The Adobe Flash Player is required to view this multimedia interactive. Get it here.

Chris Wright’s career night wasted at UD loss

By Doug Harris, Staff Writer Updated 12:09 AM Sunday, January 24, 2010

PHILADELPHIA — When Chris Wright is on a roll — hitting outside shots to go with his usual above-the-rim arsenal — opponents often can do nothing more than just lie down and play dead as if being attacked by a wild bear.

Wright had it all going at Saint Joseph’s on Saturday, Jan. 23. Unfortunately for the University of Dayton basketball team, hardly anyone else was capable of joining the fun.

The junior forward swished a pair of jumpers to start his night and had a career-high 28 points on 12-of-20 shooting, but he was the only Flyer in double figures in the 60-59 defeat.

“I thought we were in a little trouble, to be honest, in the beginning when he made those two jumpers,” St. Joe’s coach Phil Martelli said. “We were willing to concede him the 16- to 17-footer. We were fearful of those whirling drives he makes.

“If you take a third of your team’s shots (UD was 22-of-61), that shows the respect your team has for you and the drive you have. It was just a wonderful, wonderful performance.”

Wright, though, took little pleasure in it. “We still lost,” he said. “If you score 100 points and lose the game, it doesn’t matter.

“Down the stretch, we need to make better decisions and defend the ball better. They’d make key drives and get tip-ins because we took quick shots. We have to capitalize better on offense.”

Let ’em play

Trailing by one, UD had a timeout after Saint Joseph’s missed the front end of a 1-and-1 with 13.7 seconds left. But coach Brian Gregory opted to let his team push the ball up the court and attack the basket.

Rob Lowery had a drive blocked by Garrett Williamson to seal the decision.

“The last three possessions, we scored off a similar action,” Gregory said. “With nine seconds left, that (drive) is all you’re going to get anyway.”

UD happy in A-10

Saint Louis coach Rick Majerus may not think the Atlantic 10 works for his team because of the travel requirements and its lack of a Midwest base, but the UD basketball program has enjoyed its partnership with the league for the last 15 years and has no plans to look for another home.

“From our perspective, the Atlantic 10 is a very good fit for us — as long as the conference keeps being a platform for postseason play,” UD Athletic Director Tim Wabler said.

Translation: A multiple NCAA tournament bid league.

“That’s what everyone is looking at (in any league). As long as we’re focusing on being one of the top six or seven conferences in college basketball — and that’s going to take a concerted effort. That’s not just four or five teams doing it all the time.”

Majerus made headlines this week by complaining about having to travel to places like Olean, N.Y. (St. Bonaventure) and how the league doesn’t provide a natural rival for the Billikens. School officials quickly reaffirmed their commitment to the A-10.

And Majerus might want to pull out an atlas before he gripes about the league’s large footprint. Rhode Island is 1,138 miles from St. Louis and Charlotte 772, but the Big Ten stretches 775 miles at its farthest points (Penn State to Iowa), the Big East 1,006 (Marquette to Providence) and the ACC 1,506 (Boston College to Miami).

Share this article