Flyers trail by eight at halftime

By Doug Harris | Friday, November 20, 2009, 04:40 PM

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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Flyer game to start at 3:40 p.m.

By Doug Harris | Friday, November 20, 2009, 03:19 PM

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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Flyers will play three power conference teams

By Doug Harris | Friday, November 20, 2009, 01:55 PM

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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Gregory knows Villanova will be huge test

By Doug Harris | Thursday, November 19, 2009, 05:14 PM

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

Season photos

Follow the Flyers against Villinova

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Flyers face No. 5 Villanova next

By Doug Harris | Thursday, November 19, 2009, 04:26 PM

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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Gregory elated with comeback effort

By Doug Harris | Thursday, November 19, 2009, 02:58 PM

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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Williams leads Flyers to victory

By Doug Harris | Thursday, November 19, 2009, 01:45 PM

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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