Xavier-Dayton at a glance
- The Flyers' 87 points are the most Xavier has surrendered this season.
- Xavier was holding foes to 38.4 percent shooting and 27.7 on 3-pointers, the best marks in the Atlantic 10. But the Flyers finished 50 percent from the field and 11-of-28 (39.3 percent) from the arc.
- In A-10 play the Flyers are shooting 46.3 percent from the field and 79 percent from the foul line.
- The Flyers have sold out the Xavier game 14 of the past 16 times it's been played at UD Arena.
Jon Gruden, the Super Bowl-winning coach and University of Dayton grad, took his son on a football visit to UD last spring and brought him back again Saturday because he wanted “Deuce,” as he’s called, to experience a Flyer basketball game against Xavier.
The day turned out as well as the Monday Night Football analyst could have imagined — and he was no small factor in the outcome.
UD coach Archie Miller surprised his players at an 8 a.m. film session by having Gruden drop in for an impromptu pep talk.
“It’s always good to bring in a fresh face — especially one that represents the university like he does,” Miller said. “I love that guy. He’s one of the most impressive people I’ve ever listened to on TV. He makes you want to play football — and I don’t even play football.”
The stunned players soaked up every word of Gruden’s passionate speech.
“That meant a lot to have him coming back and talking to us,” senior Paul Williams said. “When I saw him, I just couldn’t stop laughing. I see him on Monday Night Football, and then there he is. He said a lot of good things — go out there and play hard and share the ball.”
That’s exactly what the Flyers did in blasting Xavier, 87-72, before a rambunctious sellout crowd of 13,435. Junior center Matt Kavanaugh had 20 points and nine rebounds, and junior point guard Kevin Dillard, named the game’s MVP, had 16 points and nine assists as UD took over sole possession of first place in the Atlantic 10.
The Flyers (14-5 overall) are 4-1 in the league, while Xavier (13-6) fell to 4-2. All other A-10 teams also have at least two losses.
“I really appreciate that opportunity,” Gruden said while the Flyers were pulling away in the first half. “I have a lot of passion for basketball and Dayton. It goes back to the Don Donoher days. It’s great to be back. I’ve got my emotions going a little bit.
“I’m a proud alumnus. I don’t get to see Flyer football as much for obvious reasons, but I see UD on ESPN. I saw them play in the NIT the year they won it. I’m proud of them.”
The Flyers gave Gruden plenty of reasons to want to break out his old UD football letter jacket (he was a quarterback) from the 1980s. They shot 50 percent from the field, had a 40-28 edge on the boards and limited their turnovers to 11. They made 22-of-28 foul shots; Xavier was 12-for-24.
Working the clock on their last possession of the first half, Dillard missed a 3, but Kavanaugh grabbed the long rebound and zipped a pass to Chris Johnson for a lay-up with four seconds left for a 46-33 halftime lead.
UD opened an 18-point bulge three minutes into the second half, and Xavier couldn’t get it under 11 again.
“We have some guys right now that believe in each other — more so than anything else we’re doing,” Miller said. “We’re starting to show the fruits of our labor in terms of the unselfishness our kids have.”
Tu Holloway had 21 points and Mark Lyons 20, but Xavier coach Chris Mack chastised his team for not matching UD’s intensity.
“They say a team takes on the personality of the coach. I guess I’m a non-competitor ’cause that’s who we were today,” Mack said.
“It doesn’t have a lot to do with X’s and O’s. It has a lot to do with desire each guy has on our team. And unfortunately, we didn’t have as much as Dayton did today.”
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