Game Notes in PDF Format
FLYERS SEEK TO EXTEND ITS ROAD WINNING STREAK TO FIVE
One of the longest rivalries in college basketball continues as the No. 16/19 University of Dayton Flyers travel to Cincinnati to face the No. 23/22 Xavier Musketeers on Thursday at 8 p.m. ET. The game will be televised on CSTV, broadcast through WHIO Radio and be available over the Internet with Gametracker and a live audio stream from DaytonFlyers.com.
Dayton, 14-2 overall and 2-1 in the Atlantic 10, looks to continue its early-season success on the road. UD has won its last four away from UD Arena with victories over Miami Ohio, Holy Cross, Louisville, and Saint Louis. On the offensive end, Dayton is led by Brian Roberts' 20.1 points and 4.5 assists per game. Meanwhile, Marcus Johnson has reached double-figures in points in five of his last six games.
However, the Flyers will be without Charles Little, last year's Atlantic 10 Sixth Man of the Year, who was sidelined with a fracture in his right foot. Little, as well as freshman Chris Wright who is out with an injured ankle, will be out four-to-six weeks.
Xavier, the preseason pick to win the A-10, enters the contest 15-4 overall, 3-1 in conference play, and has won four straight at home. Led by Second Team All A-10 selection Drew Lavender, the Musketeers have six players who average in double figures. The Musketeers are 13-0 this season when four or more players score in double figures. Xavier is coming off a 74-66 victory over George Washington on Saturday.
SERIES STUFF
UD leads the all-time series 80-64, but Xavier took all three games last season. The 144 meetings are the most games against any one opponent for both schools. In fact, the first Xavier varsity basketball game was against Dayton on Feb. 20, 1920 (UD won 24-18). The two teams have met at least once every year since 1946-47. This is the second time both teams have been ranked. The other time was Feb. 22, 2003, when No. 14 Xavier edged No. 25 Dayton 73-72 at UD Arena.
ROBERTS NAMED A-10 PLAYER OF THE WEEK FOR SECOND TIME THIS SEASON
University of Dayton senior guard Brian Roberts was honored by the Atlantic 10 Conference on Jan. 13 for the second time in the last three weeks. Roberts was named A-10 Co-Player of the Week for his performances in UD's 2-0 start to the conference season. Roberts averaged 26.5 points and five assists while shooting 15-of-28 from the field and 17-of-19 from the line in wins over No. 22/20 Rhode Island and at Saint Louis. He scored 23 points on 7-of-11 shooting and dished out seven assists in the Flyers' 92-83 win over URI and added 30 points and three assists in the 68-57 overtime win at Saint Louis. Roberts also earned the award on Dec. 30, 2007 after he scored a season-high-tying 31 points to lead the Flyers to an 80-55 victory over the then No. 6 Pittsburgh Panthers.
ROBERTS AMONG NCAA'S ELITE
Brian Roberts is one of just seven players also among the Top 50 among all NCAA Division I players in scoring average, 3-pt. FG's per game and 3-pt. FG's made. Included in that list are Indiana's Eric Gordon and Vanderbilt's Shan Foster.
ROBERTS NAMED TWO-TIME ESPN.COM "WEEKLY WATCH" PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Speaking of winning an award twice this season, Brian Roberts earned national notice when ESPN college basketball analyst Andy Katz on Dec. 31 named the senior guard the national player of the week in his "Weekly Watch" column on ESPN.com. Roberts is the only player in the nation to earn the award twice this season. Roberts first earned the honor on Dec. 10, 2007 after he scored 28 points on 10-of-17 shooting in UD's 70-65 win at Louisville. He added five rebounds, three assists and no turnovers in 37 minutes of play.
