UD doesn’t have ‘continuity,’ suffers low point of season
Dayton (11-14) drops to eighth place in Atlantic 10 at 5-8.
The Dayton FAIRFAX, VA. — Flyers hit a low point Wednesday with an 85-67 loss at George Mason. It’s the lowest point of the season for the moment, though a defeat Saturday night at home against Fordham would surpass a loss on the road to the Patriots.
Just when it seemed as if Dayton had gotten all the worst performances out of its system, it failed in almost every phase of the game at EagleBank Arena. What went wrong?
In a word: Everything. “We struggled offensively,” coach Anthony Grant said. “We couldn’t find any continuity at all. We missed inside. We missed outside. We had untimely deflections on turnovers. We couldn’t get in any rhythm, and maybe it was their defense.
“Then you look at it defensively. When you come on the road, you’ve got to be able to defend. That’s where you’ve got to hang your hat, and we just haven’t been able to put that together all year.”
Grant gave the reserves more playing time than he has in recent weeks, and they did not perform well.
With Dayton leading 14-8 seven minutes into the game, it went through a stretch with the two freshman guards, Jalen Crutcher and Jordan Davis, on the floor with the two freshman forwards, Matej Svoboda and Kostas Antetokounmpo, and junior point guard John Crosby. That group had played a total of five minutes together all season.
Svoboda missed three straight shots during that span. Then Antetokounmpo missed a 3-pointer. Everyone but Crutcher left the game with nine minutes left in the half after George Mason tied the game at 14.
Despite that stretch, Dayton was still in the game with under four minutes to play in the first half. Crutcher tied the game at 25 with 3:33 to go on a 3-pointer.
Then George Mason answered with an 11-0 run.
George Mason led 36-27 at halftime. Dayton cut the deficit to seven points in the second half but trailed by double digits for the last 14:53.
George Mason scored 13 points in a three-minute span early in the half. Dayton had no answer. The Patriots (12-14, 6-7) moved a game ahead of Dayton (11-14, 5-8). George Mason shares seventh place with Saint Joseph’s and Duquesne.
George Mason beat Dayton for the first time in Atlantic 10 play. The Patriots’ only previous victory in the series came on Nov. 17, 2007, in Fairfax. They were a member of the Colonial Athletic Association then.
“It’s a great win for our guys,” George Mason coach Dave Paulsen said. “I think we really defended at a high level for the vast majority of the game.
“They’re really good in transition, and we did a good job with our transition defense.”
There were no bright spots for the Flyers, who shot just 38.2 percent.
“I didn’t think we played well either half, to be honest,” Grant said.
“We didn’t have the fire and the intensity on the defensive end.” Records: Northern Kentucky (19-7, 12-2) vs Wright State (19-8, 11-3)
When: 9 p.m. today
Where: Nutter Center
TV/Radio: ESPNU/106.5
Probable Wright State starters
Grant Benzinger 6-3 Sr. G
Parker Ernsthausen 6-11 Jr. F
Mark Hughes 6-4 Jr G
Loudon Love 6-9 Fr. C
Cole Gentry 5-10 So. G
Probable Northern Kentucky starters
Lavone Holland II 6-1 Sr. G 13.4 Jordan Garnett 6-5 Sr. F 6.5
Jalen Tate 6-5 So. F 5.5 Carson Williams 6-6 So. F 12.8
Drew McDonald 6-7 Jr. C 16.9
Wright State leads 22-20, including an 8481 triumph at NKU on Jan. 11.
Scott Nagy is 40-19 in two seasons at Wright State. His career record in 23 seasons is 449-259. John Brannen is 52-39 in three seasons at NKU.
Last games: Wright State lost to Milwaukee 74-73 on
Northern Kentucky defeated Green Bay 86-80 on Saturday.
About Wright State: The Raiders are 2-2 after a 9-1 start in league play . ... WSU is 12-2 at the Nutter Center this season and will be trying to avoid back-to-back home losses for the first time under Nagy . ... The Raiders rank first in the HL in home attendance with an average crowd of 4,101, a mere two fans more than NKU (4,099) . ... A victory would give WSU its third consecutive 20-win season. The school will hand out free T-shirts to the first 5,000 in attendance tonight . ... Benzinger is expected to make the 100th career start of his career while appearing in his 125th game, which will move him into fifth place in school history . ... Love leads the HL in rebounding (9.9) and is coming off his 11th double-double of the season with 20 points and a career-high 19 boards vs. Milwaukee . ... WSU has finished even or ahead in rebounding margin in eight consecutive games . ... KenPom.com gives Wright State a 48 percent chance of winning while predicting a final score of NKU 68, WSU 67. The Raiders are 137th in the Pomeroy ratings.
About Northern Kentucky: The first-place Norse lead the Raiders by one game in the HL standings. NKU has won five consecutive games and eight of nine since losing to Wright State on Jan. 11 . ... The Norse rank first in the league in scoring offense (79.1) and scoring defense (65.7). They also are first in field-goal percentage (.485), turnover margin (plus-2.65), assist/turnover ratio (1.40:1) . ... NKU is 17th in the country in two-point field goal percentage (.570) . ... McDonald is second in the conference in rebounding (9.2) and fifth in scoring (16.9) while recording 11 double-doubles in his last 16 games . ... Williams leads the HL in field goal percentage (.615) . ... Louisville transfer Tyler Sharpe, a sophomore guard, has come off the bench to score a career-high 19 points in each of his last two games . ... Dating back to last season, the Norse are 27-8 in their last 35 league games . ... NKU is 88th in the Pomeroy ratings and 19th in the CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major poll.
Wright State hosts Cleveland State for Senior Night on Monday.
— JAY MORRISON 14.5 4.8 10.0 12.4 9.7