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November 2009
UD women ranked in Top 25 poll
The University of Dayton women’s basketball team broke into the AP Top 25 this week. The Flyers check in at No. 25 in the poll, which was released today.
It marks the first time UD has been ranked.
UD is one of two teams that were unranked last week to break into the Top 25. Georgia Tech, previously unranked, is No. 23.
UD (5-1) plays tonight, Nov. 30, at Illinois-Chicago.
Connecticut was a unanimous choice at No. 1, followed by Stanford, Ohio State, North Carolina and Notre Dame.
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TweetEarly RPI ratings have UD 51st
The RPI ratings are extremely volatile early in the season, which means we ought not to read too much into them, but they tell us at least which teams are off to a good start.
Dayton is rated 51st out of 347 teams with a 3-2 record while playing the 31st-toughest schedule in the nation.
The Flyers are third among Atlantic 10 teams, behind Temple (12th) and Richmond (20th).
The Owls (4-2) have beaten Virginia Tech of the ACC and Siena, which was a preseason Top-20 team in Sports Illustrated. Their losses were at Georgetown (by one point) and to St. John’s in the Philly Classic.
The Spiders (6-1) have impressive wins over Mississippi State, which was picked to win the SEC West Division, and Missouri of the Big 12.
Xavier, meanwhile, is slogging along at 167th. The Musketeers are 4-2 with a win over Creighton and losses to Marquette and Baylor in the Old Spice Classic. They have a brutal upcoming stretch after hosting Kent this week, playing at Kansas State then facing Cincinnati, playing at Butler, hosting Miami and LSU and then traveling to Wake Forest. Whew!
I caught some of Musketeers’ game against Marquette, and they looked like a team still trying to assemble the pieces of the puzzle this year.
And what’s happened to Creighton? UD’s victory in the season-opener looked like a quality win, but the Bluejays went 0-3 in the Old Spice Classic, losing in overtime to Michigan and then falling to Xavier (by 13) and Iona to drop to 2-4. They’re 293rd in the RPI.
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TweetFlyers pull off unlikely comeback
Implausible. Impossible. Pure fiction.
Dayton once came back from a 20-point halftime deficit in its history, but no one rallies from an 18-point hole in the final 9:30 of a college basketball game.
The Flyers looked like toast, playing lethargically and passively against Towson before suddenly transforming into that team that won 27 games last year and was a preseason Top-25 outfit.
There’s no overstating how important the Flyers’ 74-69 victory was to their postseason hopes. Yeah, I know, it’s only November. But the Flyers’ triumphs over Auburn and Marquette a year ago at this time propelled them to the NCAA tournament, and who knows how many quality wins it would have taken the rest of the season to offset a home loss to Towson.
The Tigers were picked to finish just ninth in the Colonial Athletic Association — two other future UD foes, Old Dominion and George Mason, were picked first and fourth, respectively — and a loss at UD Arena would have marred the Flyers’ postseason resume.
The Flyers almost rallied from 18 points down against Villanova in the Puerto Rico Tip-off Classic, cutting the deficit to two, but that comeback began at 14:05 of the second half and ultimately was fruitless.
After his team was gashed repeatedly from the 3-point line (the Tigers made 12 of their first 17 shots from the arc before ending with five straight misses), UD coach Brian Gregory said, “We’re just not there defensively yet.”
But he added: “One area where we ARE there is our guys have unbelievable heart and a never-give-up attitude. But we’ve got to get other aspects of the game solidified.”
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TweetFlyers overcome 18-point deficit for win
Dayton avoided a monumental upset by overcoming an 18-point deficit in the final 9:30 to pull out a 74-69 victory over Towson today.
The Flyers (3-2) out-scored the Tigers, 12-0, over the last 4:27 to win their 22nd straight game at home.
They took their first lead since midway through the first half on a trey by Chris Johnson with 1:22 to go, making it 70-69, and after a defensive stop, the Flyers got another 3-pointer by Paul Williams for a four-point lead with 31.1 seconds left.
Chris Wright had 20 points and nine rebounds. Marcus Johnson had 12 points and Chris Johnson 10.
Josh Thornton scored 20 of his 22 points in the first half to lead Towson (1-3).
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TweetWarren won’t start against Towson
Senior point guard London Warren will be replaced in the starting lineup by Mickey Perry for today’s game against Towson at 2 p.m. at UD Arena.
Warren, who is in his second season as a full-time starter, was late for a team meeting. He’s still expected to see plenty of action against the Tigers.
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TweetFlyers fall out of AP basketball poll
The Dayton Flyers dropped out of this week’s Associated Press men’s basketball poll. UD, ranked 18th last week, is in the “receiving votes” category in the poll released today.
Three teams that weren’t ranked last week are in this week’s poll: Syracuse (10th), Notre Dame (23rd) and Vanderbilt (24th).
Kansas, Michigan State and Texas remain 1-2-3. Ohio State dropped to slots to No. 17.
Besides UD, which went 1-2 in the Puerto Rico Tip-Off Classic over the weekend, Xavier is the only other Atlantic 10 team mentioned. The Musketeers also received votes (67). That puts them a few slots ahead of UD, which received 48 votes.
IN THE WOMEN’S POLL, UD is in the receiving votes category, with 39. That would rank the Flyers 28th in the poll.
The UD women are 4-1 after winning the Purdue Basketball Travelers Classic last weekend in West Lafayette, Ind.
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TweetWright knows team needs more composure
Dayton knows how to play with great effort, but the next step for this team will be playing with a high degree of smarts, too.
Coach Brian Gregory has been hammering that into his players, and they seem to be getting the message.
Chris Wright is normally a happy-go-lucky sort, but he was downcast while exiting the Coliseo de Puerto Rico after an 83-75 loss to Kansas State on Sunday, knowing the Flyers fell short in the basketball-savvy department.
“I thought we fought hard and played hard, but when you’re playing good teams, you have to play more than just hard. You have to play smart, too,” Wright said. “At different points of the game, we were playing with energy and effort and smartness, but it’s something we have to get consistent at during practice to help us win games.”
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TweetGregory looking for senior guards to take charge
SAN JUAN — Dayton coach Brian Gregory wasn’t happy with the rebounding from his frontline — Kansas State had a 44-32 edge on the boards — and the guards didn’t end the game in his good graces, either.
Seniors London Warren (3-for-7) and Marcus Johnson (1-for-4) were a combined 4-for-11 from the foul line. And back-up senior guard Mickey Perry didn’t contribute much, either. Johnson needed a team-high 13 shots to get 14 points, and the trio combined for just eight assists with eight turnovers in the 83-75 defeat.
Kansas State, of course, is picked to finish fourth in the Big 12 behind Kansas, Texas and Oklahoma and is an NCAA tourney-caliber team, but Gregory expects more from his backcourt than that.
Warren and Johnson couldn’t deliver in a semifinal loss to Big East favorite Villanova, either.
“With upper-class guards, you have to have more poise in crucial situations, and I thought we didn’t have that these last two games,” Gregory said.