ROBERTS AMONG THE A-10'S BEST
Brian Roberts ranks 4th in the A-10 in points per game (20.1), 3rd in FT% (.875, 70-80), 5th in assists per game (4.5), 5th in 3-pt. FG's per game (2.9), 7th in FG% (.495, 103-208) and 5th in 3-pt. FG% (.447, 46-103). He is the only A-10 player among the conference leaders in scoring, field goal percentage,3-point field goal percentage, 3-pointers made, assists, assists-to-turnover ratio (9th, 1.67) and minutes per game 6th, 34.38). Earlier this year Roberts was named to the Preseason First Team All-Atlantic 10 squad. Roberts was the only player listed among the Atlantic 10's top five in scoring (3rd), minutes (2nd), FT% (2nd), 3-pt. FG% (2nd) and 3-pointers per game (5th) in 2006-07.
B-ROB B-GOOD
A two-time All-Atlantic 10 selection and UD Most Valuable Player, Roberts is just the eighth Flyer to earn MVP honors as a sophomore and junior. Last season, he led UD in scoring (18.5), assists (2.7), minutes (35.6), 3-pt. FG's per game (2.7), FT% (.899, 133-148) and 3-pt. FG% (.458, 82-179). Roberts is also the only UD player in the school's top five in career 3-pt. FG% and FT%. His .436 (239-548) from behind the arc is first at UD and his .850 FT% (324-381) is third.
THE TOLEDO RIFLE
Already having scored 1,657 career points, Brian Roberts is projected to finish in the Top Five in Flyer scoring. He has a more than solid chance to be the first UD player to lead the team in scoring three times since Jim Paxson did it in 1978-79. It just so happens that Paxson was also the last Flyer to be named an All-American. Roberts moved into the Top 20 in UD career scoring during the Toledo win and into the Top 10 against UMass. Roberts needs 100 points to reach John Horan for ninth on the all-time scoring list.
ESPN THE MAGAZINE RECOGNIZES ROBERTS
In the 2007-08 college basketball preview, ESPN the Magazine's Dick Vitale selected Dayton's Brian Roberts as the best player that few have heard about. Roberts has scored in double figures 14 times this season and in 41 of his last 45 games. In five career overtime games he is averaging 22.8 points a game, including 27 points during the 40 minutes of overtime played.
MR. ROBERTS = MR. EFFICIENCY
Over his career, Roberts has demonstrated a knack for two things: scoring his points in short amounts of time, and playing well on the road. He scored at least 10 points in a half 25 times in 2006-07, and has done it 67 times in his career. This season Roberts has tallied double-figures in a half 17 times. And his career scoring average away from UD Arena of 16.4 is better than his home average of 14.4.
Against SMU, Roberts enjoyed one of his most efficient games shooting 10-of-12 from the floor and 3-for-3 from beyond the arc en route to 24 points. In the final 64 seconds at Miami, Roberts netted 12 of his team high 20 points, and a game-winning 3-pointer in UD's 63-62 victory. At Louisville, Roberts shot 10-of-17 from the field and had no turnovers in 37 minutes of play. Against Loyola Md., Roberts converted 12-of-12 free throws en route to a game high 20 points. In the Pittsburgh contest, Roberts knocked down 10-of-17 shots, including 5-for-8 from beyond the arc. Roberts scored 23 points and went 7-of-11 from the floor and 6-of-7 at the line in a win over Rhode Island. At Saint Louis Roberts scored seven of his game-high 30 points in overtime in a Flyer victory. Roberts recorded 19 of his 21 points in the second half against UMass thank in part to hitting 7-of-8 free throws.
LIFE OF BRIAN
One of the most impressive aspects of Brian Roberts' senior season has been his ability to come up big against ranked opponents. In UD's three games this season against ranked competition, Roberts averages 27.3 points, 5.0 assists and 2.0 rebounds per game. He is shooting 27-of-45 from the floor (.600), 10-of-20 (.500) from beyond the arc and 18-of-20 at the free throw line (.900). For his career, he averages 17.5 points (seven games) and 21.0 as a starter (six starts).
STUMPING FOR ROBERTS
ESPN.com featured Brian Roberts in its last two ESPN SportsNation polls. He was selected by fans as the top senior in the country and is one of five players being voted on as "Big Men on Campus" for this year's college basketball season.
