UD downs Illinois State before record-low crowd

5,127 fans watch Flyers’ first-round NIT victory over Illinois St.; Cincinnati Bearcats next.

The University of Dayton's Chris Wright soars toward the hoop for a first-half dunk during the Flyers' 63-42 NIT win over Illinois State on Wednesday, March 17. A crowd of 5,127 turned out, the smallest for a home game in the history of UD Arena.

Staff photo by Lisa Powell The University of Dayton's Chris Wright soars toward the hoop for a first-half dunk during the Flyers' 63-42 NIT win over Illinois State on Wednesday, March 17. A crowd of 5,127 turned out, the smallest for a home game in the history of UD Arena.

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By Doug Harris, Staff Writer Updated 1:35 AM Thursday, March 18, 2010

DAYTON — The University of Dayton men’s basketball team has had trouble protecting big leads against quality opposition all season, and another disastrous ending seemed to be looming when a 15-point bulge shriveled to five midway through the second half against Illinois State.

“I guarantee the Flyer faithful that were out there watching were like, ‘Oh, boy, here we go,’ ” UD coach Brian Gregory said. “And it was a lot of the same things — we took a couple bad shots, we turned the ball over, our defense started to get stretched and we didn’t defend as well. But our guys did a good job of remaining composed and got on a good run because of that.”

The Flyers built on that scrawny five-point lead with a 19-1 surge in rolling to a 63-42 NIT victory Wednesday, March 17, before 5,127 fans, the smallest crowd for a UD home game in 40 years.

Chris Johnson, inserted in the starting lineup because of the Flyers’ lagging rebounding attack, had 13 points and nine boards, while Chris Wright had nine points and 11 rebounds.

UD (21-12), which will play at Cincinnati (19-15) in the NIT second round at a date to be determined, held the Redbirds (22-11) to 33-percent shooting from the field, including a 5-for-20 display from the arc.

Illinois State coach Tim Jankovich thought his team was enticed into playing at too fast a pace.

“We talked a lot about (slowing down), but talking only goes so far,” he said. “Sometimes you’ve got to give credit to them. They’re bigger and faster than us at a lot of positions, and we did get sped up. And getting sped up in basketball is the worst thing that can happen. ... We probably made 12 (bad) plays that I’ve never seen from us before.”

Wright liked how the Flyers asserted their rebounding dominance again, muscling to a 42-27 edge.

“We knew we had to crash the glass because they usually kill guys on the glass. ... We had to impose our will on them and finish strong,” he said.

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