Javon Bennett led UD with 18 in a losing effort. (Press Pros File Photos)
The University of Dayton Flyers carted a 13-game winning streak, a 6-0 Atlantic 10 record and a No. 16 AP ranking into the University of Richmond’s Robins Center Saturday were not impressed with the Flyers and administered a 69-64 upset, extending their winning streak to 10 straight and grabbing first place away from the Flyers.
Richmond, VA. — The University of Dayton basketball team walked into the Robins Center Saturday carrying a thick batch of positive press clippings.
The University of Richmond Spiders were not impressed, not awe-struck, not intimidated and not shy.
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The Spiders caught the Flyers in their web, tearing those press clippings into confetti with a 69-64 upset.
Gone is first place in the Atlantic 10 for the Flyers and gone is a 13-game winning streak.
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Richmond grabbed first place with its 10th straight win, 11 straight at home this season. The Spiders are 7-0 in the A10 and UD dipped to 6-1, losing a Quad 1 game.
And it most assuredly will cost the Flyers their No. 16 ranking in the Associated Press poll.
On a scale of 1 to 10 for how they played, one being the best, the Flyers scored a 12.
“Give Richmond credit, they were able to make enough plays to win the game,” said UD coach Anthony Grant on his post-game radio show with Larry Hansgen.
And the Flyers did not come close to making enough plays to win the game.
Kobe Elvis contributed 11 points in a losing effort.
This one showed that the Flyers malfunction when DaRon Holmes II is a non-entity.
For some reason, Holmes decided he was Steph Curry in the first half and spent most of his time at the top of the lane shooting three-balls.
He made his first attempt, then missed six straight. He never wandered within 10 feet of the rim and was 1 for 9 in the first 20 minutes.
And he spent most of the second half on the bench with foul trouble. For the game he was 2 for 12 and didn’t score a two-pointer. He made two three-pointers and uncharacteristically made only one trip to the foul line and made two free throws. He finished with nine points.
“We were forced to have a lot of different lineups out there today and it doesn’t help when you don’t have Deuce (Holmes) on the floor for extended minutes,” said Grant.
“We had some things from a defensive standpoint, breakdowns defensively, and offensively it was kind of hard to be in a rhythm, in a flow.”
Amazingly, Richmond started the game by missing its first 11 shots and the Flyers barged to a 9-0 lead.
But in the last 13 minutes of the first half the Flyers scored only six more points and trailed, 20-15.
Both teams shot the ball in the first half as if the basket was a thimble and the ball was a beach ball.
UD was 6 for 30, 3 for 16 from three. And Richmond wasn’t much better — 8 for 30 and 1 for 10 from free.
Koby Brea shot two air balls before hitting a pair of three-pointers.
—The Flyers were ranked No. 16 in the nation by The Associated Press and No. 17 in the coaches poll And they were 15th in the NET (NCAA Evaluation Tool).
Richmond was not impressed.
—UD was the sixth best three-point shooters in the country, with sixth-man Koby Brea the second-best percentage-wise in the nation.
Richmond was not impressed. UD was 10 for 33 from three and Brea was 2 for 5 and his first two tries were air balls.
—During their 6-0 start in Atlantic 10 play the Flyers held their opponents to 60.7 points a game.
Richmond was not impressed. The Spiders only scored 69, but held UD to 64.
“Defensively, in the first half, I thought we were really good,” said Grant. “Offensively, we really struggled to be able to put the ball in the hole.
“Some shots we were capable of making, some shots were rushed,” he added. “We weren’t understanding the level of patience and stamina you have to have offensively.”
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—UD carried a 13-game winning streak in their travel kits, longest in the country.
Richmond was not impressed. The Spiders now own a 10-game streak and the Flyers are at zero.
—UD had the best player in the conference and one of the best in the nation in 6-10 junior forward Holmes II.
Richmond was not impressed, as the arithmetic next to Holmes’ name in the box score was subpar.
Nate Santos scored nine points before fouling out late in the game.
Richmond and 7-foot Neal Quinn were not impressed. Quinn shut down Holmes, kept him away from the basket like a hockey goalie keeps pucks away from the net.
Quinn scored eight points in the first half, scoring four times from closer to the basket than Holmes ever got to UD’s basket.
For Richmond, egged on by a high-decibel full house, the first sellout this season, it was their version of, “Not in our house,”
To UD’s credit, there was no head-hanging or no give-up. They fought hard in an extremely physical game.
But try as they did, they didn’t leave any kilroy was here marks on the Robins Center floor.
“In the second half we didn’t play to our identity and Richmond had a lot to do with that,” said Grant.
Despite their shooting ineptitudes, they grabbed a 32-29 lead early in the second half. And they had it tied at 37-37.
DaRon Holmes II hit two threes, but did not have a two-point basket.
Richmond scored five straight for a 42-37 lead with 8 /2 minutes left. Brea’s first three cut it to 42-40 and the Flyers trailed by only two, 49-47, after another Brea three with under six minutes to go.
The Spiders scored the next five for a 54-47 lead with four minutes left and the Flyers kept plugging, but Richmond kept them plugged up.
Brea’s two free throws with 2:20 remaining drew UD to within 56-53. The Flyers, though, suffered a couple of defensive lapses on their press that turned into easy layups and it was 64-57 with 35 seconds left, Doomsday for UD.
Richmond made 20 of 26 free throws in the second half. And Richmond’s top scorer, Jordan King, averaging 19 a game, only scored 17. But 15 came in the second half after he shot 1 for 7 in the first half.
Three other Spiders scored in double figures — Dji Bailey (12), Isaiah Bigelow (12), Neal Quinn (11) and DeLonnie Hunt (10).
Javon Bennett, UD’s Tom Thumb-sized point guard, led the Flyers with 18 while Kobe Elvis had 11 and Koby Brea had 10.
Richmond dominated the inside game, outscoring the Flyers in the paint, 30-18.
The Flyers start all over again Tuesday night in UD Arena against George Washington.
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