YEAR-TO-YEAR COMPARISON
Here is a quick comparison of Brian Roberts stats through 16 games from last season to this year.
Points - (18.7 in 2006-07) / (20.1 in 2007-08)
Rebounds - (3.4 in 2006-07) / (2.9 in 2007-08)
Assists - (3.1 in 2006-07) / (4.5 in 2007-08)
FG % - (93-202, 46% in 2006-07) / (103-208, 50% in 2007-08)
3-pt FG% - (42-95, 44% in 2006-07) / (46-103, 45% in 2007-08)
AMONG THE TEAM LEADERS
Serving as one of the team captains this season Brian Roberts leadership on-and-off the court has served well for Dayton. On the court he leads UD in points, minutes played, three-point shooting, three-point field goals made, free throw percentage and assists. Off the court, Roberts and seniors Jimmy Binnie and Andres Sandoval matched the program's best start at 14-1 when the Flyers had the same record in 1955-56.
ROBERTS AMONG CANDIDATES FOR LOWE'S SENIOR CLASS AWARD & BOB COUSY AWARD
University of Dayton senior guard Brian Roberts is one of 30 initial candidates for the Lowe's Senior CLASS Award for the 2007-08 basketball season. An acronym for Celebrating Loyalty and Achievement for Staying in School, the Lowe's Senior CLASS Award honors the attributes of senior student athletes in four areas: classroom, community, character and competition. In addition, Roberts is a candidate for the Bob Cousy Award presented by The Hartford. The Cousy award is given to the top collegiate male basketball point guard annually spanning across all divisions within the game by the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. Roberts, a two-time White Allen Most Valuable Player, is the only Flyer men's basketball player to be named all-conference and academic all-conference in the same season (2006-07).
GOT MILK?
The way things are going, Flyer forwards Chris Wright and Charles Little are probably lactose-intolerant. But they are going to have to load on the calcium in some fashion as both are healing from broken bones. Wright had surgery to stabilize a hairline fracture in his right ankle January 14, and is expected out another 3-to-7 weeks. Two days later, Little broke a bone near his right big toe and is currently projected to be on the shelf for 4-to-7 weeks.
THE WRIGHT STUFF
An MRI examination on Jan. 10 revealed that freshman forward Chris Wright has a fractured bone in his right ankle. He underwent a surgical procedure to assist the healing of the fracture and will be out four-to-eight weeks. After 13 games Wright has four Atlantic 10 Rookie of the Week honors and three double-doubles. He first earned the award on Nov. 11 after netting the first double-double in a Flyer freshman debut with 22 points and 13 rebounds against East Tennessee State. Wright earned the honor again on Nov. 25 behind 26 points and 12 rebounds over Toledo. Wright had a double-double in the first half against High Point and finished the contest with 16 points and 13 boards. On Dec. 16, Wright earned the Rookie of the Week honor for the fourth time this season. The last player to get four A-10 Rookie awards in his first six weeks was Jameer Nelson. Wright leads the team in rebounding (6.0), blocked shots (11) and FG% (.605, 52-86) and is second on the team in scoring (10.4) and FT% (.811, 30-37). He is tied for 19th in the conference rebounding and the top freshman in the A-10 in scoring, FT%, FG%, blocks and rebounding.
LITTLE BIG MAN
At 6-foot-6, 237 pounds, junior Charles Little might be the most inaccurately named player in the country. This season Little leads UD in offensive rebounds (33), is fourth on the team in scoring (8.2) and tied for second in rebounding (4.9). Over his last six games Little is shooting 22-of-39 from the floor (.564). In his first game of the season, Little hauled in 13 rebounds to go with seven points in the Flyers win over ETSU. His 20 points in the Toledo win almost doubled what he had in the season's first two games. Against High Point, Little dished out a career-high five assists. In the Loyola win he shot 5-of-7 from the floor to finish with 12 points. Little added nine points off the bench in a win over Rhode Island. At Saint Louis Little scored 16 points on 7-of-11 shooting. The junior finished last season second on the team in scoring (10.5), led the team in rebounding (5.2) and was named the 2007 A-10 Sixth Man of the Year.
