NEXT GAME
North Florida at Dayton, 2 p.m., FS Ohio, 1290, 95.7
Actor Bill Murray, when he wasn’t posing for selfies with fans, watched from behind the Xavier bench as the Musketeers routed Dayton 90-61 on Sunday to win the AdvoCare Invitational in Orlando. His son, Luke Murray, is a first-year assistant coach on Chris Mack’s staff after spending the last two seasons on Dan Hurley’s staff at Rhode Island.
Murray may be one of the nation’s most beloved comedic actors, but the sight of him cheering on the Musketeers in a Xavier hat — especially in a game that saw the Flyers nearly suffer their first 30-point loss in the Archie Miller era — was too much for some fans.
“Bill Murray is dead to me,” wrote one UD fan on Twitter.
Murray lived the same day over and over in “Groundhog Day.” The Flyers hope to avoid the same fate. This was a day they never want to experience again, and their play in November suggests this was more of an aberration than a trend.
Dayton finished 5-1 in the first month. It was one of 30 undefeated teams remaining in the country before the game. Despite the defeat, Dayton has an impressive resume. Take away Southeast Missouri State, which is 0-5, and the four other teams Dayton has beaten are 16-8. Alabama, William & Mary, Iowa and Monmouth are all 4-2.
Dayton’s success comes despite a couple glaring weaknesses. It leads the Atlantic 10 in turnovers per game (16.3). The Flyers rank 10th in the conference in scoring (74.8 points per game) despite ranking fifth in field-goal percentage (46.5).
Dayton also ranks low in 3-point field percentage defense. Teams are shooting 38 percent from long range against Dayton. That ranks 13th out of 14 teams in the A-10.
“The biggest thing you take from all the games (in Orlando) is how much we can improve,” Dayton coach Archie Miller said Sunday. “Whether we lost by one today or lost by 30, the quest is to become better as the season grows. We have a lot of individual young guys that are still going to develop and get bigger and better, and I think our older guys are going to continue to learn to play with them.”
Rankings: It's too early to draw meaningful conclusions from the RPI, but through Sunday, Dayton ranked 15th in the nation with a strength of schedule that ranked 20th. Its next two opponents, Vanderbilt and North Florida, rank 44th and 47th in the RPI.
Despite the 2-1 record in Orlando, or perhaps because of the 29-point loss to Xavier, Dayton lost votes in the Associated Press poll released Monday. The Flyers dropped from No. 34 to No. 35. They remained No. 33 in the USA Today coaches poll.
Xavier jumped from No. 23 to No. 12 in the AP poll and from 29th to 18th in the coaches poll.
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