Game Thread: Dayton @ Xavier (Wednesday 1/30/13)

[xu95]

Dayton

vs

Xavier

Records: Dayton (12-7, 2-3 A 10) / Xavier (11-8, 4-2 A 10)
Game time: 9PM EST
TV: CBS College Sports Network
Radio: Dayton 95.7 FM 1290 AM / Xavier 700 WLW
Website: Dayton / Xavier

[xu95]

Decided to go a little old school for this game seeing as it might very possibly be the last time we can conjure the name of Jimmy Carter when discussing this game.

I'm really not sure what to think of this game. Xavier wins or loses by a very close amount. Hardly any games have been decided before the final few minutes of the game. Dayton is on a 2 game winning streak, but quite honestly it isn't against the best A10 competition so it is hard to tell if they have righted the ship or not.

My prediction is someone wins by four or less points.

[Muddy Waters]

Originally Posted by owlfan2272

1/30 A-10 Games - Post # 1

XAVIER (-2) plays Dayton at 9 pm CBS College Sports Network

Xavier Returns Home to Host Archrival Dayton (Shannon Russell, Cincinnati Enquirer - Jan. 28, 2013)




The Muskies are 3-0 at home in January. The Enquirer/Jeff Swinger.

Muskies hope to continue Cincinnati streak vs. Flyers

After dropping two straight contests on the road, Xavier’s men’s basketball team returns to Cintas Center to face Atlantic 10 archrival Dayton at 9 p.m. Wednesday.

While a big subplot is Xavier’s 27 straight victories over the Flyers in the city of Cincinnati since 1981 – a streak reinforced by the student section’s annual display of cardboard U.S. presidents in that span – the Musketeers’ focus will be on returning to the win column for the first time since La Salle.

Xavier absorbed losses at Charlotte and Saint Joseph’s in what coach Chris Mack dubbed "a tough week" during Monday’s A-10 coaches’ conference call.

Xavier (11-8, 4-2 A-10) won’t have much of a breather on its own court against a Dayton team (12-7, 2-3) shooting an A-10-best 45.3 percent from the perimeter in conference games.

The Flyers also have the A-10’s top rebounding defense (26.6 boards a game) and second-best rebounding offense (38.6) through five league contests.

"They’re a tremendous rebounding team," Mack said. "I think (coach Archie Miller) does a really good job on the offensive end of spacing the floor."

Junior forward Devin Oliver leads the way with a team-high 8.6 boards. He grabbed 10 rebounds in the Flyers’ Saturday defeat of Duquesne.

Xavier, too, is one of the conference’s top rebounding teams. The Musketeers have out-rebounded all nine of their opponents since losing the battle of the boards against Cincinnati Dec. 19th.

Their offense has been much less consistent. Xavier shot 34.4 percent against Saint Joseph’s – including a 7.7 percent mark from 3-point range – and was led primarily by Semaj Christon and Travis Taylor. They scored more than half the Musketeers’ points in each of the last two games.

The Hawks exposed XU’s scoring problems when they eventually shut down Christon. Brad Redford’s illness and Justin Martin’s back spasms took away options while other players, like Isaiah Philmore and Dee Davis, struggled to connect.

Xavier enters the Dayton clash with a conference-worst scoring offense in A-10 games, averaging 61.7 points in six league contests, but it also has the best scoring defense (59.5 points) in that frame.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Most UD, XU Players Getting First Taste of Rivalry (Doug Harris, Dayton Daily News - Jan. 28, 2013)

Dayton returned only four players who suited up for the team last season, which means the majority of the roster hasn’t been exposed to the passion and intensity of a Xavier game.

But that doesn’t necessarily put the Flyers at a disadvantage. The Musketeers went through such an offseason overhaul that competing in the rivalry we’ll be a new experience for most of their players, too.

Xavier has five new starters after losing Kenny Frease, Tu Holloway and Andre Walker to graduation, encouraging Mark Lyons to find a new locale despite still having a year of eligibility and expelling Dez Wells from school after an alleged sexual assault (no charges were filed).

With no returning player who averaged more than 4.5 points last season, fourth-year coach Chris Mack has had his patience tested. The Musketeers, who have reached the Sweet 16 twice under Mack, haven’t met their usual standards while going 11-8 overall and 4-2 in the Atlantic 10.

"It’s been a little bit up and down. And I think the inconsistencies you can point to are because we have a lot of guys in different roles. We also have a very, very young backcourt," Mack said.