MARVELOUS MARCUS
Marcus Johnson has quietly put together a solid sophomore campaign averaging 9.4 points and 4.9 rebounds per game. He ranks third on the team free throw percentage at .729, second on the team in minutes played (29.6) and second in steals (10). The sophomore guard has scored in double figures seven times this season, all at UD Arena, and in five of his last six games. Johnson recorded his second career double-double with 15 points and 13 rebounds against UMass. His other double-double game (15 points, 11 rebounds) this year came in the win over then No. 6 Pittsburgh.
COMING THROUGH IN THE CLUTCH
Johnson has been at his best from the line in the clutch, making 12-of-15 in the final minute of regulation. He nailed two in the final minute against Louisville and 4-of-4 to seal the win over American. Johnson scored 16 points versus Loyola and then Johnson sparkled with a double-double of 15 points and 11 rebounds against then No. 6 Pittsburgh. Against Akron Johnson filled every stat column by recording 16 points, seven rebounds, three assists, two steals and a blocked shot. In the Rhode Island game, Johnson finished with 14 points and five rebounds. His three-pointer with the shot clock winding down and 58 seconds gave UD a seven-point lead and was the last field goal of the game. At Saint Louis, Johnson recorded five of his game-high eight rebounds in the final minute of regulation and overtime. In A-10 play this season, Johnson averages 10.0 points, 8.7 rebounds and 33.3 minutes per game.
MORE ON MJ
Dayton's top freshman honor, the Thomas Luppe Memorial Award, went to Marcus Johnson last year after he averaged 6.6 points and 3.7 rebounds a game and set a UD record with the most points scored by a Flyer freshman in their first-career game with 23. Fast forward to 2007-08 where Johnson has been productive in 11 home games this season averaging 11.7 points and 5.5 rebounds per game. In his last six games, Johnson averages 12.8 points, 8.0 rebounds and 32.8 minutes per game while shooting 48 percent from the field and 39 percent from beyond the arc.
THE JACKSONVILLE JET
London Warren (a.k.a. the "Jacksonville Jet," as dubbed by the WHIO Radio team of Larry Hansgen and Bucky Bockhorn), has been one of the best defensive players for UD this season. Warren leads UD with 24 steals with 23 of them in his last 13 games. Warren scored all six of his points in double overtime in UD's win over Akron. At Louisville, Warren snagged a career-high four steals in UD's win and matched that number with four steals to go with six points and eight rebounds versus Loyola. Warren had six points and four boards against UMass. This year Warren averages 3.5 points, 2.3 rebounds and 1.5 steals per game.
SNAP INTO A SLIM JIM
Jimmy Binnie, along with classmate Brian Roberts, are the first Brian Gregory players to live the college basketball experience from start to finish - recruiting, verballing, signing, playing and, come spring, graduating. This season Binnie ranks second on the team in 3-pt FG % at .451 (23-51). The senior is averaging 5.9 points and 3.6 rebounds per game while shooting 43 percent from the field. Binnie scored a career-high 14 points on 5-of-7 shooting from the floor over Akron. Before that he scored 13 points on 5-of-6 shooting from the floor in a win at Holy Cross. At Saint Louis he knocked down 2-of-3 three-point attempts en route to seven points. In his last six games, Binnie is averaging 6.8 points per game and shooting 52 percent (12-of-23) from 3-pt range. Known as one of the better perimeter shooters on the team, Binnie has knocked down a three-point shot in all but two games this season. He ranks second on the team with 23 converted three-point shots.
ENTER SANDMAN
Andres Sandoval increased his scoring average over the previous 11 games and excelled in a starting role. Sandoval scored a season-high 12 points to go with three assists in the win over Rhode Island. He scored six points in 10 minutes of action against American and added 10 points in a win over Loyola. At Holy Cross he scored five points after hitting a 3-pointer and converting two free throws in UD's win. After tallying just six points in his first three games, Sandoval has scored 65 in his next 13. As a starter, Sandoval averages 5.8 points and 2.8 rebounds per game.
