Everything that went right for the Dayton Flyers last weekend against Marquette disappeared against Northwestern Saturday as the Wildcats outclassed, outhustled, out-willed, and outscored the Flyers 61-57 before 4,216 fans at Welsh-Ryan Arena.

In a must-win game for Dayton, UD showed why road wins will once again be small miracles this season as the Flyer players regressed in every phase of the game just days after demolishing a decent Marquette squad. Instead of attacking Evan Eschmeyer with inside penetration, effective post moves, and deft passing, UD took a cue out of the Jim O’Brien playbook by playing impatient on the offensive end , casting away on ill-advised three-pointers on nearly every possession. There was no half-court game, no execution, no heart, no mental toughness, and just another disappointing road loss for a team that refuses to trust the coaching staff, playbook, and fundamentals of sound basketball.

Northwestern center Evan Eschmeyer tore Dayton’s frontcourt apart for 28 points on 11-16 shooting. The Flyers have no answer for a quality center and the absence of Stephen Bamigbola may be the biggest disappointment of the early season. With Bamigbola unwilling to use his big body as a weapon of force, Mark Ashman must play center, power forward, guard the low post, take all the fouls, and accept all the abuse without any help in the paint.

Tony Stanley nailed three early treys at the start of the game to give the Flyers a 18-11 lead but from there it was all downhill as Northwestern proved that their victory was no fluke. The better team simply won. Dayton played catch-up the rest of the half as the Wildcats took a 32-27 lead into the lockers at intermission.

At the start of the second half, Dayton put on an exhibition similar to the lackluster performance to start the second half against Miami. Edwin Young had a chance to cut the lead to three but his basket was waived off on a charging foul. Northwestern took the ball down the court on the ensuing possession, missed two shots, got two offensive rebounds, and converted on a third attempt that resulted in a four-point swing that gave NU a 34-27 cushion. Flyer fans could feel it was all over. Instead of playing like they had something to prove, the Flyers played uninspired as though the game was not of great importance.

Northwestern’s guards handled Dayton’s backcourt experience and ability very well and outplayed Edwin Young, David Morris, Tony Stanley, and Cain Doliboa in the mental toughness category all afternoon. Kevin O’Neill’s guards never drifted away from the game plan, rarely tried to do too much, and made fewer mental mistakes. Overall, NU’s backcourt simply played more passionate basketball.

Coby Turner struggled all afternoon on the offensive end. Whereas Turner only took three shots against Marquette in a game where his scoring was not needed, the team needed a strong offensive effort from him that failed to show itself. Of particular concern is Turner’s long-distance shooting. The same touch from behind the arc that finished 2nd nationally in 3-PT FG% a year ago has flown south for the winter but may not return in the spring unless he starts connecting. Today, he was 1-6 from long-range. Turner has missed several wide-open treys this year and must knock them down if UD has any hope of upsetting a few teams in 1998-99. To his credit, Turner finished with a team-high 6 rebounds against the Wildcats.

Another telling statistic was free throwing shooting. NU shot 30 free throws while Dayton attempted only 10. Clearly, NU had alarger presence in the paint.

Of the few bright spots, David Morris played 22 minutes and dished out 5 assists with only one turnover. He did not score. Stanley finished with a team-high 17 points while Ashman scored 11.

This loss is especially disappointing because it was one of the easier opportunities for Dayton to nab a win. As a result, the Flyers must now win a game most felt they would lose such as a road game at Rhode Island or against Cincinnati in the Rock n’ Roll Shootout. That seems like an arduous task for this team but those are the consequences of losing to mediocre teams in your non-conference schedule. Simply put, this is a bad loss that will not reflect well on the NCAA tournament selection committee. When the Flyers fail to get the job done early in the season, it simply makes every other game more important to win.

The Flyers have a week to lick their wounds before Toledo visits the UD Arena next Saturday. The Rockets are a solid team that could sneak away with an upset if UD steps onto the court without any emotion or drive. Right now, these are the things missing from the Dayton Flyers and unless they start playing each game like it challenges their manhood, they will struggle all year to win the games they should and a few of the games they shouldn’t.