ATLANTIC CITY, NJ — Eight teams descend upon the Boardwalk Hall with a spot in Saturday’s semi-final on the line. Pickin’ Splinters is court side with news, notes, updates and analysis. Grab a seat on the Pine and join in the discussion.
The day ends with a thriller. The I-75 rivalry comes to Jersey. AC welcomes the “Black-Mac” as #6 Dayton and #3 Xavier go head-to-head.
Dayton leads the series 84-73, although Xavier has won 12 of the last 16 meetings and 23 of the last 31 meetings in the series. This season the two teams split a pair of games with Xavier winning at Cintas Center (86-83 in overtime on 2-18-12) and Dayton winning at UD Arena (87-72 on 1-21-12). The Musketeers hold a 27-13 advantage in the series since the two teams became Atlantic 10 opponents in the 1995-96 season, including a 5-1 advantage in Atlantic 10 Championship play.
Xavier is 5-1 against Dayton in Atlantic 10 Championship play, including 3-1 in Atlantic City. Xavier captured one of its four Atlantic 10 Tournament Championships with a 58-49 win over the Flyers at UD Arena in the 2004 A-10 Championship Game (3-13-04). The one Dayton win came in last year’s tournament as XU rallied from 17 points down with 12 minutes left and took a 67-66 lead with 23 seconds left. A foul call on a loose ball scramble gave UD a pair of free throws to escape with a last second victory, 68-67, in the quarterfinal matchup.
Xavier and Dayton have met 157 times, the first time being a 24-18 win by Dayton in the 1919-20 season. The two teams have met 58 times more than any other XU opponent. Xavier has played against Miami (Ohio) 99 times. In one of the most memorable and historic games in XU history, Xavier beat Dayton 78-74 in overtime at Madison Square Garden to capture the 1958 National Invitation Tournament Championship (3-22-58).
TEAM STATISTICS…………….. XU …………OPP
SCORING …………………………2139……… 2026
Points per game ………………..71.3 ……….67.5
Scoring margin ………………..+3.8 –
FIELD GOALS-ATT ……….761-1678 ….690-1733
Field goal pct……………….. . 4 5 4……….. . 3 9 8
3 POINT FG-ATT …………..150-424 ……188-610
3-point FG pct……………… . 3 5 4 ………… .3 0 8
3-pt FG made per game …….5.0 …………….6.3
FREE THROWS-ATT ……..467-678 …….458-622
Free throw pct…………….. . 6 8 9………… . 7 3 6
F-Throws made per game ….15.6………….. 15.3
REBOUNDS…………………….. 1111 …………1035
Rebounds per game ………….37.0………… 34.5
Rebounding margin………… +2.5 –
ASSISTS ………………………….416 …………..398
Assists per game ……………..13.9 …………..13.3
TURNOVERS………………….. 395…………… 389
Turnovers per game ………..13.2………….. 13.0
Turnover margin …………….-0.2 –
Assist/turnover ratio……….. 1.1…………… 1.0
STEALS…………………………. 190 ……………196
Steals per game ……………….6.3 …………….6.5
BLOCKS ………………………….117 …………..107
Blocks per game ……………….3.9…………… 3.6
WINNING STREAK…………….. 1 –
Home win streak………………… 4 –
ATTENDANCE ……………..162474 ………..115028
Home games-Avg/Game 16-10155 12-8388
Neutral site-Avg/Game – 2-7187
Score by Periods …………….1st …..2nd… OT……. Totals
Xavier …………………………972 ….1135 …32 ……..2139
Opponents …………………..965…. 1042 …19 ……..2026
TEAM STATISTICS ……………..UD ………..OPP
SCORING ……………………………….2225 …….2077
Points per game ………………………71.8 ………67.0
Scoring margin ……………………….+4.8 –
FIELD GOALS-ATT ……………….767-1740 …744-1678
Field goal pct……………………….. . 4 4 1……….. . 4 4 3
3 POINT FG-ATT…………………… 240-694 ……176-527
3-point FG pct……………………… . 3 4 6……….. . 3 3 4
3-pt FG made per game…………….. 7.7………….. 5.7
FREE THROWS-ATT……………… 451-582…… 413-623
Free throw pct…………………….. . 7 7 5……….. . 6 6 3
F-Throws made per game……….. 14.5…………… 13.3
REBOUNDS…………………………… 1109…………… 994
Rebounds per game……………….. 35.8…………… 32.1
Rebounding margin………………. +3.7 –
ASSISTS……………………………….. 451…………….. 398
Assists per game……………………. 14.5……………. 12.8
TURNOVERS…………………………. 413……………… 405
Turnovers per game………………. 13.3……………… 13.1
Turnover margin…………………… -0.3 –
Assist/turnover ratio ……………….1.1……………….1.0
STEALS ………………………………….166……………. 170
Steals per game………………………. 5.4……………… 5.5
BLOCKS ………………………………….88……………… 106
Blocks per game……………………… 2.8……………… 3.4
ATTENDANCE …………………….218776…………. 63492
Home games-Avg/Game ……..18-12154……… 10-5240
Neutral site-Avg/Game – 3-3697
Score by Periods… 1st…… 2nd OT Totals
Dayton ……………….1008…. 1177 40 2225
Opponents ……………942…. 1096 39 2077
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Xavier starters:
Kenny Frease, Mark Lyons, Andre Walker, Tu Halloway and Dez Wells.