“I think we showed flashes. Unfortunately, these three games highlighted some deficiencies we have to address and improve on when it counts, when the (Atlantic 10) conference comes around.”
Perry had a chance to cut into a four-point deficit with a 3-pointer from the wing with 30 seconds to go, but it bounced long. And he was called for an intentional foul as Denis Clemente was taking off for a break-away lay-up.
It was the Flyers’ last gasp.
“You can’t play the way we played against a team of that caliber,” Gregory said. “It’s the same thing against Villanova. We played hard and we scrap and all that stuff — and that’s great. But you also have to play well, and we didn’t do that in this game.”
Chris Wright had 15 points and 10 rebounds, while Chris Johnson had 16 points and Paul Williams 10. Jacob Pullen, who had UD in his final two schools as a recruit before choosing K-State, had 26 points, while Clemente added 21.
“Those two guards dominated the game … in every aspect,” Gregory said.
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TweetFlyers fall to Kansas State in Puerto Rico
SAN JUAN — Kansas State sent Dayton home from the Puerto Rico Tip-off Classic with an 83-75 defeat in the third-place game tonight.
The Flyers gave up 17 offensive rebounds to the Wildcats, who had a strong and athletic front line. Chris Johnson had 16 points, Chris Wright 15, Marcus Johnson 14 and Paul Williams 10 for UD (2-2).
Jacob Pullen, who had UD in his final two schools during the recruiting process before choosing K-State, had 26 points, five rebounds and four assists. Backcourt mate Denis Clemente added 21.
K-State (4-1) had a 44-32 edge on the boards.
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TweetFlyers down seven at halftime
SAN JUAN — Dayton is trailing, 35-28, at the half against Kansas State. The Flyers shot just 40 percent from the field and made only 1-for-5 from the foul line.
They’re having trouble getting good looks. The Wildcats are big and athletic and are defending with a passion.
UD sent out a Tweet with a quote from coach Brian Gregory: “Must do a better job executing on offense and have to keep them off the offensive glass.”
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TweetLowery to suit up but he’s not cleared yet
SAN JUAN — Dayton’s Rob Lowery, who has been working hard for more than nine months at his recovery from a serious knee injury, will be in uniform for the first time this season but isn’t quite ready to play and won’t see action against Kansas State today.
Lowery emerged from the locker room while the Flyers were stretching a little more than an hour before their game in the Puerto Rico Tip-off Classic. The players cheered loudly, and a smattering of UD fans already in the stands applauded, too.
Lowery was all smiles.
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TweetUD-Lehigh game Dec. 5 to start at 2 p.m.
SAN JUAN — Dayton’s home game against Lehigh on Dec. 5 will start at 2 p.m.
The athletic department was waiting to see whether the football Flyers were going to play in the Gridiron Classic that day as PFL champions before setting a tip-off time (UD would have been the home team). The football squad finished as co-champ, but Butler will represent the league in the postseason because of its win over UD.
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TweetVideos give UD fans close-up of program
SAN JUAN — If you’re a fan of the Dayton basketball team, there are some videos on YouTube and at GoDaytonFlyers.com that you’ll probably like. There’s one on the bond between the community and the program another on the work ethic of the team and one last one on the academic component for UD players.
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TweetUD fans in Puerto Rico need to exchange tickets
SAN JUAN — The UD staff is trying to get the word out to Flyer fans here about a ticket mix-up at the Puerto Rico Tip-off Classic.
Fans were issued tickets for the wrong session. Those tickets can be exchanged for the right ones at the Coliseo de Puerto Rico at 5 p.m. Sunday.
The Flyers play for third place in the tournament at 5:30 p.m. Sunday.
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TweetNear upset not satisfying for Flyers
Dayton staged an entertaining but ultimately unfulfilling comeback in the Puerto Rico Tip-off Classic semifinals, falling to Villanova, 71-65.
The Flyers (2-1) trailed by 18 with 14:05 to go and cut it to two with 2:23 left on two London Warren free throws.
Corey Fisher made a pair of freebies for ‘Nova, but UD answered with a Chris Wright dunk off a Chris Johnson assist with 1:37 to go.
The 18th-ranked Flyers, though, didn’t score again until there were 15 seconds left as the fifth-ranked Wildcats closed it out at the free throw line, making 14-of-15 in the second half.
Post-game reaction:
“We lost to a really good team that’s only going to get better during the year,” UD coach Brian Gregory said. “They’re well-coached and well-schooled.
“I was hoping the 40 minutes would be like the last 10. We had two really good teams going after it, making plays. Unfortunately, it wasn’t that way. Give them credit. They did a lot of things against us to throw us out of sorts.
“Credit our guys for fighting back and weathering the storm and continuing to fight. I’m proud of our guys for that. But we’re at a point right now where we feel we could at least compete with these teams. I wish we would have done it a little more than just the last 10 minutes or so.”
“They’re very, very court-savvy both defensively and offensively. They may not be the quickest team or the most physical team, but they have a really high basketball IQ, and I think (coach Jay Wright) has done a great job of using that to his advantage.”
They sped us up some. We’ve never had any problems with any type of press — ever. But we had some today. Two or three casual turnovers. They lull you to sleep and all of a sudden slip a quick guard in there. They know how to play, and that’s why they’re so good. You watch them on film, and you’re not like, “Whoa.” But they know how to play. That’s the mark of a well-coached team.”
• “This is a young season, but that’s obviously the best we’ve played in four games,” Jay Wright said. “We played a helluva team. Dayton is a helluva team. They kept coming at us. They have a lot of weapons. They’re smart. They execute well.
Luke Fabrizius had a team-high 16 points on 5-of-9 three-point shooting. Fellow subs Chris Johnson (13) and Mickey Perry also had strong outings.
UD’s bench had 39 of the team’s 65 points and out-scored the Wildcats’ reserves by 14.
“Fabrizius was incredible,” Wright said. “We were trying to stay with him. They run really good sets and confused us a couple times, and we lost him a little bit. Our upperclassmen … really gutted it out.” “We were just trying to grind it out. We knew it woudl be a tough 40 minute ball game.
• Corey Fisher was unflappable for the preseason Big East favorites. He had a game-high 18 points, making 10 of 12 foul shots.
“You have to give a lot of credit to Dayuton,” he said. “They’re a good team. We knew it would come down to the last buzzer, and we had to get the win. That’s what we do. That’s Villanova basketball.”
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TweetUD comeback falls short against Villanova
SAN JUAN — Dayton suffered its first loss of the season in the semifinals of the Puerto Rico Tip-Off Classic today, but not before staging a rousing comeback, not before earning some respect from mighty Villanova and not before giving about 500 UD fans one tremendous show.
Luke Fabrizius had 16 points, Chris Wright 15, Chris Johnson 13 and Mickey Perry 10 for the Flyers (2-1), who dropped a 71-65 decision. They’ll play the loser of the Mississippi-Kansas State game at 5:30 p.m. Sunday on ESPNU. Those two teams battle at 8:30 p.m. today on ESPNU.
