The University of Dayton men's basketball team trailed for only 29 seconds against archrival Xavier University Saturday, Jan. 21, at UD Arena.

Dayton (14-5, 4-1 Atlantic 10 Conference) won 87-72 in a thorough drubbing of the Musketeers. Junior center Matt Kavanaugh led the Flyers with 20 points and nine rebounds while redshirt junior point guard Kevin Dillard added 16 points and nine assists in the winning effort. Dillard was named by the media as the Blackburn-McCafferty MVP of the game.

Dayton's first-year head coach Archie Miller said after the game it was the team's biggest win of the season.

"From our program's standpoint, there's no bigger game than Xavier," he said. "That's what I was told when I got here. That's what I knew before I got here. That's what I know now that I am here. We respect it a lot."

Xavier freshman forward Dezmine Wells opened up the scoring with a three at the 18:48 mark of the first half. Dayton senior guard Paul Williams responded with a three of his own. With 16:53 to go in the half, Kavanaugh added two free throws and Dayton never trailed again to the enjoyment of the 13,435 UD fans inside UD Arena.

In fact, the Flyers' lead was never really in doubt.

UD went on a 12-8 run over the next 4:22 to take a 17-11 lead. Xavier (13-6, 4-2) never got within three points during the rest of the half after a three with 8:46 to go by senior guard Tu Holloway, who led all scorers with 21 points. The Flyers closed the half on a 20-10 run to go into halftime with a 46-33 lead.

Kavanaugh and the Flyers out-rebounded Xavier 40-28 in the game. The Centerville, Ohio, native said UD's success on the glass helped spark Dayton.

"That's always one of our big focuses," Kavanaugh said. "If we can control the glass, we feel we can control the game, especially on the defensive end. If you're defensive rebounding, you can really push the pace on the fast break which we were able to do tonight."

In the second half, Dayton's lead never dropped below 11 points. Williams said the team had problems with Xavier coming back in years past and did not want a repeat performance.

Dayton shot 53.1 percent from the field in the first half and 50 percent for the game. The Flyers also shot 22-for-28 from the free-throw line. Xavier made 12-of-24 free throws during the game.

Kavanaugh and Dillard played off one another to create offensive opportunities. Xavier coach Chris Mack called Dillard "crafty" with the ball and after the game did something unusual when he said he was proud of Kavanaugh.

"As crazy as this sounds as an opposing coach, I'm really proud of Matt," Mack said. "It's crazy to say that, but we didn't recruit him - not that we probably could've gotten him. His parents are [UD] season-ticket holders. But he's a self-made player and has done an amazing job in understanding his role, playing to his strengths."

Miller also gave praise to his 6-foot-9-inch center.

"He's had as two good of games as I've seen a guy have in terms of what he's doing," Miller said. "I can't tell you how hard I am on him every day in practice. At some point in time, he's probably going to club me. He's far, far, far, long far away from where he started the season."

Defensively, Kavanaugh stopped multiple Xavier big men, including seven-foot senior center Kenny Frease. Frease, graduate student forward Andre Walker and junior forward Jeff Robinson only scored a combined 12 points in 59 minutes much to the credit of Kavanaugh's defensive effort.

Offensively, Williams said Kavanaugh is an integral cog in Miller's new motion offense. In UD's last two games, Kavanaugh has 43 points and 18 rebounds.

"He's just playing great," Williams said after the game. "As he said on the floor, 'They can't guard him.' ... We got to feed the beast. If we don't feed him, he won't move. He's like a car. He ain't got no gas, he won't go nowhere. He won't screen for us or nothing, so we got to feed him."

Dayton played with intensity from the opening tip to until the final seconds, according to Mack. Xavier did not.

Mack was straightforward in his assessment of his team's performance after the game.

"One team was ready to play," he said. "One team was not. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out which one it was. [I'm] really disappointed. Our team thought the game started at 2 [p.m.] rather than 1 [p.m.]."

After the game, Dillard was asked if Xavier players were gangsters - referring to an infamous postgame remark from Holloway earlier this season - then what Saturday's game made Dayton. In one word Dillard, who Miller and Mack called the most important player in the A-10, replied:

"Winners."



From left, University of Dayton senior captains Luke Fabrizius, Josh Parker (12), Paul Williams (22), and Chris Johnson (4) lift the Blackburn-McCafferty Trophy after beating Xavier University 87-72, Saturday, Jan. 21, at UD Arena.