Oh, no - not again!
Perfect record meets its Waterloo at Dayton
BY MICHAEL PERRY
The Cincinnati Enquirer
DAYTON - Now we get to find out something new about the Xavier basketball team: How it will respond to defeat.
T.J. Johnson's shot is blocked by Dayton's Darnell Hoskins.
(AP photo)
| ZOOM |The University of Dayton handed 12th-ranked Xavier its first loss 98-91 Tuesday night before a season-high crowd of 11,927 at UD Arena and a national TV audience on ESPN2.
The Musketeers' 10-game winning streak came to an end as they dropped to 1-1 in the Atlantic 10. Dayton improved to 6-4, 1-1.
''It's no secret: You've got to guard, rebound and take care of the ball, and we didn't do any of those three,'' XU coach Skip Prosser said.
''Other teams have good players. They practice. They have scholarships. Give them credit.''
Dayton fans flooded the court after the game and many remained there as the Blackburn/McCafferty Trophy was presented. By then, the Musketeers were in their locker room.
''We're going to be fine,'' sophomore James Posey said. ''Just because we lose, we can't stay down. It's just one blemish on our record.''
Said T.J. Johnson: ''You don't want this game to beat you the next game, but still you want to remember what it feels like after a loss.''
Lenny Brown led XU with 29 points. Torraye Braggs added 19, Gary Lumpkin 16 and Posey 12.
Senior Darnell Hoskins, a Dayton native and transfer from Wisconsin, controlled the game with his scoring and ball-handling. He hit one big shot after another throughout the second half and led the Flyers with a season-high 30 points. Rodney Horton added 20, Mark Ashman 18, Ryan Perryman 11 and Shawn Haughn 11 for Dayton.
''It was huge,'' said Hoskins, who ran off the court with the MVP award in his left hand and his right hand raised in the air. ''I dictated our tempo and dictated the way that I wanted my team to play offensively and defensively. I think that showed.''
It was tied at 63 with 10:10 left, but Haughn put Dayton back on top with a three-pointer. The Flyers continued on an 11-2 run from which Xavier could not recover.
James Posey is fouled by Dayton's Maurice Beyina.
| ZOOM |XU pulled within five on a short jumper by Brown with 4:58 to play, but Dayton scored seven straight. It was 82-70 with 3:26 remaining.
During the final minutes, the Flyers did everything right, hitting nine straight free throws during one stretch.
They came up with big offensive rebounds in the second half, and matched Xavier shot for shot when it was close.
''They just wanted it more than us,'' XU's Darnell Williams said. ''If you let a team get open shots, they're going to nail them. That's why we lost.''
After Xavier tied it with the first basket of the second half, Dayton scored nine unanswered points and led 51-42 with 16:39 left.
Brown scored 12 of XU's next 19 points and put the Musketeers ahead 61-59 on a layup with 11:26 remaining.
It was tied at 61 and 63 before UD pulled away.
The teams play again Feb. 12 at Cincinnati Gardens.
''I guarantee it will be a different outcome,'' Brown said.
The end of the first half was eerily similar to last year's Xavier collapse, when Dayton came back from a 12-point deficit and won with a 19-1 run.
The Musketeers were ahead 30-19 Tuesday night with 8:16 to go before the half, and Dayton's leading scorer Perryman was on the bench with three fouls.
Then the Flyers went on a 20-6 run and took their first lead since 3-0 when Horton knocked the ball away from Lumpkin, then converted a layup for a 37-36 Dayton lead. After an offensive foul on Braggs, Dayton went ahead by three on two free throws by Hoskins.
Disappointed Xavier players and fans watch Darnell Hoskins celebrate. (AP photo)
| ZOOM |''I knew they weren't going to quit when they were down,'' Brown said. ''Just like last year.''
It was back and forth the rest of the half, and Dayton took a 42-40 lead into the locker room. Akron was the only team previously to lead Xavier after 20 minutes.
The game started as if it could be another Musketeer blowout.
After UD opened the scoring on a Hoskins three-pointer, Xavier scored nine straight during a 15-2 run. XU's biggest lead came after a short turnaround jumper by Braggs made it 22-8 with 10:57 on the clock.
Dayton started the game 3-of-16 from the field and 1-of-10 from three-point range.
Xavier travels to New York for a game at Fordham on Saturday. Dayton plays Thursday night at Wright State.
XAVIER (91) fg ft rb min m-a m-a o-t a pf tp Johnson 25 1-3 5-8 1-4 1 4 7 Williams 34 4-6 0-0 2-4 2 4 8 Braggs 37 8-12 3-4 1-8 2 2 19 Brown 37 12-21 0-0 2-3 7 3 29 Lumpkin 36 6-10 0-0 1-6 6 5 16 Anderson 4 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 2 0 Harvey 1 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 Posey 26 4-7 4-5 3-9 1 5 12 _______________________________________________ TOTALS 200 35-61 12-17 10-34 19 25 91 _______________________________________________
Percentages: FG-.574, FT-.706. 3-Point Goals: 9-20, .450 (Brown 5-10, Lumpkin 4-8, Harvey 0-1, Posey 0-1). Team rebounds: None. Blocked shots: 2 (Lumpkin, Braggs). Turnovers: 22 (Lumpkin 6, Braggs 4, Brown 4, Johnson 4, Williams 3, Posey). Steals: 6 (Brown 2, Braggs, Johnson, Lumpkin, Posey).
DAYTON (98) fg ft rb min m-a m-a o-t a pf tp Perryman 18 4-6 3-4 3-5 2 4 11 Turner 13 2-7 0-0 2-3 1 0 4 Ashman 39 9-12 2-2 4-7 0 3 20 Hoskins 39 7-16 13-17 1-7 7 3 30 Haughn 30 3-7 2-2 0-1 5 2 11 Horton 30 7-14 3-5 1-6 1 0 20 Beyina 22 1-3 0-0 0-3 1 4 2 Young 9 0-0 0-0 1-1 0 1 0 _______________________________________________ TOTALS 200 33-65 23-30 12-33 17 17 98 _______________________________________________
Percentages: FG-.508, FT-.767. 3-Point Goals: 9-25, .360 (Turner 0-4, Hoskins 3-6, Haughn 3-6, Horton 3-9). Team rebounds: 1. Blocked shots: 3 (Ashman 2, Hoskins). Turnovers: 14 (Hoskins 5, Ashman 2, Beyina 2, Young 2, Horton, Perryman, Turner). Steals: 8 (Horton 3, Hoskins 2, Ashman, Perryman, Young). __________________________________ Xavier 40 51 - 91 Dayton 42 56 - 98 __________________________________ Technical fouls: None. Officials: Joe Mingle, Mike Kitts, Rich San Fillipo.