Trailing 54-36 with 14:05 to go, the Flyers went on a 15-2 run to cut the deficit to five with 6:50 left. Johnson and Perry had five points each in the surge.
A 3-pointer by Fabrizius made it 58-54 with six minutes to go. But Antonio Pena nailed a banker, and Scottie Reynolds hit a jumper for an eight-point lead. The Flyers, though, wouldn’t go away.
A Wright free throw and a Fabrizius 3-pointer cut the margin to 62-58 with 2:38 to go. And a Wright dunk off a Johnson assist cut it to two with 1:37 left.
But Pena made two free throws with 1:17 to go. And when Johnson’s inside shot went in, rolled around and came out, the Flyers fouled Taylor King on an attempted dunk with 46.7 seconds to go.
He made both for a 68-62 lead. The Flyers, finally spent, suffered a turnover on their next possession.
Fifth-ranked Villanova (4-0), the preseason Big East favorite, was 14-for-15 on free throws in the second half.
The Flyers trailed, 27-25, after a Marcus Johnson free throw with 4:34 left in the first half, but the Wildcats, who reached the Final Four last year, ran off eight straight points and took a 37-29 lead at halftime.
UD scored the first point of the second half on a Johnson free throw, but Villanova ripped off nine points in a row for a 46-30 lead.
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TweetFlyers trail by eight at halftime
SAN JUAN — Observations from the Dayton-Villanova game:
The Flyers trail, 37-29, at halftime. Do they have a run in them? UD sent out a Twitter from coach Brian Gregory at the break: “Need to pressure their guards, stop penetration and knock down some open looks.”
The problem is, they’re not getting many uncontested shots.
• The Flyers wasted no time getting super soph Chris Johnson into the game, subbing him for Devin Searcy at 18:20 of the first half. Luke Fabrizius was the next sub for Chris Wright at 17:30. Johnson had 19 points and Fabrizius 12 against Georgia Tech.
• The Flyers hit their first 3-pointer (Wright) but missed their next six until Mickey Perry buried one with 9:36 left in the period. Perry, who is one of UD’s better shooters, connected on his first outside shot of the season a little earlier, an 18-footer near the top of the key.
UD is just 4-for-13 on threes.
• The Wildcats scored 13 points on their first eight possessions and made it look easy. The Flyers tightened up on defense after that, though.
• Villanova is good — real good — but the Flyers aren’t going away. After falling behind by seven, UD cut the deficit to 18-17 on an emphatic put-back dunk by Wright with 8:30 to go.
• UD coach Brian Gregory is still tinkering with his front-line rotation. Josh Benson played in the season opener while Matt Kavanaugh didn’t. Kavanaugh played against Georgia Tech while Benson sat. And Benson is the first of the two off the bench today.
• Fabrizius, a 3-point shooter extraordinaire, clanked his first two before hitting a deep one with 6:25 to go and another from the corner about 75 seconds later to cut Villanova’s lead to 25-24.
• The Flyers can’t get over the hump. Each time they pull within one, the Wildcats respond. Guard Corey Fisher has had two driving three-point plays.
• Both UD point guards have two fouls, and there’s still 3:53 to go in the half. Not good.
• Wright is the player the Flyers can least afford to have in foul trouble, and he picked up his second (both on charges) with 7:49 to go. UD players normally sit out the half with two, but when the Flyers fell behind by 10, Wright returned.
• Marcus Johnson had the play of the half. Picking up a loose ball near midcourt, he raced to the other end and had a thunderous slam while drawing a foul. But he still can’t get going offensively. That was his only bucket, and he didn’t convert the three-point play.
He’s 1-for-7 from the field after going 0-for-5 against Georgia Tech.
• Villanova’s defense is tremendous. Guess that’s why they made the Final Four last year. The Flyers shot just 35 percent in the first half.
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TweetFlyer game to start at 3:40 p.m.
SAN JUAN — Because the Georgia Tech-George Mason game ran late, Dayton’s meeting with Villanova won’t tip off until about 3:40 p.m.
Georgia Tech coasted to a 70-62 victory over GM.
Lots of red in the stands. The crowd is about 1,000, and roughly half of them are UD fans. Some are for Villanova, and the rest are from other teams just wanting to catch the game between two Top-20 teams.
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TweetFlyers will play three power conference teams
SAN JUAN — By beating Georgia Tech, Dayton is guaranteed to play three BCS teams in the Puerto Rico Tip-off Classic this week — a boon for the program.
The Flyers face fifth-ranked Villanova in about an hour in the tourney semifinals. The winner of that game will play the winner of the Mississippi-Kansas State game for the championship at 8 p.m. Sunday on ESPN2, and the semifinal losers play at 5:30 p.m. Sunday on ESPNU.
The Ole Miss-Kansas State game tips off at 8:30 p.m. today on ESPNU.
The Flyers are 7-2 against BCS teams the last three seasons and 4-0 against the Big East. Villanova is the preseason Big East favorite.
• The Flyers’ Matt Kavanaugh, who got his first action of the season against Georgia Tech on Thursday, will see a familiar face playing for Villanova.
Freshman Isaiah Armwood, who hit the game-winning 3-pointer in a 69-68 first-round victory over George Mason, played for Montrose Christian along with another ‘Nova freshman, Mouphtaou Yarou, in the local Flyin’ to the Hoop event last year.
Kavanaugh scored 30 against them in a 63-53 loss for Centerville. Armwood had 12 and Yarou 11.
The 6-10 Yarou started the first two games for Villanova, averaging 5.0 points and 4.0 rebounds, but he was sent home from the tourney Thursday because of a viral infection. Armood played four minutes against GM and made his only shot of the night a monumental one.
• The Flyers probably can’t count on the Villanova veteran guards to play as poorly as they did in the first round. Scottie Reynolds had 18 points but eight turnovers. Corey Fisher was 1-for-12 from the field.
The Wildcats won only because GM missed eight free throws in the final 1:16.
• Final score alert: Georgia Tech 70, George Mason 62.
• Correction: I reported in a story the Flyers hadn’t played a top-5 non-conference team since Duke in 2002-03. Actually, they played No. 2 North Carolina in 2006-07, losing by 30.
In conference games, they played No. 3 Saint Joseph’s in 2003-04, falling 81-67.
They haven’t beaten a top-5 team since upsetting No. 3 DePaul in 1984, but they’ve knocked off a pair of No. 6 teams this decade, beating Maryland, 77-71, in the Maui Invitational in 2000 and Pittsburgh, 80-55, at home in 2007-08.
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TweetGregory knows Villanova will be huge test
SAN JUAN — Dayton coach Brian Gregory realizes 22 turnovers and 43-percent shooting — his team’s stat line in a first-round win over Georgia Tech — probably won’t be sufficient against Villanova on Friday.
The fifth-ranked Wildcats (3-0) rallied for a 69-68 win over George Mason today. They hit two gigantic 3-pointers — the second a game-winner by forward Isaiah Armwood with 17 seconds left. Armwood is an unlikely hero. He played just four minutes, and it was his only shot of the game
Villanova finished 30-8 and reached the Final Four last year.
