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Muskies Derailed at Dayton!!!
By
Andy Mac Williams,
2/17/2013
Xavier needed to be functioning on all cylinders Saturday afternoon at UD Arena. Unfortunately, only Isiah Philmore played up to capabilities (12 points on 4-6FG, 4-5FT, 3 rebounds and physical inside play) and the Muskies lost to the Flyers, 70-59. XU started slowly-trailing 12-4 after just 4 minutes. UD was desperate for a victory with their inclusion in the A-10 Tournament field in doubt. The Flyers made the extra pass and dissected the normally stingy Muskie packline defense for uncontested lay-ups and dunks.
Dayton prospered with baseline drives. Cutting off the baseline is a key principle of packline. Xavier struggled around the rim missing a ton of short shots. UD and XU broke even on the boards. X had outrebounded its previous 13 opponents.
 | | Semaj Christon gets fouled as he attempts a shot over two Dayton defenders.[enlarge] Photo by Bob Stevens |  | | Travis Taylor goes high to tip in a missed shot.[enlarge] Photo by Bob Stevens |  | | Xavier huddle before the opening tip at UD Arena.[enlarge] Photo by Bob Stevens |  | | The Xavier bench, including Coach Mack, voice their displeasure with a referee’s call.[enlarge] Photo by Bob Stevens |
Muskie guards had a tough afternoon. Dee Davis and Semaj Christon combined for 3 assists and 8 turnovers-not a virtuous ratio.
Semaj scored 17 and showed some impressive one on one moves to the basket, but he shot it inefficiently (5-of-18). Davis labored to pass it to the big guys. Third guard Brad Redford lost what amounted to a head to head battle with Dayton's Matt Derenbecker. The taller Flyer outscored Brad 10-3.
Derenbecker was a difference maker. He hadn't scored at all in 3 games. X and UD actually broke even in 3 pointers (just 3 apiece). Xavier was minus 5 at the FT line.
The Muskies really lost this game inside the paint at 2 point range and that seldom happens to this team. The loss at Dayton isn't fatal and wasn't unexpected (Muskies have lost 4 of the last 5 at UD Arena).
X sits 14-10 overall and 7-4 in the Atlantic 10. They're all alone in 5th place. VCU leads at 9-2. St Louis is second at 8-2. Butler and La Salle are tied for 3rd (8-3), The Muskies play VCU, SLU and Butler in the next 3 weeks. They own a win over La Salle.
There's a realistic path to a first round A-10 Tourney bye and a Top 4 finish. XU owns the tiebreaker in any tie with La Salle. Wednesday's Xavier game at Rhode Island looms large. La Salle has to play at Temple Thursday. An XU win at URI would be their 3rd road victory. 3 of the final 4 regular season games (VCU, UMass and SLU) are at Cintas where the Muskies have had a modicum of success (52-1 in A-10 games since 2007).
Rhode Island has been decent at home. They're alive for a tournament berth (3-8 1 GB St Bonnies and Dayton). I'll have more on the Hurley brothers and URI early next week.
I've been lucky enough to attend many basketball games at UD Arena over the past 38 years. I saw Romain Sato for the first time as his Dayton Christian team eliminated Jerry Doerger and the McNick Rockets. Joe Sunderman and I broadcast the State HS Tournament from UD.
In 1983, XU lost to Alcorn State in an NCAA Play in game at UD. I liked what I saw and decided to pitch Channel 19 on a Xavier TV package for the 1983-84 season. We got that done and the WLW radio deal followed. There have been dozens of XU-UD games and many NCAA Tournament games. UD does a great job hosting and presenting basketball games.
Where is the Xavier-Dayton rivalry headed? It looks like they'll both be A-10 members next season (2013-2014). Temple and Charlotte depart to scratch their football itch and we'll have a 14 team league. After that, who knows?? Xavier seems to be a lock for the Catholic 7 plus conference. Dayton's on the bubble apparently. If TV dollars dictate a 12 team league, the Flyers are probably included in a West Division composed of XU, Saint Louis, Butler, Marquette and DePaul. If it's a ten team conference, UD may not make the cut.
The Flyers bolted the MCC for the Great Midwest in the early 1990's and left Xavier behind. The schools kept playing a non-conference game. In 1995, X let byegones be byegones and joined hands with UD for a move to the Atlantic 10.
What happens this time? X is closely linked with Butler now. The Muskies and Bulldogs have higher recent profiles and larger TV markets than the Flyers. It's really not Xavier's call. The Catholic 7 are doing the inviting, but they have to have more quality teams and TV markets to max out their TV money.
XU has leverage in this deal especially in a package with Butler. Do they go out on a limb for Dayton again? What's possible? What's the ethical thing to do? It may be the new Xavier Athletics Director's first tough decision. I'll be writing my Ode to Mike Bobinski at some point. He'll be a hard man to replace. Mike has positioned Xavier superbly for the future.
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