BEING "KURT" TO THE OPPOSITION
Sophomore Kurt Huelsman continues to improve as the season rolls along. Huelsman battled against DeJuan Blair, the Big East's two-time Rookie of the Week, by recording 12 points and eight rebounds in UD's win over then No. 6 Pittsburgh. Not to be outdone, he responded with a career-best 18 points against Akron and 10 points on 4-of-5 shooting over Rhode Island. Huelsman scored 14 points on 6-of-9 shooting from the field in the Miami win, came up big again with a team-high seven rebounds and five points in the victory at Louisville and added another career-high with 11 boards over American. After being held scoreless in his first three games, Huelsman has 99 points thanks to 58 percent (36-of-62) shooting during that span and scoring in double figures in five games. His 18 assists this season already surpassed last year's total of 12.
HUELSMAN GETS IT DONE
Kurt Huelsman was the only player to start every game last year for the Flyers and has started all 16 games this season. The 6-10 big man averages 6.2 points and 4.8 rebounds per game. Huelsman has five or more rebounds in eight of his last 12 games.
ON THE GO WITH THIAGO
After leading all junior college players in blocked shots per game last season, Thiago Cordeiro has started to get comfortable at UD. In his last eight games, he is averaging 3.3 points and 1.9 rebounds, shooting .625 (10-16) FG and blocked 10 of his season's 11 shots. He had a season-high 11 points against American. Cordeiro is second on the team in FG% (.545, 18-32) and tied for the team lead in blocked shots (11).
HEY MICKEY
Redshirt sophomore Mickey Perry broke out in a big way with eight points in nine minutes against Rhode Island to open A-10 play. He enjoyed a memorable UD debut when he knocked down a three-pointer, grabbed two rebounds and recorded a block in the Flyers win against Coppin State. Added seven points and six boards against UMass. In seven games this season Perry is shooting 9-of-23 (.391) from the floor and 6-of-19 (.316) from beyond the arc. Against the A-10, Perry's numbers improve to 6.0 points and 2.7 rebounds per game.
NATIONAL-RANKING NEWS
Dayton is nationally-ranked No. 16 in the AP Top 25 Poll and No. 19 in the ESPN/USA Today Coaches Poll. Flyer opponents who are ranked in the Top 25 polls include Pittsburgh at No. 13/17 and Xavier at 23/22. Four other Flyer opponent, Louisville, Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Akron, are also receiving votes.
UD SIGNS TOP RECRUITING CLASS OF BENSON, FABRIZUS, JOHNSON AND WILLIAMS
Coach Brian Gregory and his staff landed their fifth strong recruiting class at UD, as the Flyers received National Letters of Intent Nov. 14 from their 2008 incoming freshman class. The newest official members of the Flyer family are 6-10 forward/center Josh Benson of Dayton Dunbar High School, 6-9 forward Luke Fabrizius of John Hersey High School (Arlington Heights, IL), 6-5 guard/forward Chris Johnson of Columbus (OH) Brookhaven High School and 6-3 guard Paul Williams of Detroit Renaissance High School. The 2007-08 signing class is ranked as high as 37th in the country (HoopScoopOnline.com) and features three Street & Smith's High School All-Americans.
EYE 75 ON THE SCOREBOARD
The Flyers are 25-3 under head coach Brian Gregory when they score at least 75 points.
REWARDING RESERVES
The Flyers' reserves have stepped up this season out-scoring the opponent's bench in 13 of 16 games. Led by 7.9 points per game from junior Charles Little, UD's bench this season holds a 337-218 edge in scoring this season.
BALANCING ACT
The Flyers have 10 players who are averaging three points or more this season. Against Louisville, all nine players who saw the court scored at least a field goal in UD's win. All 11 scholarship players who played in the two-point win at Holy Cross scored at least two points, and all 10 that saw action against High Point grabbed at least two rebounds. In the game against Pittsburgh every scholarship player saw action. In fact, every scholarship player who played has scored in six games this season.