“Obviously it’s a great opportunity to play Villanova, one year removed from the Final Four,” Gregory said. “I’ve known Jay Wright since I was a college player, and I just have an unbelievable amount of respect for him and the program he’s built there.”
The Flyers’ 63-59 win over Georgia Tech gives them a 7-2 record against BCS teams the last three years, but they haven’t beaten a Top 5 foe since knocking off DePaul on Ed Young’s famous shot in 1984.
Despite the sometimes sloppy play against the Yellow Jackets, Gregory couldn’t criticize his team’s intensity.
“I’m not satisfied with where we are at all,” he said. “At times we played ugly. But we really do play hard. I get on the guys sometimes when we don’t execute like we can, but you can never fault our effort. And when you have talented guys who are good guys who play like that, you’re going to be successful.”
Read more about the tournament:
Flyers’ Big 2 have been nonfactors so far
Sophomores deliver for Flyers against Georgia Tech
Follow the Flyers against Villinova
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TweetFlyers face No. 5 Villanova next
SAN JUAN — Dayton will play fifth-ranked Villanova in the second round of the Puerto Rico Tip-off Classic on Friday.
The Wildcats (3-0) trailed by double digits for much of the game but rallied to beat George Mason, 69-68, on Isaiah Armwood’s 3-pointer with 17 seconds left. It was his only shot of the game.
George Mason called a timeout with 13 seconds to go to set up a last shot but couldn’t get off a final fling.
“First, I want to apologize for making everybody watch that,” Villanova coach Jay Wright said. “It was just lucky. We want to give George Mason credit. They played better than us. Sometimes it happens that way. I like to be on this side better.
“It’s one of those games — with a team like this having a lot of young players — that’s going to help us a lot.”
Armwood wasn’t Wright’s first option.
“He’s the last one I wanted to shoot,” Wright said. “We have good players. He knows he had the green light. It’s just I have more confidence in the other guys.”
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TweetGregory elated with comeback effort
SAN JUAN — Dayton was hounded into an unsightly 22 turnovers, shot a mediocre 43 percent from the field and was out-rebounded by eight, all of which may sound like a recipe for disaster.
But coach Brian Gregory has been extolling the virtues of his deep bench, and a trio of sophomore subs made sure the Flyers didn’t falter against No. 21 George Tech.
Chris Johnson had a game-high 19 points, Paul Williams added 13 and and Luke Fabrizius 12 in the 63-59 victory Thursday in the first round of the Puerto Rico Tip-off Classic. UD’s bench out-scored the Yellow Jackets’ reserves, 47-24.
UD led by 10 early in the second half but fell into a turnover funk and seemed destined for a sure defeat. But down 57-50, the Flyers finished the game on a 13-2 run.
Williams scored UD’s last seven on a 3-pointer and two consecutive one-and-ones in the final 51 seconds.
Quotes from the post-game press conference:
• “We showed flashes at times of where we can get to,” Gregory said. “It was longer than it was on Saturday (against Creighton), but not as long as it needs to be.”
• “They did a great job of pounding the ball inside,” Gregory said. “We had some defensive breakdowns, especially in transition. That team is dangerous in the open court because they have great size and can make some plays. We did not handle the ball well — 22 turnovers is way too many. That’s too many free possessions for them.
“Give them credit because they fought back. Our guys, with about four minutes to go, knew if we could stop them in transition and get them in the half court and get some stops, we’d eventually get some open looks against that zone. And CJ got it going with the big 3 from the right side.”
UD had just one field goal in a nearly 10-minute span until Johnson’s 3-pointer with 2:43 to go cut the deficit to 57-55.
• The Yellow Jackets were forced into 26 turnovers and made just 11-of-20 free throws, but they were able to make it a game through a 34-26 edge on the boards and by shooting 51.1 percent from the field.
Coach Paul Hewitt, though, was vexed over allowing UD to make some monumental 3-pointers. Fabrizius was 4-for-7 from the arc.
“Maybe we could have gotten out and contested a little more, especially with (Luke) Fabrizius. But give them credit, they made some big 3’s.
“No disrespect to them — they played very, very well — but we turned the ball over too much. We had a little flow going … then we got a little frantic, missed a couple free throws and gave them some life. But you have to give them credit. A lot of teams would have those opportunities down seven and not cash in. Dayton cashed in. They executed and made some big shots.”
• Paul Williams on his late-game heroics:
“I’d just like to give some credit to London (Warren). He drove and kicked it out and trusted me on the 3. The free throws, all summer, we’ve been working on them, shooting thousands and thousands. I just had to show I could hit ‘em.”
• Stat of the day: Chris Wright had almost as many turnovers (6) as points (7). And the team’s other returning star, Marcus Johnson, didn’t score a point, going 0-for-5 from the field.
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TweetWilliams leads Flyers to victory
SAN JUAN — Sophomore sub Paul Williams scored seven points in the final 51 seconds, and Dayton finished the game on a 13-2 run to knock off Georgia Tech, 63-59, in the first round of the Puerto Rico Tip-off Classic here Thursday.
Trailing 57-50 and looking like they were headed for a certain defeat, the Flyers went on an 11-0 rampage to take a 61-57 lead with 32.8 seconds to go. Williams hit a 3-pointer to put the Flyers ahead and then made both ends of a one-and-one for the four-point spread.
Freshman sensation Derrick Favors had a rebound dunk with 17.9 seconds to go, and the Yellow Jackets fouled Williams again with 12.7 seconds left. He calmly swished both tosses.
Sophomore wing Chris Johnson had a game-high 19 points, and sophomore forward Luke Fabrizius added 12 on four 3-pointers.
The Flyers opened up a 37-27 lead with 17:30 left when Chris Wright made a steal, threw an outlet pass while sitting on his backside to London Warren, who flipped to Chris Johnson for a dunk.
But UD suffered four straight turnovers after that, and Georgia Tech cut the deficit ot 37-33.
The Flyers, who had led since the 14:50 mark of the first half, pushed the margin to 46-37 on a Luke Fabrizius 3-pointer with 12:10 to go. But they scored just one point on their next eight possessions.
The Yellow Jackets took a 49-47 lead on a 3-pointer by Brian Oliver with 7:45 left. And the Flyers continued to falter after that. They scored just three points in a span of about seven minutes and fell behind, 55-49. The deficit increased to 57-50 before UD’s comeback.
Chris Wright hit two free throws, Chris Johnson made a 3-pointer, and London Warren made one of two freebies to cut the deficit to 57-56.
Williams then hit the biggest 3-pointer of his career, swishing one from the deep corner for a 59-57 lead with 52 seconds to go — a 9-0 run by UD.
• The Flyers started two posts in Kurt Huelsman and Devin Searcy again, but Johnson was quick to come off the bench. He was sent in after just 2:02 of the first half and 1:24 of the second half.
• GT coach Paul Hewitt was frustrated with some traveling calls on his post players. And the officials were, actually, calling a tight game.
