SLU-Dayton game begins toughest stretch of the season

It should be a tremendous college basketball atmosphere on Saturday at the Chaifetz Arena when the Dayton Flyers pay a visit. The Flyers were the preseason favorites to win the Atlantic 10 championship, yet they come into Saturday’s game tied with the Billikens for sixth place with 6-3 records in league play.

However, do not let the Flyers league record fool you. They are still one of the top teams in the A-10 and they have been playing at the top of their game in recent games. They are still in the mix for the A-10 title.

  An upset defeat at St. Joseph’s and an unexpected home loss to Rhode Island has really created a sense of urgency in Dayton as it seeks another NCAA Tournament berth. They made it to the second round last year. That sense of urgency has been quite evident in three impressive victories. It started with a 75-58 victory at St. Bonaventure.

  Then, in back-to-back home games, the Flyers have clobbered Xavier 90-65 and Charlotte 75-47. That’s pretty scary when you consider Xavier and Charlotte were at the top of the league at the time.

  The veteran Flyers have plenty of athleticism, size, depth and they love to guard people and rebound with great tenacity. When they can get a few shots to fall, they are a truly dangerous team to handle.

  Junior Chris Wright is one of the nation’s most impressive athletes. The 6’8” jumping jack leads the Flyers in scoring and rebounding. He scored a career-high 30 points in the victory over Charlotte on Wednesday night.

  Sophomore forward Chris Johnson is also coming into his own, averaging 12 points and 7.5 rebounds a game. Senior London Warren has been the Flyers’ catalyst of defense since his arrival in Dayton.

  We are going to have our hands full against the Flyers, but the games with Dayton in recent years have been hotly contested ones with several of them going into overtime.

  Last season’s games provided more of the same. We lost to Dayton by one point on the road last year, but had a chance to win on the last possession of the game. In St. Louis, we won a close game in front of a sold out Chaifetz Arena.

  We have to continue to play good defense in the halfcourt and try to hold our own on the boards and limit their transition opportunities. The lower the score, the better the chance we have against this talented team.

  Saturday’s game begins our most difficult part of the schedule. We have played ourselves into the conference mix, but now comes the hard part. Not only do we face Dayton twice, but we will also host league contenders Rhode Island, Xavier and Temple down the stretch.

  These upcoming games will provide some formidable challenges for our young team, but I would not have it any other way. I was really expecting us to be in this position next season, so we’re probably a year early to contend. Still, I think it is fabulous for our Billikids to be in a position to play in so many meaningful games down the stretch this early in their careers.

  Although the Billikids are very young and still have a number of flaws (start with free throw shooting), they have proven to be a resilient bunch that competes hard. They give themselves a chance to win at the end and that is all you can ask for.

  I think playing six of their first nine conference games on the road, along with three overtime games and having to deal with all of the injuries, travel issues with bad weather and snowstorms out East have hardened our youngsters a little bit.  They have displayed some mettle amidst all of this adversity, which will serve them well in the future. We are down to nine scholarship players, but in the words of St. Louis Cardinals manager Tony LaRussa, they are a “Hard Nine.”

  The fact that this team is in such a position after dealing with all of the adversity is remarkable. That is why SLU fans owe it to these young men to sell out the Chaifetz for the rest of the season and provide the kids with the raucous college basketball atmosphere that they deserve.

  They were picked near the bottom of the A-10, but here they are getting ready to go toe-to-toe with the best teams in the league with something on the line. That is exactly where we want to be.

  Bills fans, it is time to bring it up another notch. Bring your loudest voices and your passion for SLU basketball to the Chaifetz because it is going to be that way for the rest of the season and in the future. I know many of our friends from UD will be making the trip down to follow their Flyers, so let’s treat them to a big-time atmosphere in the ‘Lou.

  At halftime, the school is honoring Charlie Spoonhour’s great SLU teams of the mid-1990’s that took us to two NCAA Tournaments, which should add to the flavor.

  Whether we are ready for prime time or not, the Billikids have played themselves right into the middle of the A-10 Conference race and we will see all of the major players down the stretch. Let’s enjoy the ride. If we can pull out a few of these games…..

  I’m looking forward to seeing, and more importantly, hearing all of you at the game tomorrow afternoon.

  Tip off is at 3 p.m.

  Go Bills!