"It’s been trying at times and it’s been rewarding at times."

Both Mack and UD coach Archie Miller downplayed the importance of having veteran players to be able to withstand the pressure of the rivalry.

"Whether you’re a freshman or senior, I’ve been in some rivalry games where some freshmen are naïve and some are oblivious to it," Miller said. "That’s the beauty of college basketball. Sometimes those guys are surprising, and sometimes your seniors aren’t ready for it.

"But I know this: (Xavier) will be ready. I know our guys will be ready. It’s going to be a very difficult challenge for us."

Mack is more concerned that his players follow the game plan rather than work themselves into a frenzy for the Flyers.

"All the different variables outside the game — players’ first experiences, the history, all that stuff — that really doesn’t go into a coach’s line of thinking," Mack said. "The only thing we worry about is what Dayton runs and how they play and being able to battle their personnel."

"They’re a tremendous rebounding team. Arch does a really good job on the offensive end of spacing the floor. Whenever you have a player like (point guard Kevin) Dillard, who is able to draw so much attention and has a gift of finding open players . . . it’s a challenge. We recognize that, and we’ll have to be at our best on Wednesday to get the win."

[xu95]

We should definitely see the gray unis. Xavier is undefeated in them this year.

[ThrowDownDBrown]

Different year, same result

[SingletofTruth]

I will believe it when I see it. People seem to think XU is terrible this year. I don't agree with that and I don't see us walking away with a win.

[Kevin Waymire]

I can already see it now. Should Dayton lose, Flyer fans have the perfect excuse brewing on UDPRIDE: Apparently Khari Price is questionable for the game. If they lose, there is little doubt that Flyer fans (specifically Muddy) will blame lack of depth at guard position as the reason they didn't win.

[SpiderDave19]

I think Xavier should be a slight favorite. Talented, well-coached team at home. I expect them to win.

[xu95]

Originally Posted by SpiderDave19

I think Xavier should be a slight favorite. Talented, well-coached team at home. I expect them to win.

I haven't seen any early lines yet, but my guess is Xavier -1. This game is basically a pick em.

[TheCobra]

Khari Price is questionable for this game, so if we lose that is the sole reason.

[xu1990]

Stating the obvious, but if there was ever a year....this has to be it. X with a below average offensive team. Granted have been fairly decent in A-10 play at home. 50 out of 51 or so?

[antboy]

Originally Posted by xu1990

Stating the obvious, but if there was ever a year....this has to be it. X with a below average offensive team. Granted have been fairly decent in A-10 play at home. 50 out of 51 or so?

A lot of Xavier fans seem to be thinking like you, that this is the year Dayton will win at Cintas. Xavier is definitely down, but I don't think Dayton's really done anything so far to suggest they are a better team. Maybe closer to even. But with Xavier at home, you pretty much need to have a better team to have a good chance to win. Even a X -1 spread would surprise me.

[AdamtheFlyer]

Pretty much every computer formula that tries to determine team strength has Dayton as slightly better than Xavier, but within the home court margin. Pretty much a coin flip game.

[paulxu]

When one team has walk-ons playing significant minutes, that would seem to favor the other team.

Hope it's another great, close contest...with X coming out on top.

[Knobby]

Originally Posted by Kevin Waymire

I can already see it now. Should Dayton lose, Flyer fans have the perfect excuse brewing on UDPRIDE: Apparently Khari Price is questionable for the game. If they lose, there is little doubt that Flyer fans (specifically Muddy) will blame lack of depth at guard position as the reason they didn't win.

.... or the reason could be one of the following.....:

- the dog ate thee scouting report
- flat tire on the way to the game hampered warm up time
- food poisoning
- a tiresome travel schedule
- the sun got in their eyes
- they got bad intel from a scout paid off by X
- referees screwed them over
- the termperature in the building was 2 degrees off
- the floor was not properly swept
- daylight savings
- someone changed Dayton's coffee to caffinated the night before and they couldn't get to sleep
- the ghost of Sean Miller
- the ghost of Skip Prossner
- the ghost of Brian Gregory
- Cheesesteaks
- the Ghost of Brian Gregory
- Voodoo
- the Ghost of Brian Gregory
- Dayton ran one extra sprint at practice and was tired
- the ghost of Brian Gregory
- Dayton was so pumped for the game they had too much adrenaline and couldn't shoot
- Xavier fans yelled to loud and hurt their feelings......

I only made up 5 or 6 of these, the rest were taken from actual Dayton excuses supplied to this board in the last 5 years....