• UD sent out a Twitter (or is it a Tweet?) at halftime with a quote from Brian Gregory with his team leading, 31-22. “Have to keep them off the offensive glass and continue ball pressure on D.”
• Players from both teams had problems with the slick floor. “I think it’s so humid down here, when they push those mops, it’s just moisture on moisture instead of it being dry to soak it up,” an official said during a break.
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TweetFlyers take first-half lead against Jackets
Halftime observations at the Dayton-Georgia Tech game, which UD leads 31-22:
The Flyers could have been ahead by even more, but they missed a couple of lay-ups late in the period.
• UD’s Matt Kavanaugh, who didn’t play in the opener against Creighton, came off the bench in the first four minutes against Georgia Tech.
• GT’s Derrick Favors showed why he was considered perhaps the top recruit in the nation last year. The 6-9 freshman had a monster slam off a post move early in the game.
• UD’s Chris Johnson is on fire. The sophomore wing came off the bench with 17:58 to go in the first half and hit his first four shots, a mid-range jumper and three 3-pointers, in a little over seven minutes.
Fellow sub Luke Fabrizius also has been a force, hitting three 3’s, including two in a 37-second span to give UD a 28-20 lead.
• There are about 500 fans in the stands, and roughly 300 of them are red-clad UD rooters.
• Chris Wright picked up his first foul at 19:36 and needed to be hack-free for the rest of the half or risk having to take a seat on the bench. He didn’t foul again.
Kurt Huelsman is in foul trouble for the second straight game. He picked up his second with 7:33 to go in the first half.
• The Flyers have been sloppy on turnovers (12), and Mickey Perry has struggled. The converted point guard has three turnovers and has missed both of his 3-point shots.
• The Yellow Jackets are helping the Flyers with a 6-for-13 showing from the foul line. They also have an astounding 16 turnovers.
• The Flyers and Yellow Jackets lined up for the playing of the Puerto Rico anthem at opposite foul lines. When it ended, some UD players started trotting toward the other end for the traditional handshake. But there was just one problem. The Star Spangled Banner was next, and the Flyers sheepishly retreated back to their pre-game positions.
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TweetFlyers favored against Georgia Tech
SAN JUAN — The Dayton Flyers have arrived at the Coliseo de Puerto Rico (don’t know my Spanish, but I’m assuming Coliseo means big gym.) for their first-round Puerto Rico Tip-Off Classic game against Georgia Tech. The coaches have gone casual, wearing short-sleeve golf shirts instead of their usual suits.
A couple hundred red-clad Flyer fans are already in the building. There are no other fans in the seats yet. The tipoff isn’t for another 50 minutes.
UD ended the first segment of its warm-up with its usual dunk display, and the Flyer Faithful cheered with enthusiasm.
This is the first game between ranked teams in college basketball this year. The Flyers are a one-point favorite. A ONE POINT FAVORITE??? The Yellow Jackets are picked to finish fourth in the ACC and landed the best recruit in the nation in Derrick Favors. Plus, they get D’Andre Bell back after the former starter took a medical redshirt year last season.
The weather in San Juan has been tropical — steamy, perspire-profusely-on-short-walks hot and then heavy rains. The team got caught in a downpour Wednesday, and the streets were flooded instantly with water as high as two or three feet in some places.
Because traffic was snarled in this city of about a half-million, a 20-minute bus trip from a practice gym to the team hotel took the Flyers about two hours.
Coach Brian Gregory is going with the same starting lineup as he did in the opener: Kurt Huelsman at center, Devin Searcy and Chris Wright at forward and Marcus Johnson and London Warren at the guards.
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TweetGregory lost recruiting battle but wishes Pullen well
Brian Gregory may still remember the disappointment of losing super recruit Jacob Pullen to Kansas State, but the Dayton coach has no bitterness toward the point guard.
Pullen seemed destined to end up with UD in the 2007 class with Chris Wright and Devin Searcy — his high school coach told me at one point in the recruiting process that Pullen would be committing within a couple of days — but Bob Huggins got the K-State job, swooped in and coaxed a commitment out of Pullen going into his senior year without the player ever having even visited the campus.
The irony is Huggins was gone before Pullen arrived.
“You recruit only good kids, so you hope for only good things for him,” Gregory said.
“One thing you do, though, is you tend to keep track of them when they move on.”
Pullen is a speedy left-hander who can shoot with range (he would have been a nice fit for UD, in other words). He averaged 13.9 points, second on the team, in the Big 12 as a sophomore last year. And the three-year starter was first in steals (1.8) and second in assists (3.4).
The Wildcats play in the first round of the Puerto Rico Tip-off Classic against Boston University at 7:30 p.m. today. K-State and UD are in opposite brackets, and there’s a 25 percent chance they’ll meet in the final game of the tourney Sunday.
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TweetWabler likes how Puerto Rico field turned out
When Dayton committed to the Puerto Rico Tip-off Classic, it hoped to be part of an attractive field, and that’s exactly how it turned out.
There are oodles of exempt tournaments in November and December, and the eight teams assembled here — UD, Georgia Tech, Villanova, George Mason, Mississippi, Boston University, Kansas State and Indiana — can compare with almost any other field out there.
“You never know when you sign up,” UD Athletic Director Tim Wabler said. “They always promise you five or six BCS teams. I think this is one of the top-two in-season tournaments with the Maui Invitational.”
Playing in the Maui tourney are Maryland, Cincinnati, Vanderbilt, Colorado, Gonzaga, Arizona, Wisconsin and host Chaminade.
NCAA rules allow teams to play in exempt tournaments and count them as just one game. UD was allowed to play a maximum of 12 non-conference games but will play 14 because of the three games here.
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TweetGeorgia Tech’s Hewitt wary of UD
Paul Hewitt, the Georgia Tech basketball coach, may have access to more highly rated talent than Dayton, but he doesn’t sound like a guy who expects to have the superior team when the first-round opponents meet in the Puerto Rico Tip-Off Classic at 11:30 a.m. Thursday.
“It’s a great opportunity for our team to play Dayton,” Hewitt said. “As experienced as they are and given what they accomplished last year, we’ll know an awful lot about our team. Obviously, Brian (UD coach Brian Gregory) does a great job. I know Billy (assistant Billy Schmidt) a little bit, too.
“They’re going to throw a lot of stuff at us. Our guys are going to have to grow up quickly or go home with an L.”
The Yellow Jackets finished 12-19 overall and 2-14 in the ACC last season, while the Flyers were 27-8 overall and reached the second-round of the NCAA tourney.
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TweetGregory: Current team his most talented, but …
One of the TV broadcasters for tomorrow’s Dayton game asked coach Brian Gregory how his current team ranks with those or the past.
“Top to bottom, it’s the most talented,” he said. “But we have a long way to go.”
The broadcaster needled Gregory, saying, “Are you ever happy with a team?”
The coach replied: “No. I was happy on the flight home from Maui (after winning the tourney in 2004) and I was happy on the trip home from Chicago (after capturing the Chicago Invitational Challenge last year). Those are about only two days I’ve been happy in coaching.”
