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Flyers can’t afford lapses if they want to impress NCAA

The University of Dayton men's basketball team, with forward Chris Wright (33), will play its final nonconference game tonight, Jan. 5, against Ball State, which is on a three-game winning streak. Staff photo by Teesha McClam

Teesha McClam/Staff photographer The University of Dayton men's basketball team, with forward Chris Wright (33), will play its final nonconference game tonight, Jan. 5, against Ball State, which is on a three-game winning streak. Staff photo by Teesha McClam

ENLARGE PHOTO

Preview: Ball State (6-4) at Dayton (10-3)

By Doug Harris, Staff Writer 10:17 PM Monday, January 4, 2010

University of Dayton basketball coach Brian Gregory knows his team can’t afford to have lapses in any of the three segments of the college basketball season — nonleague play, Atlantic 10 games and the conference tournament — if it wants to be viewed favorably by the NCAA Selection Committee in March.

Or, as Gregory put it, “We have to be exceptional in all three.”

Asked if the Flyers, who have one nonleague game left against Ball State tonight, Jan. 5, have met that high standard in the first leg of their journey, Gregory nodded and said, “I think we accomplished that task.”

UD is 10-3, beating No. 20 Georgia Tech and losing to No. 6 Villanova and No. 11 Kansas State in the Puerto Rico Tip-off Classic in November and succumbing to No. 15 New Mexico on the road Friday.

“Would I like to play some of the earlier games now? Yeah. I think some of those teams have gotten better, but so have we,” Gregory said.

“The most important thing is that we keep getting better and guys embrace the challenge in front of them with these 16 (league) games.”

First, though, the Flyers will have to do battle with Ball State (6-5), which is on a three-game winning streak. And it may be the first outing Gregory will have all his players since George Mason on Dec. 8.

Sophomore forward Luke Fabrizius, who has been sidelined three weeks with a sprained knee, was cleared to participate in some practice drills Monday. Gregory planned to withhold his decision on playing Fabrizius until after seeing how his knee responded to the workout today, but the 3-point ace almost certainly will see action when the Flyers start A-10 play at home against Duquesne on Saturday.

A-10 play kicks off this week

How good has the nonconference season been to the Atlantic 10 Conference?

As league play begins Wednesday, the A-10 is the fifth-ranked league in the RPI. That includes five teams — Temple (4), Rhode Island (8), Richmond (23), Dayton (27) and Xavier (41) — ranked in the top 41 of the RPI.

After gaining that nonconference respectability, the A-10 enters a league season with the Flyers the reigning pick to finish No. 1 in the preseason poll, followed by Xavier, Richmond, La Salle and Temple.

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