SAILING THE ATLANTIC
The Flyers hold an all-time 250-181 edge over Atlantic 10 conference opponents and have finished .500 or better in seven of the previous eight seasons. After a 19-12 season in 2006-07, the Flyers were picked to finish sixth in the league according to a poll of the Atlantic 10's head coaches and media.
GREGORY NAMED PHELAN MID-SEASON AWARD WINNER BY COLLEGEINSIDER.COM
On Jan. 9, a 20-person panel of college basketball experts selected UD head coach Brian Gregory as the winner of the mid-season Jim Phelan Coach of the Year Award. CollegeInsider.com renamed its mid-season and end-of-the-year coach of the year awards after Phelan, the long-time coach of Mount St. Mary's University, in 2003.
BLACKBURN-McCAFFERTY TROPHY HISTORY
Since 1980-81, Franklin Savings of Cincinnati has sponsored the Blackburn/McCafferty Trophy, which is named after the two legendary coaches who put their two schools on the basketball map -- Dayton's Tom Blackburn and Xavier's Jim McCafferty. The trophy series only covers regular season meetings. This will be the 48th contest with the "Black/Mac" trophy on the line. Xavier leads the trophy series 29-17 In addition to the team trophy, a Most Valuable Player is selected and donations are made to the scholarship funds of both schools.
DIAL LONG DISTANCE
The UD is second in the A-10 in 3-pt shooting knocking down 98-of-248 (.395) from beyond the arc. In their last five games the Flyers have converted 35-of-94 (.372) shots from beyond the arc, while holding opponents to a .320 clip from 3-pt range (41-128) during that span. Dayton is 9-0 this season when shooting 40 percent or better from beyond the arc.
DOING IT WITH DEFENSE
This season the Flyers rank third in the A-10 in scoring defense, allowing 64.0 points per game and having held seven of their last 13 opponents below 60 points. UD is 7-0 when holding opponents to 59 points or less this year.
RAISING ITS LEVEL
The Atlantic 10 is ranked 7th out of 31 conferences thru games of Jan. 21 by collegerpi.com. The A-10 has four teams ranked in the top 30 overall as Dayton is 11th followed by Xavier (16th), Massachusetts (19th) and Rhode Island (21st).
TO BE THE BEST, YOU HAVE TO BEAT THE BEST
11 of the first 16 teams on Dayton's schedule this season were their respective conference pre-season favorites, played in last year's NCAA or NIT tournament, or both. UD is 3-0 this season against nationally-ranked opponents and 7-2 against teams with a record of .500 or better.
DOUBLE THE FUN
Through 16 games this season Chris Wright and Marcus Johnson are the only two Flyers to have recorded double-doubles this season. Here are UD's double-double performances during the 2007-08 campaign.
11/10/07 - Chris Wright vs. ETSU (22 points, 13 rebounds)
11/21/07 - Chris Wright vs. Toledo (26 points, 12 rebounds)
12/5/07 - Chris Wright vs. High Point (16 points, 13 rebounds)
12/29/07 - Marcus Johnson vs. Pittsburgh (15 points, 11 rebounds)
1/16/08 - Marcus Johnson vs. UMass (15 points, 13 rebounds)
POLLING THE ELECTORATE
Dayton is 16th in the latest Associated Press poll and 19th in this week's ESPN/USA Today Coaches poll. When the Flyers were ranked No. 14 in the AP Poll on Jan. 14, it was the highest UD has been ranked since Dayton was No. 6 in the first two weeks of the 1967-68 season. UD's 14-2 start has been a reflection of its body of work to this point. The last time the Flyers defeated three ranked teams in the same season was the 2002-03 when UD knocked off No. 21 Cincinnati, No. 13 Marquette and No. 25 Saint Joseph's twice in the Top 25.
QUICK HITS - UD IN THE AP TOP 25
