we're doing good things for a lot of the game, but we have to be stronger with the ball,” said UD coach Brian Gregory.
Empty possession and mindless turnovers have haunted UD all season long, especially on the road. Last night, UD shot just 34% from the field and as the momentum began to swing in Richmond’s favor, UD crumbled.
“I thought our guys competed, and we did everything we wanted to do except for one aspect,” UD coach Brian Gregory said.
For a team that prides itself on their stingy defense, last night showed the flaws in coach Gregory and his staff’s approach. Three of Gregory’s main goals in employing an in-your-face style defense is to force turnovers, wear down the opponent and create transition points. Last night, Richmond only turned the ball over 12 times, outscored UD 20-8 in the final eight minutes and UD had no fast break points.
The Flyers turn their attention to St. Louis (19-10, 10-5) for Senior Night this Saturday. The game will tip at 7:00pm.
Every time the Flyers essentially play themselves out of an at-large bid, the stars re-align giving them new hope. As it stands right now, according to ESPN Bracktologist Joe Lunardi, UD is team #66 effectively making them the first team out. As hard as that is to believe for many, it’s important to understand Lunardi’s logic. He is assuming that conference leaders (i.e. Cal) will win their conference tournament. Since that is rarely the case, and upsets occur in conference tournaments every year, there are likely fewer at-large bids than as Lunardi is projecting which leaves Dayton in an even more precarious position.
Which brings us to tonight’s game in Richmond. Right now, the Flyers best road win is the 75-58 win over St. Bonaventure not counting Georgia Tech win since it was on a neutral court. The Spiders (22-7, 11-3) provide Dayton a great opportunity to pick up a showcase road victory leading into Senior Night on Saturday against St. Louis. Without a victory tonight, UD has no chance of an at-large. But a win tonight and on Saturday, coupled with a strong showing in Atlantic City could be enough to squeeze the Flyers into the NCAA Tournament.
Though it all starts tonight and for all intensive purposes, UD has yet to show up on the road this year.
ESPN Bracketologist Joe Lunardi will join Mark Neal and I tomorrow at 5pm on the Dayton Sports Scene to break down the NCAA Tournament, the Flyers chances of dancing and theirimportant matchup against Richmond.
A lot has been said about what sophomore Devin Searcy and junior Chris Wright said toTom Archdeaconof the Dayton Daily News following UD’s victory over UMass Saturday night.
“I honestly don’t want anybody pulling for us. We don’t need anybody in our corner patting us on the back as long as the 17 or 18 or so guys in this locker room are together,” said Searcy. “We play better when it’s us against the world, when our backs are against the wall.”
Obviously he was exaggerating in stating that he didn’t want anyone to pull for the Flyers considering that to date, 195,165 people have attended UD Arena this season - the overwhelming majority to root on the underachieving Flyers. Not to mention, those alumni, students and fans, many of who live and die with the Flyers, allow him to be on full scholarship and enjoy all the luxuries of a D-1 collegiate basketball player. Not to bad for a reserve forward who averages 4.4 points and 3.3 rebounds in 14.7 minutes per contest.
But I’ll give that line a pass. Everyone’s emotions at times get in the way of logical thought. The second part of his comment, however, left me even more taken aback.
My rationale is simple: Searcy couldn’t be any more wrong.
The Flyers backs were against the wall on numerous occasions and in almost every situation this season, Dayton folded by playing undisciplined basketball and allowing opposing crowds (or inferior opponents) to rattle them. Below are a few examples, not including the debacle at home against Towson:
- @ New Mexico – 2 point loss
- @ Xavier – 4 point loss
- @ St. Joes – 1 point loss
- vs. Rhode Island – 1 point loss
- @ St. Louis – 3 point loss
- @ Duquesne – 2 point loss
- @ Temple – 8 point loss
What defines a team is their ability to play tough teams in challenging environments on the road and come out with wins by displaying focus, poise and composure. At 5-8 away from UD Arena, the Flyers have consistently showed their inability to handle such situations beating themselves in many games due to poor fundamentals and lackluster execution.
On the flip side, at UD Arena with the 13,000+ Flyer Faithful behind them, UD is a stellar 14-1. Clearly, the Flyers in fact have needed others to be in their corner.
Chris Wright added: “All those other folks talking ’round town and putting stuff on Facebook don’t matter. They’re not in a jersey. They’re not playing. We’re not gonna lay down or quit. We believe in each other.”
Not only can some Flyers not handle controversy on the road, but it also seems to be affecting them at home.
Maybe instead of getting caught up in the sea of doubt and frustration many Flyer fans are wallowing in and letting meaningless Facebook zingers affect you, it would be more beneficial to practice pull up jumpers. Or work on late game offensive sets. Or watch extra Richmond game film.
The obvious theme being echoed by Searcy, Wright and other Flyers is their frustration with reality. UD sits at 19-9 and 8-6 in the Atlantic 10 and have no one to blame but themselves. It will be up to them to finish the season strong and show the selection committee they are deserving of an NCAA Tournament at-large bid or eliminating all suspense by winning the A-10 Tournament.
