Flyers fall to Kansas State in Puerto Rico

By Doug Harris | Sunday, November 22, 2009, 08:04 PM

SAN JUAN — Kansas State sent Dayton home from the Puerto Rico Tip-off Classic with an 83-75 defeat in the third-place game tonight.

The Flyers gave up 17 offensive rebounds to the Wildcats, who had a strong and athletic front line. Chris Johnson had 16 points, Chris Wright 15, Marcus Johnson 14 and Paul Williams 10 for UD (2-2).

Jacob Pullen, who had UD in his final two schools during the recruiting process before choosing K-State, had 26 points, five rebounds and four assists. Backcourt mate Denis Clemente added 21.

K-State (4-1) had a 44-32 edge on the boards.

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Flyers down seven at halftime

By Doug Harris | Sunday, November 22, 2009, 06:29 PM

SAN JUAN — Dayton is trailing, 35-28, at the half against Kansas State. The Flyers shot just 40 percent from the field and made only 1-for-5 from the foul line.

They’re having trouble getting good looks. The Wildcats are big and athletic and are defending with a passion.

UD sent out a Tweet with a quote from coach Brian Gregory: “Must do a better job executing on offense and have to keep them off the offensive glass.”

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Lowery to suit up but he’s not cleared yet

By Doug Harris | Sunday, November 22, 2009, 04:27 PM

SAN JUAN — Dayton’s Rob Lowery, who has been working hard for more than nine months at his recovery from a serious knee injury, will be in uniform for the first time this season but isn’t quite ready to play and won’t see action against Kansas State today.

Lowery emerged from the locker room while the Flyers were stretching a little more than an hour before their game in the Puerto Rico Tip-off Classic. The players cheered loudly, and a smattering of UD fans already in the stands applauded, too.

Lowery was all smiles.

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UD-Lehigh game Dec. 5 to start at 2 p.m.

By Doug Harris | Sunday, November 22, 2009, 01:52 PM

SAN JUAN — Dayton’s home game against Lehigh on Dec. 5 will start at 2 p.m.

The athletic department was waiting to see whether the football Flyers were going to play in the Gridiron Classic that day as PFL champions before setting a tip-off time (UD would have been the home team). The football squad finished as co-champ, but Butler will represent the league in the postseason because of its win over UD.

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Videos give UD fans close-up of program

By Doug Harris | Sunday, November 22, 2009, 01:34 PM

SAN JUAN — If you’re a fan of the Dayton basketball team, there are some videos on YouTube and at GoDaytonFlyers.com that you’ll probably like. There’s one on the bond between the community and the program another on the work ethic of the team and one last one on the academic component for UD players.

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UD fans in Puerto Rico need to exchange tickets

By Doug Harris | Friday, November 20, 2009, 09:32 PM

SAN JUAN — The UD staff is trying to get the word out to Flyer fans here about a ticket mix-up at the Puerto Rico Tip-off Classic.

Fans were issued tickets for the wrong session. Those tickets can be exchanged for the right ones at the Coliseo de Puerto Rico at 5 p.m. Sunday.

The Flyers play for third place in the tournament at 5:30 p.m. Sunday.

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Near upset not satisfying for Flyers

By Doug Harris | Friday, November 20, 2009, 07:03 PM

Dayton staged an entertaining but ultimately unfulfilling comeback in the Puerto Rico Tip-off Classic semifinals, falling to Villanova, 71-65.

The Flyers (2-1) trailed by 18 with 14:05 to go and cut it to two with 2:23 left on two London Warren free throws.

Corey Fisher made a pair of freebies for ‘Nova, but UD answered with a Chris Wright dunk off a Chris Johnson assist with 1:37 to go.

The 18th-ranked Flyers, though, didn’t score again until there were 15 seconds left as the fifth-ranked Wildcats closed it out at the free throw line, making 14-of-15 in the second half.

Post-game reaction:

“We lost to a really good team that’s only going to get better during the year,” UD coach Brian Gregory said. “They’re well-coached and well-schooled.

“I was hoping the 40 minutes would be like the last 10. We had two really good teams going after it, making plays. Unfortunately, it wasn’t that way. Give them credit. They did a lot of things against us to throw us out of sorts.

“Credit our guys for fighting back and weathering the storm and continuing to fight. I’m proud of our guys for that. But we’re at a point right now where we feel we could at least compete with these teams. I wish we would have done it a little more than just the last 10 minutes or so.”

“They’re very, very court-savvy both defensively and offensively. They may not be the quickest team or the most physical team, but they have a really high basketball IQ, and I think (coach Jay Wright) has done a great job of using that to his advantage.”

They sped us up some. We’ve never had any problems with any type of press — ever. But we had some today. Two or three casual turnovers. They lull you to sleep and all of a sudden slip a quick guard in there. They know how to play, and that’s why they’re so good. You watch them on film, and you’re not like, “Whoa.” But they know how to play. That’s the mark of a well-coached team.”

• “This is a young season, but that’s obviously the best we’ve played in four games,” Jay Wright said. “We played a helluva team. Dayton is a helluva team. They kept coming at us. They have a lot of weapons. They’re smart. They execute well.

Luke Fabrizius had a team-high 16 points on 5-of-9 three-point shooting. Fellow subs Chris Johnson (13) and Mickey Perry also had strong outings.

UD’s bench had 39 of the team’s 65 points and out-scored the Wildcats’ reserves by 14.

“Fabrizius was incredible,” Wright said. “We were trying to stay with him. They run really good sets and confused us a couple times, and we lost him a little bit. Our upperclassmen … really gutted it out.” “We were just trying to grind it out. We knew it woudl be a tough 40 minute ball game.

• Corey Fisher was unflappable for the preseason Big East favorites. He had a game-high 18 points, making 10 of 12 foul shots.

“You have to give a lot of credit to Dayuton,” he said. “They’re a good team. We knew it would come down to the last buzzer, and we had to get the win. That’s what we do. That’s Villanova basketball.”

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