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Muskies Dominate Dayton-Tied for A-10 Lead!!
By
Andy Mac Williams,
2/1/2013
UD Flyer coach Archie Miller was stoically blunt after his team's 66-61 loss to XU at the Cintas Center Wednesday nite. "The basketball gods usually smile on teams that deserve it. We were outworked and outtoughed tonite and basically got what we should have." Dayton almost forced overtime when Matt Derenbecker's long three point try did the power rim out with 1.3 seconds to play.
In modern basketball frequently prolific three point shooting trumps hard work. UD outscored XU 8 to 3 from outside the arc. It was almost enough to cancel out Xavier's 36-18 rebound advantage (20 to 10 on the offensive glass). The Flyers came in plus 9.5 rebounds a game in their 5 A-10 games-by far the best in the league. X gang rebounded. They outscored D in the paint 42-26. They stayed true to their pacline defense holding Dayton 12 points below their 73PPG average. Effort won out!!
 | | After Coach Chris Mack calls a time out, Xavier executes a picture perfect alley-oop play for Jeff Robinson.[enlarge] Photo by Bob Stevens |  | | Jeff Robinson slices through the defense for a lay-up.[enlarge] Photo by Bob Stevens |  | | Dee Davis surveys the defense as he brings the ball up court.[enlarge] Photo by Bob Stevens |  | | Jeff Robinson drives the lane and throws down an aggressive dunk over the Dayton defense.[enlarge] Photo by Bob Stevens |  | | Travis Taylor’s defense is too tight for Dayton guard Kevin Dillard, so he pushes him out of the way.[enlarge] Photo by Bob Stevens |
Twice in the final 20 seconds the Muskies missed front ends of one and ones. Jeff Robinson rebounded Travis Taylor's miss. Dee Davis followed his own miss and corralled it. Finally Davis plunked in two FTs and Justin Martin salted it away with two more.
There were no passengers for XU. Davis moved back into the starting line-up-scored 14-delivered consistent on-the-ball defense and won game MVP honors.
Semaj Christon drained the game winning bucket and scored 13 despite double teams and constant hand checks.
Travis Taylor played 37 hard-working minutes with just one foul-8 points-11 rebounds.
Justin Martin still is struggling from 3 point range but he focused his game inside(8 points-5 rebounds).
Jeff Robinson was a horse(31 minutes-12 points-5 boards-thunder dunks-aggressive decisions).
Isaiah Philmore was playing his best game as a Muskie(18 min-8 points-4 rebounds-strong banging inside) until he sprained an ankle. He may be available Saturday at Richmond(6PM-Fox Sports Ohio).
The crowd was electric (sell-out 10,250) and appreciative as X played the way they had to to win-controlling the boards and the tempo. UD's good freshmen struggled except for Jalen Robinson who reminds me of Devin Davis-the whirling dervish Miami Redhawk forward of a few years back.
Dayton slips to 2-4 in the A-10. The Flyers play at St Louis Saturday afternoon (2PM-NBC Sports Network). SLU is rolling. They clobbered #9 Butler 75-58 at Chaifetz Arena Thursday night turning the Bulldogs over 23 times.
Xavier's tied for the conference lead with VCU at 5-2. Butler's in a 5 way tie for third with GW, SLU, UMass and Charlotte at 4-2.
XU-Richmond Saturday at the Robins Center will be a contrast in styles. The Muskie formula calls for stout defense, slower tempo and rebounding dominance. That scheme hasn't worked in recent road losses at Charlotte and at St Joe's. X needs more scoring options to click in (a la the Dayton game). A few more 3's and more FT trips while hitting a better percentage from the line would help.
It's awfully difficult to win anywhere when you're scoring in the 40's and 50's. Richmond has no trouble scoring (71PPG). They depend on the 3 point shot a ton (36% of their points come from long range - 15th nationally). 43% of their shots are 3's (#14 in Division 1).
They are challenged in the paint though(minus 6 in rebounding while X is plus 5 in that category).
The Spiders play a variation on the Princeton offense. Coach Chris Mooney was a Tiger point forward under Pete Carill. It's high post offense with back door cuts and patient passing and plenty of 3 pointers but Richmond does run well and they'll press a bunch before falling back into their match-up zone.
This team has good guards. They handle the ball well. They stroke the three pointer. Two vital Spiders have injuries. 6-6 275 pound inside rock Derek Williams(14P-7Reb) has missed 8 games with an ankle sprain,but he's out of his protective boot and may be available against X. Soph guard Kendall Anthony(13PPG) sprained a knee at Temple Wednesday. He is listed as questionable. Anthony was last season's A-10 Rookie of the Year.
6-3 Senior Dariem Brothers is their star. He scores 19PPG on the friendly rims at Robins Center and is second in the NCAA is 3pt FG% at 47.4. Brothers poured in 39 vs Charlotte and had 22 in UR's City game upset win over VCU (86-74OT).
The Spiders are 3-4 in the A-10 with 3 home wins over Rhode Island, Charlotte and VCU. Overall, Rich is 11-1 at home this season with the lone loss to Southern Conference leader Davidson.
Other key players are Junior guard Cedric Lindsay who's a PG type (10PPG) with low turnovers but he'll shoot more if Anthony is limited. 6-6 Greg Robbins is a do everything Senior leader who just never stops running. Two frosh are listed as starters 6-7 Deion Taylor (8PPG last 3) and 6-9 Alonzo Nelson-Odoba. 6-3 Soph Wayne Sparrow is a capable shooter off the bench. He scored 13 at UMass. Two more frosh play significant minutes(6-8 Terry Allen and 6-5 Trey Davis). The frosh played well in the big VCU win.
Xavier can win this. It would help if Philmore can play. Richmond is less potent offensively if Kendall Anthony fails to post. He is a true microwave. Big man Williams would be a help inside with his bulk and experience. He is physical and unpleasant to play against but how mobile will he be after missing a month??
If XU can control the boards and play sticky defense plus do a little better from 3 point range and at the FT line, they could definitely win a game in the 60's.
The goal in my feeble mind is 10 A-10 wins and a first round conference tournament bye in Brooklyn. A victory at Richmond puts XU at 6-2 midway thru the league schedule with 2 road wins in the bank. That would be a nifty place to be with a bye week ahead and a brief break until Duquesne next Saturday in Pittsburgh.
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