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Musketeers Stumble in Dayton
2/17/2013
The University of Dayton Arena has become a difficult place for the Musketeers to play of late, having dropped three of four there under Chris Mack and seven of their last ten, overall. Saturday afternoon was no different, as the Flyers sliced and diced Xavier to the tune of a 70-59 victory.
It was a tough one to swallow for the Musketeers, despite many expecting them to lose on the road. Dayton is having a down year, on the fringe of even making it to the Atlantic 10 tournament. Xavier, meanwhile, is fighting for the slightest of hopes at an at large bid to the big dance.
Losses like this make it hard to envision how they are going to get there, without winning the tournament in Brooklyn.
The formula for Dayton this time around was simple: don't lose the game on the glass and play better defense. They did both this time around, avenging their agonizing defeat in Cincinnati just two weeks ago.
For the Musketeers, it was another classic road loss this season. Close, but no cigar.
Big men Travis Taylor (10 points and six boards) and Isaiah Philmore (12 and three) were effective down low, but only got 10 shots off between them. Simply put, Xavier did not get it to their big guys as much as they did in game one.
Instead, they relied on the perimeter game and Semaj Christon was exposed as a young guard. He was going to get his points in this game, no matter what. But he was far from efficient (5-18 from the field) and turned the ball over five times. The Flyers harassed him all afternoon long, never letting him get into a groove, despite his 17 points.
His inefficiency was critical when Justin Martin (seven points on 2-7) and Dee Davis (eight points on 3-8) managed to provide little productivity. Getting a zero in the points column from Jeff Robinson also didn't help, despite his 10 rebounds.
Nonetheless, Xavier hung around for most of the game, cutting the deficit to 42-39 on an Erik Stenger slam dunk with 11:42 to play. But a 9-0 Dayton run in the next two minutes essentially slammed the door on the visiting team.
The difference in this game was the free throw line and the boards. Xavier doubled up UD in the first game on the glass, but was outrebounded 27-25 in this contest. They also shot 16-23 from the line, compared to Dayton's 21-24. The Flyers' 50% clip from the field didn't help, either.
Xavier will look to regroup Wednesday night, with their second straight (and second to last) road test of the season. It's a matchup with the Rhode Island Rams in a must win game.
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