RTC Live: Creighton @ Dayton
Our first game on Saturday afternoon will feature two of the very best mid-major programs on an annual basis in college basketball. Dayton and Creighton combined for ten NCAA appearances in the 2000s, and both schools are poised to be in contention for their respective conference crowns again in 2009-10. And how about some kudos to both of these teams for scheduling a game either could easily lose as the first game of the year — it takes stones to put your RPI on the line so early in the season, so both Brian Gregory and Dana Altman should be commended for this matchup.
Dayton appears to have the early advantage by virtue of playing at home and their high-flying junior forward, Chris Wright, but we shouldn’t forget that the Flyers got utterly shellacked last year at Creighton to the tune of 77-59. It was UD’s worst loss of the season, but given just how well the Flyers play at home (20 in a row by our count), it’s safe to say that Dayton players will come into Saturday’s game with more confidence. It will fall on the capable shoulders of Creighton’s P’Allen Stinnett to calm his team down and make the plays needed for the Bluejays.
Gary Parrish believes that this is the best game of the weekend, and we have to agree. Join us Saturday afternoon for what should be a great battle.
[...] WHIO-TV: Yeah. That’s right. Only on local television, but like I said we will be there with RTC Live coverage. This will be the first game for both teams so both teams will be hyped up for this game even [...]
[...] The first one we suggest is to join our friends over at Rush The Court as they will have one of their correspondents courtside, conducting a Live Blog of the game. Everyone is invited to participate. Here’s the link! [...]
[...] remember that RTC Live will have two really good mid-major battles today. We’ll be at the Creighton-Dayton game beginning at 1pm ET and the Davidson-Butler game starting at 2pm this afternoon. We hope to [...]
[...] #22 Dayton 90, Creighton 80. What a daring move by both schools, scheduling an out-of-conference mid-major opponent as their first game. Yes, it’s November, but the NCAA Tournament implications of this one are obvious, and both programs deserve credit for opening the season with such a matchup. This game featured two teams with a combined 54 wins (27 apiece) from last season, the most of any season-opening game across the country this year. You could see it in the quality of play; both teams came out in mid-season form and Dayton showed impressive patience early in their offensive sets, getting good shots on the interior from Devin Searcy, Marcus Johnson, and the soaring Chris Wright. Creighton then threw up an interesting 2-3-slash-1-3-1 hybrid zone which flummoxed Dayton and coaxed the Flyers into settling for contested threes (which they mostly missed), allowing Creighton guards Darryl Ashford and P’Allen Stinnett to dictate the pace and lead the Bluejays to a 46-41 halftime lead. In the second half, though, Chris Wright did what the Flyers need him to do, and that’s lead by example. Instead of settling for outside jumpers, he began slashing to the basket and likewise picked up his intensity on the defensive end. In the first ninety seconds of the second half, Wright had a layup, two free throws, a block, a steal, two rebounds, and an assist. In short, the man took over. This actually opened up things on the perimeter for Wright and his teammates who found themselves more open (and therefore more successful) on those three-point attempts. Wright (25/8/1/2 blocks, on 9-12 from the field) got outstanding help from reserve sophomore swingman Chris Johnson, who hit three timely threes in the second half and was a total beast on the boards all day, ending up with 18 points and 15 rebounds in 27 minutes. As if Wright weren’t enough, Dayton head coach Brian Gregory said of Johnson, “Talk about a guy who’s elevated his game. Teams will now have to go into games thinking, ‘How are we going to stop Chris Johnson?’” Even after losing the lead, Creighton kept it close the whole way. The Bluejays put five players in double-figures, led by junior guard P’Allen Stinnett (18/4/2/3 steals) and juco transfer Wayne Runnels (16/9/2), who didn’t miss his first shot from the field OR the line until well into the second half. To be honest, even without senior guard Justin Carter (knee) and sophomore banger Casey Harriman (flu), the Bluejays played well enough to win, and even this early you can see that they’re an NCAA Tournament-quality team. But the leadership of Wright, the emergence of Chris Johnson, and the impressive home Dayton crowd just proved to be too much. The quality of play from both sides and the buzz in the arena about this game had this observer thinking it was springtime outside instead of late fall. [...]
[...] noticed that another writer in the row in front of him on Saturday was following the simultaneous Creighton-Dayton game on RTC Live. Anyways, there are two games on the slate for tonight and coincidentally we will [...]
[...] Creighton had Dayton on the ropes with a chance to get a great win to start the season. RTC’s coverage of the game reflected the exciting game that took place. However, the Bluejays came up a bit short. They [...]