By Paul Gotham
Six games or less remain in the Atlantic 10 regular season, and the University of Dayton Flyers are one of five teams separated by a game at the top of the conference standings. UD’s Archie Miller summed up the current mindset best.
“This time of year it’s not a glamour party.”
That’s a good thing because the UD Flyers are not a glamorous team. With barely seven scholarship players on the roster (Bobby Wehrli earned a financial package after the Flyers dropped to just six in December), the group has embraced the title of True Team. Descriptions like blue collar or lunch pail (to name a couple) work just as well.
No one player might fit these characteristics better than Kyle Davis. The sophomore guard averages just 7.3 points a game, but he is invaluable to the UD attack.
“He is as important as any guy we have,” Miller said. “We ask him to do a lot. We ask him to guard the other team’s perimeter guy game in and game out and not come out of the game very much.”
Davis spearheads a Dayton defense limiting outside shooters to 29.1 percent behind the arc (10th in the nation) and holding opponents to 59.9 points per game (32nd).
“He’s developed a heckuva niche for our team,” Miller said. “He is a big reason why our defense has been able to continue to be good with short numbers. I think he is one of the best defenders in our league.”
Last Saturday against St. Bonaventure, Davis drew the assignment of covering Marcus Posley. The reigning Conference and National Player of the Week entered play averaging 16.9 points per game. With Davis defending him, Posley managed just two points in the first half on one-of-eight shooting including zero-of-three from long range.
“He did a good job on Posley,” Miller said. “Just making him taking challenged shots.”
When Iakeem Alston picked up the scoring slack for Bona in the first stanza, Miller made the switch and put Davis on the SBU point guard. Alston, who scored nine in the first 20, tallied just two points after the break.
“He’s terrific,” St. Bonaventure’s Mark Schmidt said. “You can get caught up in (Jordan) Sibert and (Dyshawn) Pierre and the way they shoot the ball. He doesn’t shoot the ball great, but to me he’s the glue. He can really guard.”
Richmond’s Kendall Anthony averages 16.6 points per contest. Against UD, the Spiders’ point guard scored nine – his only single-digit output in 13 conference games. Davis had the task of stopping Anthony who came in averaging more than 18 a game in his previous five contests.
“He really is a good defender,” Richmond’s Chris Mooney stated. “He has good size and speed. He seems to have great balance just in term of guarding dribblers and being able to keep his body in front and not losing his balance when guys are trying drives on him. He has a good center of gravity.”
Davis also averages more than one steal a game.
“He gets some steals away from the ball,” Mooney added. “When you feel like you’re comfortable, he has good instincts on when to go for the steal and turn that into points.”
Thursday night, the Flyers will look to keep pace with Rhode Island and VCU atop the A-10 standings when they take on Saint Joseph’s, a team which defeated UD on three occasions last season. It is the first meeting between the two teams this season. Phil Martelli needs no introduction to Davis.
“I thought he was a big part of what they were doing last year, defensively,” Martelli noted. “They want to speed you up, but they don’t foul. You have to start with your primary matchup, and it seems to me Kyle Davis gets that matchup day in and day out. They all play with a fervor, and Davis certainly sets the table.”
Davis knows his role on the offensive side of the ball.
“He really goes under the radar in terms of what he does for us offensively,” Miller commented. “He doesn’t turn the ball over. He’s a very simple player. He takes what the defense gives him. He’s sort of a blue collar guy.”
Playing 28.6 minutes per game, Davis averages 4.6 field goal attempts, or a shot approximately every seven minutes. He has hit 55 of 111 (49.5 percent) field goal attempts. But subtract his work behind the arc, 13 of 52, and you have a player hitting 42 of 59 shots (71 percent) inside the arc.
“He attacks the basket,” Schmidt said. “He’s really good in the open court. He plays his role extremely well. He’s the fifth option on that team, but he understands that and plays to his strengths.”
“He’s a guy who knows his game,” Martelli stated. “He’s not a great outside shooter. So how does he contribute? By setting the pace and guarding the ball.”
“He can impact the game in a lot of ways,” Miller added. “He does it in a way that’s not as sort of glamorous as others but make no mistake he’s a very valuable asset to us.”
Dayton and Saint Joseph’s tip off at 6 pm from the University of Dayton Arena. The game will be televised live on ESPNU.
Leave a Reply