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Flyers Flatten Muskies!!!
By
Andy Mac Williams,
1/22/2012
 | | Travis Taylor wraps around the defense for a basket.[enlarge] Photo by Bob Stevens |  | | Dee Davis gets sandwiched between two Dayton players as he plays defense. [enlarge] Photo by Bob Stevens |  | | Mark Lyons gets past two interior defenders and flips in a basket.[enlarge] Photo by Bob Stevens |
XU and UD went head to head for first place in the Atlantic 10 at UD Arena Saturday afternoon and the Muskies came in a distant second losing in fading fashion, 87-72. You can blame the less than satisfactory Xavier effort on any number of factors. Dayton owned home court advantage. The Flyers were better rested after a mid-week schedule bye. ESPN's Jon Gruden, a former UD football quarterback, gave the Flyer players a pep talk. No excuses hold water from my perspective!! UD just simply played smarter and harder and better. X had the chance to start quickly but the Muskies missed a ton of shots right around the rim.
For the game Xavier's starting forwards and center made only 6 of 18 FGs and 2 of 8 FTs. The 5 power players including starters Wells, Walker, Frease and subs Taylor and Robinson made just 4 of 13 FTS including two front ends.
Overall FT shooting was abysmal (12 of 24). The FTs or lack there of just compounded the problem.
The defense was horrible. UD scored 46 first half points. They killed XU on the pick and roll and the drive and kick. In short, Dayton got any shot they wanted.
The Flyers also kicked the Muskies' tails on the boards winning 40 to 28 in rebounding. UD was sharper,more focused and more motivated.
Kudos to rookie coach Archie Miller and his nine scholarship players. I thought the officials let Dayton beat up Tu Holloway in the first half. Matt Kavanaugh bulldozed Mark Lyons with a shoulder in the second half. It should have been a charge and his 4th foul but they allowed the basket and the 3 point play. It was a huge swing in Dayton's favor.
But in reality, the Flyers deserved to win this one. X now must counter Feb 18th at Cintas to cancel this flop out. I hate the term "must win," but Feb 18 at Cintas is just that!!
Losing at UD Arena is nothing new for the Muskies. They're 6-6 in Dayton since 2001. Sean Miller's 2009 NCAA Sweet 16 team lost by 13 at UD Arena. Chris Mack's 2010 NCAA Sweet 16 team lost 90-65 in the Gem City. It's how Xavier responds that matters.
The Muskies played with effort. Mark Lyons kept trucking after a nasty fall on his hip. Don't tell me he's not tough!! Dez Wells struggled but he'll learn from the experience. Credit Dayton for short circuiting XU's fast break and neutralizing Wells' in transition.
UD is all alone in first (4-1) with Xavier and UMass tied for second (4-2). St Louis, La Salle, St Bonnies and GW are bunched at 3-2.
It's XU against SLU Wednesday night at Cintas (7PM-Fox Sports Ohio). The Billikens are 15-4 overall and 3-2 in the A-10 with wins over GW, at Charlotte and Duquesne and losses to Temple and at Dayton.
SLU is deep, experienced and disciplined under Rick Majerus. X can't afford to drop one at home because road wins in the league this year seem to be hard to come by. More on St Louis later.
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