Dayton starters: Paul Williams, Chris Johnson, Kevin Dillard, Matt Kavanaugh and Devin Oliver
Xavier starts the game with 3 assists on 3 field goals.
U16 (15:36) Xavier 9 Dayton 6
Musketeers start 3-of-6 from the floor.
UD is 3-of-8
Back to back 3s by the Luuuuke Fabrizius and Chris Johnson has the Flyers ahead 12-9.
U12 Media TO: Back to back bad passes by Mark Lyons has turned into Flyer points.
Dayton leads 16-12.
Dayton continues a 2-1 advantage on the boards. UD outrebounded XU 6-3 for first four minutes and the same margin since.
After hitting 3-of-6 to start the game, XU is 2-for-10 since.
U8 6:59 UD21 XU 18
U4 (3:22) Dayton 24 Xavier 21
Good news for Xavier – they are shooting 7-of-20 from field and 5-of-14 from the line and still in the game.
Xavier has been playing 3-2 zone for the last several possessions.
Dayton has now hit its last 3 trifectas.
Xavier is an atrocious 5 for 15 from the free throw line.
Dayton leads 35-28.
Great last possession for the Flyers. Dillard with the long and diagonal pass to Fabrizius in corner who keeps the ball moving to an open Williams for three.
Halftime:
Most of stats are even except for two:
Dayton is 6 for 14 from behind the three point line, while Xavier is 2 for 8.
Xavier is 6 for 16 from the free throw line, while Dayton is 8 for 11.
That is why Dayton has a 38-28 lead.
Xavier has started the second half with a 9-2 run.
In that run, Tu Holloways has been the spark. 6 points and 1 assist.
Dayton leads 40-37.
Tu Holloway is showing why he is one of the best players in the country. Just in the first 8:30 of the second half alone, he has 11 points, 2 rebounds and 1 assist.
On the game he has 21 points already.
Xavier now leads 49-48.
Xavier is 6-of-7 from the floor this half.
On the other hand, UD is 3-of-11.
Back and forth action. Xavier wants a timeout.
Xavier leads 55-54 with 9:04 to go.
U8 (7:48) all tied at 57.
These teams are on fire!!
Well not quite. Looks like we have a pizza oven fire here at the Boardwalk .
We are tied 57-57.
Xavier is 4-of-9 in last four minutes.
Xavier has outrebounded UD 13-11 this half.
U4 (3:02) Dayton 67 Xavier 63
UD takes a TO with 2:02 to play. Xavier on a 5-0 run cuts the lead to one at 69-68.
Another UD TO with 45.8 remaining. :11 on the shot clock. Same score.
16.8 to go. UD TO. Lyons has scored 6 straight. XU 70-69.
Kavanaugh with the great roll to the basket, short jumper and it spins out.
Ball out of bounds, off Xavier.
5.3 seconds to go and it is Dayton’s ball under Xavier’s basket.
Chris Johnson’s shot falls short, and Xavier holds on for the 70-69 win!!
Xavier moves on to face St. Louis is tomorrow’s semi-final game.