UD's "white out" erases Xavier

DAYTON, Ohio — Chris Johnson started Dayton's opening 17-3 run on Saturday, and the Flyers led by double-digits the rest of the way in a 90-65 victory that knocked Xavier out of first place in the Atlantic 10.

Dayton (16-6, 5-3) was picked to win the Atlantic 10, but came into the game needing to split its season series with Xavier — the three-time defending champion — to stay in contention. The Flyers had lost eight of their last nine against the Musketeers (16-7, 8-2).

The Flyers never trailed, and out-rebounded the Musketeers 42-24 for the game. UD led 39-26 at halftime, and held X to its lowest first-half total of the season. The Flyers then added a season-high 51 points in the second half shooting 72.0% (18-25) from the field en route to shooting 56.4% (31-55) for the game.

Chris Johnson led a balanced offense with 18 points. Chris Wright added 17 and nine rebounds. Off the bench, Rob Lowery scored 16 points and Marcus Johnson 10 as Dayton's non-starters out-scored their Xavier counterparts 37-6. Wright also had a game-high nine rebounds and three blocked shots, and was named the Blackburn-McCafferty Most Valuable Player.

Xavier got into foul trouble fast and never recovered, finishing with its most lopsided loss of the season. Senior center Jason Love picked up two fouls in the opening 64 seconds, and backup Kenny Frease joined him on the bench at the 16:37 mark. Dayton scored the next 11 points and held at least a 10-point lead for the final 32 minutes of the game. Jordan Crawford led Xavier with 24 points.

Dayton will host Xavier's successor to atop the Atlantic 10 Conference, Charlotte, Wednesday at 7:00 p.m. ET at UD Arena. Charlotte enters the game 17-6 overall and 9-1 in the Atlantic 10.