This happened, and it happened too much…UC’s Riley Allenspach blows past a UD defender to score in Saturday’s 95-72 loss at UD Arena. (Press Pros Feature Photos by Sonny Fulks)
A change of uniform color was not the answer, as the UD Flyers’ inability to defend and compete continued to haunt them in an embarrassing Saturday loss to the University of Cincinnati.
Dayton, OH — After an unsuspecting pair of two losses to Northern Illinois and Siena wearing their home white uniforms, the University of Dayton showed up Saturday night wearing their spiffy chapel blue outfits.
It didn’t fool the University of Cincinnati. The Flyers didn’t catch the Bearcats cat-napping.
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UC easily recognized the struggling Flyers and hung a 95-72 surgicl procedure on them in UD Arena.
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The only thing positive for the Flyer Faithful was the 13,409 free chapel blue t-shirts, one placed on each seat before the game.
As the clock ticked away the game, not nearly as fast as the disengaged Flyers wished, many fans displayed their dismay by booing.
“I understand it,” said UD coach Anthony Grant. “I mean, there is an expectation here for winning and the way we represent the school. So I completely understand it.
“I played here and I’ve been here 10 years and take a lot of pride on the way we represent this community, this program, this university, this city. So I understand it.”
What goes up must come down…and when it did come down (Malcom Thomas, above) the Bearcats scored, easily.
The Bearcats most likely watched film of UD’s two losses and discovered the Flyers play defense for no apparent reason.
On defense, UD does a passable imitation of tin soldiers, just waiting for the opposition to score so they can retrieve the ball and go on offense.
And that doesn’t work, either. The offense is as stagnant as the defense.
Cincinnati’s Riley Allenspach scored underneath 10 seconds into the game. . .and this game was over.
After Allenspach scored, there was a scrum under the UD basket and somebody went down. It took them several minutes to mop the floor, longer than it took for UC to mop up the Flyers.
In the first first five minutes, the Bearcast added four three-pointers to Allsenspach’s two-pointer and constructed a 14-4 lead.
“Everything they threw up there went in and when it didn’t they got the offensive rebound,” said Grant.
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From that 14-4 deficit, the Flyers only once reduced the deficit to single digits, 61-53, on a three-pointer scored by seldom-used Julian Washington.
Grant tried every player combination possible and every defensive alignment he knew trying to stop the Bearcats.
Nothing worked.
Something evil this way comes? UC’s Eric Mahaffey hunts down unsuspecting UD Flyer Tristian Ford.
With 8 1/2 minutes left, UC led, 73-61, then went on a 15-2 sprint-away in four minutes for an 88-63 lead.
For the third straight game, the Flyers played against a team with a new coach, but UC’s new leader, Jerrod Calhoun, has held head coaching jobs at Fairmont State, Youngstown State and Utah State.
And the annihilation of the Flyers was his 300th career win. He did it with a completely new roster — all but one arriving at CincinSnati this year, four coming with him from Utah State.
Of his five starters, four are seniors and one is a fifth-year graduate student. And all brought major college playing time from their previous stops.
And they brought physicality that amounted to everything but brass knuckles.
A visibly distraught Anthony Grant…”We got dominated tonight. Right now there are more questions than answers.”
Grant was close to distraught over his team’s defensive deficiencies in a phycial battle that had bodies strewn hither and yon throughout the skirmish.
“There’s not a whole lot to say,” he said. Then he said it.
“We got dominated tonight,” he said, when he should have said decimated. “You look at their offensive efficiencies in a lot of different areas.”
Indeed, the Bearcasts shot 57.1% from the field (36-63), shot 45.5% from three (10-22) and outrebounded the Flyers 37-27, with 12 of their rebounds coming on the offensive boards, many for easy stick-backs and dunks.
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Most of it was due to the Flyers playing defense as if it is a mystery guest, almost as if they bowed at the top of the lane and said, “Go straight to the basket. Don’t even pass go.”
And the Bearcats did.
“Right now there probably are more questions than answers,” said Grant. “The one thing for me, from doing this for a long time, we are going to find a group to put out there to do better.”
Grant ran 13 players in and out of the debacle, using different combinations. Nothing worked to his satisfaction or the grumbling fans.
“I’m talking in terms of a defensive standpoint and playing more cohesive,” he said. “This team right now lacks playmaking. We need an anchor.”
Asked about the sameness of his team’s three straight losses, Grant said, “Our inability, individually and collectively, to defend is alarming.”
It certainly is, like a five-alarm fire.
“And our inability to bring a level of phsicality and toughness to rebound the ball is alarming,” he added.
And, again, like a five alarm fire.
Denver Bronco tight end Adam Trautman looked up at his enshrined name during his induction Saturday to the University of Dayton hall of fame.
“We’ve been unable to find a group to go out there and be cohesive. help each other out, and have success on the offensive end,” he added.
Another ominous occurrence surfaced 30 seconds into the game when Aiden Derkack, the closes guy Grant has as an anchor, drew a foul. Seven minutes later he drew a technical foul for throwing an elbow and was bench-bound.
He normally plays 35 to 38 minutes, but his foul misery limited him to 26 1/2 minutes. In UD’ first three games, Derkack scored more than 20 in all three and snagged more than 10 rebounds in all three.
On this night he finished with 10 points and two rebounds. Amael L’Etang produced his season’s best game with 19 points and seven rebounds. The only other Flyer in doubles was Tristian Ford with 15.
Cincinnati (3-1) received a dominating under-the-basket performance from 6-foot-11 senior Riley Allensapch with 20 points on 9 of 13 shooting.
The outside sniping was furnished by 6-foot-9 senior forward Tyler Tejada, 4 for 6 from three and 16 points. And the Bearcasts got 12 apiece from Elijah Perryman and MJ Collins.
The Flyers have a short turnaround and another tough assignment. They face Central Michigan, a team that brings a 4-0 record to UD Arena after a 68-57 win over Northern Kentucky Saturday and a 91-76 win earlier in the week against Youngstown State.
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