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TweetFlyers going through drills at game site
Dayton are currently practicing at the Coliseo de Puerto Rico, the site of the Puerto Rico Tip-Off Classic, working up a serious sweat during the hour they’re allowed on the floor.
If coach Brian Gregory isn’t satisfied with this workout, the team has reserved another gym in San Juan for a second practice later today.
It’s a typical session for UD, which is going over offensive sets and emphasizing defense and crashing the boards. The sense you get in watching these guys is that they won’t be intimidated by Georgia Tech on Thursday.
Although the Yellow Jackets will field a star-studded lineup, one edge the Flyers might have is in experience. They start three seniors and two juniors, while the Yellow Jackets’ best players are a junior (forward Gani Lawai), a sophomore (guard Iman Shumpert) and a freshman (forward Derrick Favors).
When I proposed that theory to Gregory, he replied: “You would hope it would … Yeah … but at the same time, we rely on three sophomores (Paul Williams, Chris Johnson and Luke Fabrizius), and our two freshmen (Josh Benson and Matt Kavanaugh) are definitely in the mix. But you hope their experience and the fact they’ve played a lot of similar games will help them in this situation.”
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TweetFlyers arrive in Puerto Rico
SAN JUAN — The Dayton basketball team checked into its hotel here at about 11 p.m. today (Atlantic standard time, which is one hour later than Eastern standard time), ending a long day of travel.
The Flyers’ flight from Dayton to Philadelphia left at 1:30 p.m., and after a three-hour layover, they boarded another jet for the journey to P.R.
They were joined by the Villanova basketball team, a possible opponent in round two of the Tip-Off Classic, for the flight from Philly. Chris Wright and Devin Searcy shared an exit row with a Villanova player.
“They were cool,” Wright said. “The Villanova player opened up his bag of Gummy Worms, and we killed ‘em.”
The coaches, UD’s Brian Gregory and the Wildcats’ Jay Wright, exchanged pleasantries at the luggage carousel and talked for several minutes.
Before embarking from Dayton, UD players were asked to autograph a poster of themselves that was hung by an airport employee in the jetway, and they happily obliged.
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TweetCreighton guard compliments Flyers
P’Allen Stinnett, an All-Missouri Valley Conference guard, gave Dayton its due after Creighton dropped a 90-80 decision here.
“They’re a good ball club,” he said. “They have a lot of athletic guys. You can tell they’ve been together quite a bit.”
The Flyers may have been able to vanquish the Bluejays, who were playing without leading rebounder Justin Carter (knee) and two ailing frontcourt subs, but it wasn’t easy. A sell-out crowd of 13,435 was treated to an entertaining game between two solid teams.
“There’s no question Creighton will challenge for the Missouri Valley Conference and play in the NCAA tournament this year — because of the way they always progress, and they’ll get those guys back,” UD coach Brian Gregory said.
The Flyers, though, showed they’ve made strides since last season. Chris Johnson (18 points and 15 rebounds) looks like he’s poised to become a force in the Atlantic 10, and Chris Wright (25 points, two off his career high) has kicked his game up a notch with a more accurate outside stroke. He was 9-of-12 from the field and made both of his 3-point attempts.
UD’s bench is just as deep as last year, too. In addition to Johnson’s output, Paul Williams had nine points and no turnovers in 20 minutes, Luke Fabrizius knocked down three treys, and Josh Benson scored his first career bucket.
“Our bench is big, and it helps us win games,” Wright said.
The Flyers looked worthy of their Top-25 ranking, but they’ll play three quality opponents in the Puerto Rico Tip-off Classic, and they won’t be able to feed off a boisterous throng like they did against the Bluejays.
“The crowd was unbelievable,” Gregory said. “I’d like to see crowds like that every single game because you could feel the buzz.”
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TweetSearcy expected to start for Flyers
Dayton coach Brian Gregory said junior forward-center Devin Searcy will likely be in the starting lineup when the Flyers open the season at home Saturday against Creighton.
Returning starters Kurt Huelsman, Chris Wright, Marcus Johnson and London Warren also will be in the first unit. But while Searcy has been almost exclusively a post player during his career, he’ll line up at the 4 spot and play outside to keep the lane free. Gregory prefers a four-out-one-in offense.
The seventh-year coach pointed out that UD’s frequent substititions make the issue of who’s in the starting lineup less important than it would be for other teams. But Searcy has improved significantly since last year and earned a starting spot.
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TweetUD-Creighton game a near sell-out
Only about 250 tickets remain unsold for Dayton’s season-opener against Creighton at 1 p.m. Saturday, according to Gary McCans, UD’s director of premium seating.
The Flyers’ home game against Xavier on Feb. 6 is already sold out.
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TweetIndiana star Berry feels at home with Flyers
Jesse Berry is an avid weight-lifter, one of the few athletes at Lafayette Jefferson High School to bench press, squat and clean and jerk more than 950 pounds.
But when the Indiana native came to Dayton for a visit, he realized the UD players had spent just as much time in the body-building arena.
“I could tell when we went shirts-and-skins. I have some work to do,” he said.
Berry was one of five recruits who signed with the Flyers today. The 6-foot-1 senior averaged 27.3 points last season, finishing second in the state in scoring to Ohio State recruit DeShaun Thomas.
He made a commitment to the Flyers several months ago and was glad to be able to make it official.
“I feel really comfortable at Dayton,” he said. “I like all the players. I like all the coaches. It’s a great fit for me. It reminds me of home.”
He was excited about joining forces with Brandon Spearman and Juwan Staten, two other signees.
“I’ve known those guys all my life. I’m real close to them. I played with them when we were little. I never thought we’d play on the same team, but now we are, and it’s great.”
Asked what he’ll bring to the team, Berry said: “I’m more of a play-maker, slash shooter, slash defensive player. I’ll be an all-around player when I get to Dayton.”
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TweetGregory had to bite tongue while Staten was being grilled
During the two years between Juwan Staten’s verbal commitment to Dayton and his signing today, UD coach Brian Gregory became more and more impressed with Staten’s off-court qualities while at the same time inwardly seething over the treatment he was getting.
Some Flyer fans were guilty of questioning whether Staten would follow through with his oral pledge, and recruitniks peppered him with questions about that matter, too.
“I’ve coached 20 years. During this time, I’ve never seen a player have to reconfirm his commitment more than Juwan. I mean, continually have to reconfirm his commitment. Through that, here’s what the kid achieved: Led his underdog high school team (Thurgood Marshall) to the state championship game, was part of the NCAA student leadership group, represented the United States in USA basketball, was student of the week at Oak Hill Academy and solidified himself as one of the top point guards in the country. While all this was going on, he stayed focused and never let himself get derailed from what was important.
