The Dayton Flyers found out the hard way what happens when you ease up on the throttle at the end of the first half and beginning of the second half as Miami went on a 22-0 run during this span to cruise to a 76-62 win at Millett Hall on Sunday. The first loss of the season drops the Flyers to 2-1 on the year.

The Flyers played eight minutes of solid basketball and 32 minutes of sloppy play in the contest, and, despite the lackluster performance, held a 30-27 halftime edge after falling behind 15-5 to start the game. Dayton rallied to take a first-half lead with tough defensive pressure that forced the RedHawks into several turnovers. After pushing the lead to 30-23 however, Miami scored the last four points of the half that would prove to be the turning point of the game.

In the second half, the Flyers came out as flat as a pancake, falling behind 45-30 before finally finding the bottom of the basket. In all, UD took over six minutes to score its first points of the second half, helped in part by turnovers, bad shot selection, and an inept offensive set.

Dayton played 3-4 minutes of good basketball in the second half to close the lead to as little as five, but Dayton’s perimeter defense let them down for the third straight game as Miami bombed away from three-point-range to seal the game. At times there wasn’t a Flyer player within 15 feet of a Miami sharpshooter. For the game, Miami shot a sizzling 8-17 from 3-PT land. For the year, Dayton opponents are shooting an incredible 24-47 from the arc.

It was a disappointing loss and en even more disappointing showing by the Flyers for a game involving their biggest rival. Miami simply outhustled, outscrapped, outclawed, and out-executed Dayton for 32 of the 40 minutes. This is the ninth loss in a row at the hands of the RedHawks and it is not getting easier to swallow. Unless UD develops a killer attitude and takes this game more personal, it may be another 10 years before the Flyers pull out a victory. Enough is enough.

Of the few bright spots for the Flyers, Andy Metzler came off the bench to score 10 points in his first game of the year after serving a two-game suspension for his alleged involvement in a campus fight on Oct. 2.

Mark Ashman played well at times and netted 15 points and grabbed 8 boards while Tony Stanley and Cain Doliboa added 9 and 10 points respectively.
Coby Turner guarded Wally Szczerbiak for much of the game, and did a credible job until getting into foul trouble late in the first-half. Szczerbiak got the benefit of a few calls as All-Americans generally do. Turner finished the game scoreless while Szczerbiak netted a game-high 24 to go along with 11 boards.

Stephen Bamigbola was a major disappointment. Nobody on the floor could match Bamigbola in size and muscle, but he never demanded the basketball for a man his size and failed to crash the boards or play any defense. Unless he becomes more assertive, Bamigbola will find himself sitting the pine more and more as the season progresses.

The Flyers shot only 35% from the field and 14-21 (.667%) from the charity stripe while the RedHawks were good on 44% from the floor and 77% from the line.

A crowd of 8,172 helped create a loud atmosphere at Millett Hall as the Miami home court advantage is finally something to brag about after years of decent seasons but low tickets sales. Apparently, when Miami is on the verge of Top-25 recognition, it’s enough to get fans to the game. Past games in this series have drawn as few as a couple thousand fans at Millett Hall.

Dayton takes the court against Marquette on Saturday afternoon. Unless the Flyers tighten up their perimeter defense and find more inside scoring other than Mark Ashman, UD could find itself 2-2. Right now there aren’t enough players stepping up and making plays for Dayton. At the same time, the Flyers are not playing fundamentally-sound basketball — two wins aside. Oliver Purnell must reinforce to his players when to look inside, when to look for the jumper, who to double-team, and who to guard like a blanket. Marquette lost a close decision to nationally-ranked Oklahoma State recently and will be a solid test for a regrouping Flyer squad.