By Paul Gotham
DAYTON, OH — For twenty minutes, Isaiah Canaan made it look easy. Murray State’s senior point guard used ball screens to create space and contact for a pace-setting 15 points and a 41-36 lead at half. He and the Racers looked poised to string together victories over the University of Dayton Flyers and to continue their success on the road.
Canaan keenly picked his spots. When the Dayton Flyers crowded him, he leaned into the pressure as he singlehandedly eclipsed UD’s effort at the free throw line in the first stanza. Canaan went a perfect nine-for-nine. The Flyers were six-of-eight. It’s one thing for a team to make more free throws than its opponent attempts. It’s another thing when a one player accomplishes it on his own.
When the Flyers adjusted, Canaan took advantage of the space. His step back three late in the half gave the Racers a 31-28 lead over the host Dayton Flyers. Moments later, he pulled up in transition for another trey and a 38-34 advantage. When the Flyers adjusted, Canaan found teammate Dexter Fields with a diagonal pass for a catch-and-shoot trifecta from the opposite corner.
Murray State had its largest lead at 41-34.
“He’s so crafty when he’s around you,” said Dayton head coach Archie Miller. “He draws fouls. He sprays passes for three-point shots.”
Of Murray State’s 11 field goals at the break, Canaan figured in more than half. He hit two and assisted on another four. He missed three shots, but on two of those the 6-1 guard looked more intent on drawing a foul than hiting a basket.
“When you’re playing against a guy like Canaan, he’s obviously a very difficult cover,” Miller noted. “We tried to keep as many bodies in front of him as possible.”
Possibility turned into reality during the second half.
Canaan, who moved at will before the break, found resistance in the second half. Dayton’s front court adjusted and doubled Murray State’s leading scorer on those ball screens.
“We went into a game plan,” Miller explained. “You have to give a great player different looks. They set so many high screens. The whole key is to keep two bodies on him at all times.”
Canaan hit just as many field goals in the second stanza, but he took nearly twice as many shots finishing the game 4-of-14 including 3-of-8 behind the arc. The most noticeable contrast between halves was that Canaan failed to get to the free throw line in the latter.
“One difference is he may have run out of a little bit of gas there in the last 15 minutes. Maybe our depth, maybe playing our young guys extended minutes here early in the season has given us some confidence to play more bodies. The back eight minutes of the game we were able to contain him above the three-point line which is a big key.”
Canaan had a game-high 21 last year as Murray State beat Dayton, 75-58. On Saturday afternoon, Kevin Dillard scored nine and dished out one of his ten assists in a decisive 14-5 run as UD came from behind for a 77-68 win in non-conference action at the University of Dayton Arena.
The loss ended Murray State’s 16-game road winning streak.
“The quality of the opponent in some cases brings out the best in us,” Miller added. “I wish we could be that emotional, that into the game every game.”
Dayton improved to 9-3 with the win. The Flyers have eight days off before travelling to Southern California to play the Trojans on December 30th.
I thought Dayton did such a great job of adjusting at halftime in how they were guarding Canaan. The multiple looks and just the Flyers’ overall depth definitely wore down Canaan and Ed Daniel in the second half.