“The hardest part for me through all this was, when all this stuff was swirling around, I could never comment on it (because of NCAA rules). I feel sorry for the kid because it’s always the kid who has to come out and say, ‘Listen, this is where I’m going.’ I’m sitting back wondering, when is enough enough? How many times does a kid have to say he’s not changing his mind, that he’s committed to the University of Dayton? He’s acting at the maturity level some of these other people should be acting. And I can’t say anything, like, ‘Hey leave the kid alone.’ “
Chris Wright, the junior star for the Flyers, went through some of the same treatment, but Gregory said: “As much as a guy like Chris Wright went through that, you magnify it by 25 times for Juwan — because recruiting has changed in the last three or four years. The Web sites are out of control. Everybody is an expert in recruiting. Rumors, gossip and blog innuendoes run rampant.
“But he stayed level-headed through all that. He gets a lot of credit for that, and the parents get a lot of credit for that. He demonstrated a maturity far beyond his years.”
Wright was ranked as the 48th-best prospect nationally by Scout.com when he came out in 2007 and the 88th-best by Rivals.com.
Staten is ranked 82nd by Scout, 44th by Rivals and 64th by ESPN (there were no ESPN ratings in ‘07).
Asked if the 5-11 point guard is the best recruit he’s landed in seven years at UD, Gregory said: “There’s no question he’s the highest ranked player we’ve ever brought in. And he comes with an overall pedigree with more accolades than anybody else.
“As his dad (Bill Staten) said to me when we talked, ‘Juwan knows he has to earn everything here.’ I think that’s one of the reasons he came here. Earning something is a lot better than having it handed to you.”
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TweetStaten, four others sign with UD
Juwan Staten, one of the most heralded recruits in University of Dayton basketball history, has signed a national letter-of-intent with the Flyers this morning, making his commitment official.
Staten, a 5-11 senior point guard for Oak Hill Academy, is ranked as the 44th-best prospect nationally by Rivals.com and the 64th-best player by ESPN.com.
All five Flyer recruits signed today. The other four — Devin Oliver of Kalamazoo, Mich.; Brandon Spearman of Chicago; Jesse Berry of Lafayette, Ind.; and Ralph Hill of Westerville, Ohio — help give UD a recruiting class that is ranked in the top 30 nationally by Rivals.com and Scout.com.
“Today’s a great day for our future,” UD coach Brian Gregory said. “It started a little more than two years ago when Juwan made his commitment. As excited as I was that day, I’m even more excited today.
“What we did a few years ago was build the program with a great commitment to local talent, and Juwan is another example of that. I believe in the last four years we’ve been able to bring in the top player in this area (counting junior Chris Wright, redshirt freshman Josh Benson and true freshman Matt Kavanaugh). We wanted to make that commitment not only to this area, but also to the Dayton Public Schools.”
Staten may be the most talented player Gregory has recruited in his seven seasons. The Dayton native is ranked as the 11th-best point guard nationally by ESPN and the 12th-best by Rivals.
He was a little less highly regarded by Scout.com, but he still was ranked No. 82 overall and No. 17 as a point guard.
“With the way we play, the pace we play at and the intensity we play with, you need a high-quality floor general to lead that attack, and we have that in Juwan,” Gregory said. “He’s proven that right here in the city in leading Thurgood Marshall to the state finals last year. He’s proving it at a national high school level at Oak Hill. And he proved it all summer long winning all those championships with his AAU team as well.”
Gregory believes playing high-caliber competition at Oak Hill will benefit Staten.
“There’s no doubt he’s being challenged every day in practice. He’ll also grow up. He’s on his own in a different type environment that’s challenging academically and basketball-wise,” Gregory said.
Spearman also is a highly rated player, ranked No. 116 in the Rivals.com top 150. And he’s an accomplished offensive player, he’s known more as a defensive stopper.
“That was the first thing that really drew me to him, his toughness and his ability to guard just about anybody — and his willingness to do that,” Gregory said. “And then all of a sudden, you started watching him and he’s making plays on the offensive end, too, because he has a great motor. We’ve been pretty successful with guys like that.”
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TweetUD’s Johnson finds solace on the court
Marcus Johnson went through an agonizing time being sidelined with a rib injury last week and watching his Dayton teammates dice up Ferris State in an exhibition game.
“I hate sitting out,” he said. “Sitting out practices or sitting out games, it’s hard.”
But something that pained Johnson even more than those sore ribs and the seat on the bench was saying good-bye to his great grandmother, Virginia Morrow, who passed away a couple of weeks ago at age 90.
Johnson, a Cleveland native, said he drew emotional support from her.
“It’s always tough losing a loved one, but she’s in a better place,” he said.
The most therapuetic thing for the senior guard was to get back on the court, and he had a solid game in the Flyers’ 71-61 exhibition win over Northern Kentucky tonight, finishing with 13 points on 6-of-12 shooting and four assists with one turnover in 22 minutes.
The Flyers had six dunks, and Johnson and Chris Wright had two each.
“Me and Chris bring a lot of athleticism to the team,” Johnson said. “It’s exciting, him getting slams and me getting fastbreak dunks.”
Wright, who also missed the first exhibition because of an ankle injury, had 11 points and five rebounds in 22 minutes.
“I was happy to be out there playing with my team, my brothers,” Wright said. “We were just having fun. We wanted to see where we were after the first exhibition and a solid week of practice.”
The Flyers made some progress, despite a so-so night from the field (44.6 percent). They hit 15-of-18 free throws and had just six turnovers.
London Warren was nearly flawless at point guard with four points, nine assists, two steals and just one turnover.
The Flyers started two post players, Kurt Huelsman and Devin Searcy, who had six points apiece, but they also utilized their speed lineup with a single post and the 6-foot-8 Wright at the 4 spot. Playing Wright inside allows UD coach Brian Gregory to get Chris Johnson on the floor at the 3, and the sophomore from Columbus is clearly one of UD’s best players.
“We went ‘small’ some out there, which we’re going to have to do sometimes — maybe more than others just due to the fact of match-ups,” Gregory said. “But I like the progress of our big guys. Devin played aggressively and is doing a good job, and Kurt played well tonight, too.”
The Flyers begin the regular-season Saturday against Creighton, which was picked to finish second behind Northern Iowa in the brutally tough Missouri Valley Conference. The Bluejays, though, lost a key player in their final exhibition Sunday. Justin Carter, who is the team’s top rebounder, reportedly will be out two to four weeks with a knee injury.
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TweetCreighton could be without top rebounder
The Dayton-Creighton season-opener on Saturday has been labeled by The Sporting News’ Mike DeCourcy as the best game of college basketball’s opening weekend.
But the visiting Blue Jays were dealt a blow Sunday afternoon when team leader Justin Carter suffered a knee injury in an exhibition win. The extent of the injury is still unknown, but Carter left the arena on crutches and told the local newspaper that trainers were concerned about his MCL.
If Carter can’t play against the Flyers, the Jays will be missing their top rebounder. The 6-foot-5 senior averaged 8.1 points and 5.5 boards last season. He had 15 rebounds in an NIT game against Kentucky.
He was one of three returning starters for Creighton, which was picked to finish second behind Northern Iowa in the Missouri Valley Conference and has played in the postseason 12 straight years.
