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Home > Blogs > Flyer Connection: University of Dayton sports > Archives > 2009 > February > 14
Saturday, February 14, 2009
Free throws aside, UD’s play good enough
Sophomore forward Chris Wright didn’t think Dayton’s lack of sharpness against Richmond could be blamed on having an emotional letdown after the Xavier upset. Instead, he gave the Spiders credit for making the Flyers work for their 69-63 win.
“You’ve got to understand, Richmond is a very good team,” he said. “They’re very disciplined and very sound, and you can’t just go wild. You’ve got to run the things we’ve been working on all week.
“I know we had energy — the energy we were supposed to bring.”
Wright may have a point. Sometimes a team can give the impression that it lacks a little zest when, really, poor shooting is the culprit. The Flyers were horrendous at the foul line, going 21-of-39, and if they had made a few more and won by double digits, no one would have suspected them of having trouble getting motivated again after giving their all against Xavier.
The Flyers are 23-3 overall and have a share of first place with Xavier in the Atlantic 10 at 9-2. After their upset of the Musketeers, they landed in the ESPN.com power ratings at No. 23 (Jay Bilas, Dick Vitale, Hubert Davis and Doug Gottlieb are among a group of 10 writers and broadcasters who vote in that poll), and they could climb into the Associated Press or coaches Top 25 when those ratings are released Monday afternoon.
They have five regular-season games left, and all of them will be challenges. And while Wright won’t promise the Flyers will always play well, he’s confident they’ll always play hard.
“We’ve got nine wins in our conference, and we’re happy right now, but we’ve got to keep moving forward every game,” he said. “A lot of people are still in the state of mind of the Xavier game, and I’m not talking necessarily on our team. We’ve got to work every day and grind every day. If you’re worried about the game you played the last time, you’re not improving.”
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Flyers beat Richmond for 23rd win
Chris Wright scored 17 points and 10 rebounds and London Warren 10 points and six assists to lead Dayton to a 69-63 win over stubborn Richmond on Saturday.
The Flyers (23-3, 9-2 Atlantic 10) led by as many as 13 in the second half, but the Spiders (12-13, 4-6) cut the deficit to four with 5:45 left. UD, though, held on to move into a tie with Xavier for first place in the league with five games to go.
