Despite comeback after halftime, UD can't catch Villanova

Villanova's Corey Fisher goes up for a shot against Dayton's Luke Fabrizius during the Puerto Rico Tip-off tournament in San Juan on Friday, Nov. 20. Associated Press photo by Ricardo Arduengo

Ricardo Arduengo/STR Villanova's Corey Fisher goes up for a shot against Dayton's Luke Fabrizius during the Puerto Rico Tip-off tournament in San Juan on Friday, Nov. 20. Associated Press photo by Ricardo Arduengo

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By Doug Harris, Staff Writer Updated 9:59 PM Saturday, November 21, 2009

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — A University of Dayton staffer sent out a Twitter (or is it a Tweet?) with a quote from coach Brian Gregory at halftime of the Villanova game, saying his team needed “to pressure their guards, stop penetration and knock down some open looks.”

By the end of the game, the Flyers had accomplished all of that. But they had too big a deficit to overcome.

Villanova, the preseason Big East favorites, built a commanding 18-point lead with the help of some textbook defense, Poligrip-ing themselves to UD players.

“Give them credit. They defended us well,” Gregory said. “We were sloppy on offense. We didn’t execute the way you need to do when you play a team the caliber of the team we played.”

Villanova, a Final Four participant last year, has athletes at every position.

“They sped us up,” UD’s Chris Johnson said. “They’re a good team. They’ve been playing together for a while. The first half, we didn’t do too well. We weren’t smart with some of our possessions.”

Starters struggle

While the Flyers’ reserves racked up 39 points, starting guard Marcus Johnson went 1-for-10 from the field after an 0-for-5 showing against Georgia Tech. London Warren and Chris Wright had six turnovers each.

Wright is the only starter among the team’s top four scorers.

“We have a lot of quality players,” Gregory said. “A couple guys needed to play a little better tonight for us to be successful. It’s going to be hard to win games against those types of teams without having some of our other guys play better.”

The Flyers were outrebounded by eight for the second straight game. Sub Luke Fabrizius had nine boards, eight on the defensive end.

“No offense to Luke Fabrizius — I love the kid — but when he’s your leading defensive rebounder, you’re in deep trouble,” Gregory said.

Johnson comes close

The Flyers had a chance to cut Villanova’s lead to two with under a minute to go, but a Chris Johnson pull-up jumper in the lane went in, rolled around and came out. The rally stalled after that.

“It was a great shot. I got a good look at it. It just didn’t fall,” Johnson said.

Flyers dejected

The last of the UD players to leave the locker room talked as quietly as they would in a confessional. No one took consolation in giving the nation’s fifth-ranked team a scare.

“It showed we never quit,” Wright said. “We’re never going to lay down. It was a comeback, but ... if you don’t get the win, it doesn’t matter. We don’t do moral victories.”

UD outdraws others

UD Arena manager Tim O’Connell estimated that about 500-600 Flyer fans are here, blowing away the followings of the other schools. And they’ve made their presence known, too.

The UD alumni chapter in Puerto Rico led the crowd in a soccer cheer of “Olé-Olé-Olé.”

“I was standing with other ticketed fans, and they said, ‘You guys have had a great showing.’ I said, ‘That’s Flyer fans for you.’ They’re the best,” O’Connell said.

Villanova on heels

Fabrizius, a 6-9 sophomore forward, had a game-high 16 points and made 5-of-9 3-pointers. He’s 12-of-24 beyond the arc this year.

Villanova coach Jay Wright said his team was flummoxed by the way UD gets its shooters open. Instead of having guards penetrate and kick, the Flyers dribble toward a teammate and hand the ball off while setting a screen, causing a defender to get caught in traffic.

“Fabrizius was incredible,” Wright said. “We were trying to stay with him. They run really good sets and confused us a couple times, and we lost him a little bit.”

Contact this reporter at  (937) 225-2125 or  dharris@DaytonDailyNews.com.

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