One thought raced through Creighton forward Justin Carter’s mind as he lay on the Qwest Center Omaha floor Sunday afternoon, fighting back tears as pain shot through his left leg. “I just kept thinking about my future,” Carter said. “I just hoped that it wasn’t too serious.” Carter won’t know until Monday the full extent of the damage to his left knee that occurred with about eight minutes to play in the Bluejays’ 93-77 exhibition game victory over UNO. He had to be carried to the locker room but later returned to watch the final minutes of the game on the bench. ADVERTISING
He underwent about 45 minutes of treatment in the Creighton training room after the game and will have a MRI performed Monday. By the time he left the arena on crutches late Sunday afternoon, Carter’s outlook had brightened a bit. “They don’t know how bad it is, but they’re talking like it could be my MCL,” Carter said. While hardly minor, injuries to the medial collateral ligament usually aren’t as serious as those to the anterior cruciate ligament. Surgery almost always is required to repair tears to the latter, putting a player on the sidelines for four to six months. Treatment of MCL tears or sprains usually is more conservative. “When it first happened, I was thinking negative,” he said. “I’m more positive now. This could be a minor thing.” That hardly seemed the case when Carter was being attended to immediately after the injury. A hush fell over the crowd. Teammates gathered around, and Creighton coach Dana Altman had a “what-do-we-do-now” expression on his face. The 6-foot-4 Carter is considered the Bluejays’ leader. He joined the program last season as a junior-college transfer, started every game and finished as Creighton’s leading rebounder (5.5 per game) and fourth-leading scorer (8.1 points per game).
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TweetWright, Johnson expected to play in exhibition
Chris Wright and Marcus Johnson practiced with the team Friday, and Dayton coach Brian Gregory said the two stars will play in Monday’s exhibition against Northern Kentucky.
Wright (ankle) and Johnson (ribs) missed the first exhibition against Ferris State with minor injuries.
The Flyers received some mention in this week’s edition of The Sporting News. They’re picked to win the Atlantic 10, and Wright was one of five players named to the All-Non-BCS team along with Butler’s Gordon Hayward, Nevada’s Luke Babbitt, Virginia Commonwealth’s Larry Sanders Jr. and Tulsa’s Jerome Jordan.
The Flyers could be in for a tussle against Northern Kentucky, which finished 24-7 and won the Great Lakes Valley Conference last season. The Division II Norse return two starters and will add three D-1 transfers to their mix this season: 6-9 David Palmer (Iowa), 6-7 Yan Moukoury (Houston) and 6-7 Chris Knight (Bowling Green).
Dustin Maguire, a 6-5 guard who once played for Saint Louis, averaged a team-high 15 points for the Norse last season. They’re ranked 20th nationally in D-II and will play at Xavier on Saturday.
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TweetUD punter-kicker suspended
Dayton punter and kicker Nate Miller has been suspended indefinitely for an undisclosed violation of team rules, coach Rick Chamberlin said.
The third-year sophomore from Medina, Ohio, has made 5-of-6 field goals this year and averaged 39.2 yards per punt.
Senior Nick Glavin, who had been UD’s kicker before losing the job this year to Miller, will likely become the starter again. Either Glavin or sophomore Kenton Froebe will do the punting.
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TweetGregory sees areas to work on after exhibition
Rebounding and defense are expected to be strengths again this season, but to keep its status among the Top 25 teams in the nation, Dayton will need to knock down shots and find consistent sources of offense.
While it’s difficult to glean much from an 88-73 exhibition win over Ferris State since leading scorers Chris Wright (knee) and Marcus Johnson (ribs) sat out with minor injuries, the Flyers did show some positive signs.
Chris Johnson played with his usual energy. Paul Williams just has a knack for scoring. London Warren seems poised to contribute more offensively with his ability to get to the basket. And Luke Fabrizius and Mickey Perry can flat-out bomb from outside.
UD’s play, though, was spotty. Points were wasted at the foul line (13-of-23), and the 23 turnovers left the crowd groaning in dismay at times.
“The turnovers, a little bit, were due to just impatience,” UD coach Brian Gregory said. “You can still play fast but be patient and poised. That’s something we need to get a little better at.”
The Flyers had some trouble with Ferris State’s zone. Gregory pointed out, though, his team hasn’t gotten to its zone-offense phase of preseason practice — something they’ll do in the next 10 days before the season opener.
UD also experimented with a two-post lineup with Wright and Johnson out. And while Devin Searcy fed Kurt Huelsman on two nice high-low plays to start the game, the offense wasn’t crisp.
“We did a poor job today of making the extra pass,” Gregory said. “We took some poor shots. You’re not allowed to shoot just because you’re open. … You’ve got to be ready to shoot and prepared to shoot. And sometimes you can give up a good shot and make an extra pass and get a great shot. We had been doing that. Maybe more than anything, I’m most disappointed with that.”
The Flyers will get one more dress rehearsal before playing for keeps. Their final exhibition game is Monday against Northern Kentucky.
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TweetFlyers post exhibition win over Ferris State
Mickey Perry scored 16 points, Kurt Huelsman 15, Luke Fabrizius and Chris Johnson 14 each and Paul Williams 11 to lead Dayton to an 88-73 exhibition win over Ferris State on Tuesday.
Johnson, a 6-foot-6 sophomore, also had nine rebounds and four assists.
Chris Wright (ankle) and Marcus Johnson (ribs) were held out of the game because of minor injuries.
UD sold 11,166 tickets to the game, about three-fourths of which were used.
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TweetUD looking for improvement in exhibition
Exhibition games are normally a time for fans to kick back and enjoy a stress-free night while their team splatters an opponent, but that wasn’t the case when Dayton faced Findlay two years ago.
The Flyers survived, 81-78, against the Division II school and needed a questionable foul on Findlay and subsequent technical on the visitors’ coach to avoid a shocking defeat.
Of course, Findlay showed just how good it was by beating Ohio State, 70-68, a few days later.
The Flyers will play their first exhibition of the 2009-10 season at 7 p.m. Tuesday against Ferris State, and fans probably won’t have to worry about sweating this one out.
Although the D-II Bulldogs return four starters, they finished just 14-14 last season and didn’t start anyone taller than 6-foot-6 a year ago.
The Flyers, too, are more established than that 2007 team was at the beginning of the season. Although point guard Rob Lowery (knee) is still mending, and sophomore guard Paul Williams (concussion) will sit out, UD has experience galore this year.
“I think the most important thing is our guys have great confidence right now — not only in each other and themselves, but in the system, in the things we really try to preach and exercise,” UD coach Brian Gregory said.
“But we can’t look differently at what our core values are and foundation of what we’ve built this success upon. First and foremost, that’s taking every day and using every day to get better. The reason we’ve had some success is guys are continually getting better.”
Gregory is seeing that single-minded focus, thanks to veteran leaders who never try to slide by during practice.
“Those seven seniors (counting walk-ons) have set the standard. Those are the guys who are in charge of that,” Gregory said. “They don’t let any slip-ups. And that’s always the biggest challenge with a team that’s had success and is coming back. We tell our guys this is their team, and they need to take ownership for us in taking the next step as a program.”
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