Xavier's Comeback Falls Short, UD Upsets XU

ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. -- Luke Fabrizius hit two free throws with 5.8 seconds to play and Dayton stunned No. 18 Xavier 68-67 in the quarterfinals of the Atlantic 10 Conference tournament on Friday.

The Flyers (21-12) blew a 17-point lead in the second half and trailed by a point before Fabrizius made his foul shots.

Atlantic 10 player of the year Tu Holloway's running 35-footer bounced off the backboard and the rim at the buzzer as Xavier (24-7) continued its recent run of A10 tournament woes.

The Musketeers, who have made the round of 16 in the NCAA tournament each of the last three seasons, have not won a league title since 2006 despite winning or sharing the regular-season title the past five seasons.

Xavier likely will get another bid to the NCAA party on Sunday.

Chris Wright had 15 points to lead Dayton, which lost both regular-season meetings with Xavier. Paul Williams had 8 of his 14 in a game-opening 21-3 spurt and Chris Johnson 12 and 10 rebounds. Fabrizius finished with 10 points.

Holloway, who had 23 points, held his hands on top of his head after missing at the buzzer. Mark Lyons added 14 and Jamel McLean had 11.

Xavier staged a magnificent comeback after falling behind 21-3 in the opening minutes, and finding itself down 54-37 with 12:21 to play after Williams hit a 3-pointer.

After that, the Musketeers started playing like the best team in the league. They eventually tied the game at 64 on a fastbreak layup by Holloway with 2:47 to play, capping a 27-10 spurt.

Both teams failed to score on their next possession and Dayton eventually took a 66-64 lead on a layup by Josh Benson with 1:26 to play.

Lyons missed a drive on the Musketeers' next possession and Xavier looked in trouble when they committed a foul with 36.5 seconds to go, giving Dayton another 35-second shot clock.

However, the Flyers could not get the ball in play and were called for a five-second violation.

Holloway drove the left side of the lane on the ensuring possession and converted a three-point play, giving Xavier its first lead at 67-66 with 23.9 seconds to go.

Xavier had a foul to give and it did with 12.6 seconds. Johnson missed a jumper in the lane on the inbounds play but Fabrizius got the rebound and was fouled hard by Lyons on his way back up.

Fabrizius fell hard to the floor and hit his head. For a couple of seconds there was concern he was hurt. However, he cleared his head and his free throws hit nothing but net.

Holloway inbounded the ball to 7-foot center Kenny Frease on the final possession. The guard bobbled the ball momentarily taking a return pass and the lost time prevented him from taking the ball to the basket. His runner was on line but a little hard and Xavier, which lost only one game to an A10 team in the regular season, fell again in the tournament.

Dayton hit eight of its first nine shots, including four 3-pointers in jumping to a 21-3 lead in the opening 7:22. Williams ignited and capped the burst with 3-pointers.

Xavier Completes Season Sweep Of Dayton

Tu Holloway had 26
points in Xavier's win
over Dayton, Sunday.

DAYTON, Ohio - The No. 25 Xavier Musketeers visited hostile UD arena and picked up a victory against A-10 rival the University of Dayton Flyers, 66-62 Sunday afternoon. Junior guard Tu Holloway led all scorers as XU completed the regular season sweep on UD.
Holloway had 26 points off 8-of-17 shooting, including going an almost perfect 8-of-9 from the charity stripe. Holloway also grabbed six rebounds and dished out five assists. Jamel McLean was 5-of-6 from the floor for 11 points. Mark Lyons chipped in 10 points and four assists.
With the win, the Musketeers move to 22-6 on the season and 13-1 in Atlantic 10 action. The Flyers drop to 19-10 and 7-7 in conference action. This was the third-straight conference game that UD has dropped.
Xavier finished the contest shooting 46.0 percent from the floor compared with 41.1 percent from Dayton. The teams were consistent from the free throw line, with XU going 17-of-22 (77.3 percent) and UD going 8-of-11 (72.7 percent). The Musketeers won the battle of the boards 34-31 and points in the paint 32-22. The Flyers bested the Musketeers in points off turnovers (21-14), second chance points (12-8) and fastbreak points (15-5).
The Flyers came out hot in the second half, scoring the first seven points to cut Xavier's lead to 37-32. UD would get within five of XU four more times within the half, unable to surpass the barrier until going on a 7-2 run to tie the game at 59-59 with a little under two minutes left in the contest.
Holloway was fouled with under a minute and a half and gave XU the slight two point lead, 61-59. Holloway then came back on the Musketeers' following possession and hit a critical trey to give Xavier the 64-59 advantage with 41 seconds left. Xavier would hold on for the rest of the game.
Dayton's Chris Johnson led the way for the Flyers early, scoring 14 of his 22 points in the first frame. He got two quick treys early to give UD the slight 6-2 advantage. That is when the Musketeers went on a 14-2 run to lead 16-8 with 14 minutes left in the first half. The Flyers had 13 turnovers which the Musketeers capitalized on by scoring 12 points.

The closest the Flyers would come in the first was five, but the Musketeers surged on to lead by as many as 13 points. The score at halftime saw the Musketeers up on the Flyers, 37-25. XU was 48.3 percent from the field, while UD went 9-of-25 for 36.0 percent. Dayton shot 60 percent from three-point land, connecting on six treys in the first half, while Xavier went 2-for-10.
Johnson led the way for Dayton with 22 points off 6-of-13 shooting, including 4-of-8 from behind the arc. UD's leading scorer Chris Wright, who averages 12.8 points per game, was held scoreless until the 15:18 mark of the second half. Wright would finish with 11 points.
Xavier will play its final home game on Wednesday, March 2 against the Charlotte 49ers. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. from Cintas Center.