By Bill Koch
The Cincinnati Enquirer

Dayton's Keith Waleskowski celebrates as UC's Leonard Stokes (13) walks off the court after the game. (AP/David Kohl photo) | ZOOM |

DAYTON - The University of Cincinnati Bearcats finally discovered a little offensive consistency Saturday night, but just as they did, their defense let them down.

UC, in its first road test of the season, fell to the Dayton Flyers 75-69 Saturday night before 13,409 fans, the first sellout in the newly renovated UD Arena.

Dayton ended UC's string of 11 straight victories over the Flyers.

The 21st-ranked Bearcats (2-1) received encouraging offensive moments from forward Jason Maxiell and center Rod Flowers, but they still absorbed their first loss of the season. Maxiell scored 10 points, all in the second half, and Flowers, in his first start of the season, contributed a career-high 10 points, all in the first half.

Keith Waleskowski paced Dayton (3-0) with 18 points. Field Williams had 15 for UC.

Rod Flowers shoots over Dayton's Nate Green. (AP/David Kohl photo) | ZOOM |

Four Flyers players scored in double figures and Dayton shot 47.3 percent from the field, well above the 32 percent defensive average the Bearcats posted in their first two games.

"We didn't communicate on defense," Williams said, "and they got open looks. They sent everybody to the glass and we didn't."

UC, which shot 48.3 percent from the field, was outrebounded 35-29 and gave up 15 offensive boards.

The Bearcats never led after Dayton pulled ahead 11-9 on Waleskowski's 3-pointer with 15:52 left in the first half.

"They're experienced," UC coach Bob Huggins said of the Flyers. "They've got everybody returning. They're bigger and stronger."

Said Bearcats forward Leonard Stokes: "It was everything. We'd make a run, and then we'd leave guys open and they'd make shots."

Leonard Stokes goes up for a layup over Warren Williams. (AP/David Kohl photo) | ZOOM |

Huggins made his first lineup change of the season, inserting the 6-foot-8 junior Flowers at center in place of Derek Hollman, who failed to score in his first two games.

Flowers paid dividends almost immediately with a pair of baskets over 6-11 Sean Finn, providing the first sign of offense from what so far this season has been an unproductive center position.

Trailing 36-32 at halftime, UC fell behind by seven with 17:39 left in the game after two follow shots from Finn and a 3-pointer from Brooks Hall.

Huggins called a full timeout, after which UC outscored Dayton 9-4 to get within two.

Maxiell, after sitting out all but 2:25 of the first half with two fouls and no points, scored the Bearcats' first six points of the second half as they focused on getting him the ball in the low post.

A Maxiell basket with 14:25 to go tied the score at 47, but the Flyers immediately regained the lead on layups by Finn and D.J. Stelly. They spread the lead to 63-54 with 6:48 to go on a Hall trey.

Dayton guard Ramod Marshall drives around Tony Bobbitt. (AP/David Kohl photo) | ZOOM |

A pair of 3-pointers by Tony Bobbitt pulled UC to within three with 4:35 to go, but again Dayton was up to the challenge, getting a 3 from Mark Jones and a layup from Waleskowski to spread the lead back to eight.

The Bearcats hurt their own cause during that stretch with two straight offensive fouls.

Stokes scored 11 first-half points, most of them coming on slashing drives to the basket, but he was held to just two in the second half.

UC will attempt to regroup in time for Monday night's game at Shoemaker Center against Valparaiso.

Cincinnati	M	FG	Att	FT	Att	R	A	F	TO	TP
Stokes	38	5	12	3	4	4	4	3	3	13
Maxiell	23	5	10	0	0	6	0	3	2	10
Flowers	24	5	7	0	0	3	0	2	3	10
Williams	37	4	10	3	3	4	2	1	0	15
Barker	29	1	3	0	0	2	8	3	1	3
Land	9	3	4	0	0	1	0	3	2	6
Hollman	1	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	1	0
Lucas	6	0	2	0	0	0	0	2	0	0
Bobbitt	11	2	4	0	0	2	2	5	1	6
Kirkland	3	1	2	0	0	2	0	0	0	2
Johnson	19	2	4	0	0	3	0	2	0	4
Totals	200	28	58	6	7	29	16	24	13	69

Team rebounds - 1.

Dayton	M	FG	Att	FT	Att	R	A	F	TO	TP
Hall	28	4	8	2	3	5	3	2	3	13
Waleskowski	32	7	10	3	5	8	1	0	1	18
Finn	17	5	8	0	0	2	1	4	2	10
Marshall	34	3	7	4	6	6	1	1	2	12
Jones	29	2	7	2	4	3	3	1	2	7
Stelly	20	2	8	2	2	4	1	0	0	7
Green	29	3	6	2	3	6	2	4	1	8
Williams	6	0	1	0	0	0	1	1	1	0
White	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Iguodala	2	0	0	0	0	1	1	1	1	0
Totals	200	26	55	15	23	35	14	15	10	75

Team rebounds - 0.

UC	32	37	-69
Dayton	36	39	-75

3-pointers - UC (Stokes 0-2, Williams 4-9, Barker 1-2, Bobbitt 2-4, Kirkland 0-1), UD 8-18 (Waleskowski 1-2, Marshall 2-3, Jones 1-2, Stelly 1-5, Hall 3-6). Technicals - None. Officials - Joe DeMayo, Rich Sanfillipo, Bernard Clinton. Attendance - 13,409.