Flyers set tone behind defense in win

University of Dayton basketball players didn’t do any jabbering during the game, but coach Archie Miller thought they sent a message through the glee they took in playing defense in a 76-43 win over UMass on Saturday.

They ripped into the Minutemen like a bear with a salmon, holding them to 25 percent shooting. The visitors had more turnovers (15) than field goals (13).

UMass point guard Chaz Williams, the team’s leading scorer (16.0) and the Atlantic 10 assist leader (6.3), was 2-for-12 from the field and finished with 11 points and three assists. He was coming off a 29-point, nine-assist game against Xavier.

“It starts with our ability to pressure the ball. It starts early on,” Miller said. “When a team comes into your building and crosses half-court, what are you telling them by the way you’re playing? I feel like our ball pressure is up. I feel like our ball-screen defense is much, much better and our way to impact these guards has changed.”

UMass coach Derek Kellogg thought Williams’ off night was a factor in the outcome.

“Chaz wasn’t as sharp as he usually is, honestly,” he said. “I thought it was a combination of their defense and him not being as good as he’s been.”

But Kellogg was impressed with the Flyers, who forced the Minutemen into 4-for-17 shooting on 3-pointers.

Since allowing Duquesne to make 12-of-23 threes in a loss on Feb. 1, UD has limited opponents to 24-of-111 from long range (21.6 percent) in the last six games. Before that, foes were shooting 36.6 percent.

“I thought in the second half, we battled to a point and got it to six at one time,” Kellogg said. “And from that point, they totally dominated the game. It looked like a team that’s an NCAA tournament-level team.”

Heating up: UD senior forward Luke Fabrizius made three straight 3-pointers and scored 11 points on 4-of-6 shooting. He was 5-for-24 from the field in the previous five games, scoring 16 points. He played a season-low six minutes at Duquesne on Wednesday after losing his starting spot, attempting one shot.

He was in the game because his replacement, Devin “D-MO” Oliver, picked up two fouls in the first 5:10.

“I give credit to my teammates, telling me to stick with it,” Fabrizius said of battling through his mini-slump. “Going through it the last couple years, you see everyone has a stretch when they struggle. You’ve got to stay with it.”

Asked about losing his starting spot, Fabrizius said: “It doesn’t bother me. D-MO is playing great. He deserves it. He’s had a great last couple games and a great last couple weeks in practice. I’m completely fine with it.”

Nothing easy: UMass was first in the A-10 in scoring at 76.4 points per game and had been held below 60 just once, scoring 53 against Florida State in a 20-point loss.

About the Author