The streak had to end sometime. No one expected it to end with such a convincing loss. George Mason led from start to finish in a 67-59 victory against Dayton on Wednesday.
I couldn’t remember a game at home in which Dayton seemed to have no chance of winning during my 12 seasons covering the team, though I had forgotten — or blocked from my memory — a 79-58 loss to Lipscomb in November 2021. That was a similar game in that Dayton never led, but that was an unproven Dayton team with a freshman named DaRon Holmes being limited to two points in 17 minutes in his third college game.
No one would have predicted the team that lost to Lipscomb would beat No. 4 Kansas eight days later. No one will make any grand predictions about the current Flyers turning things around fast either. At least they don’t have to wait long to get another chance. They play Loyola Chicago at 4 p.m. Saturday at UD Arena.
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There’s not much Dayton coach Anthony Grant could say to make anyone feel better about the current situation. He used the same quote Wednesday that he used after the loss to Lipscomb.
“The answer is always going to be in the work,” he said in 2021.
“Like I always say, the answer is always in the work,” he said Wednesday.
UD’s official social media account seized on that theme Thursday, sharing photos of the team practicing at UD Arena.
“Back to work,” the caption read.
Work likely will involve film sessions. Perhaps Dayton can find some clues as to why it’s playing so differently now than it was in November and December. I asked Dayton point guard Malachi Smith after the game Wednesday what he had seen on film.
“I would probably just say our urgency, our overall effort,” Smith said. “I think at the beginning of the year, we were being the attacker. Now I think a lot of teams are trying to come at us, and it’s something we’re not used to. So we have to adjust to it, and that’s what we need to fix.”
A Dayton legend announces his retirement
Credit: David Jablonski
Credit: David Jablonski
I’ve spent many late nights working at UD Arena alongside Doug Hauschild. He’s Dayton’s director of athletic communications. His title used to be sports information director. He puts the media guide together every year, handles interview requests for the men’s basketball and football teams, brings Grant and players to postgame press conferences, etc. He’s at every game home and away.
I often wondered if covering Dayton basketball would be as enjoyable once Hauschild retired because he’s the best of the best, a fun guy to talk to and an easy person to get along with. He’s also let me raid the cherry tree in his front yard in Beavercreek a number of times. I’m about to find out what life will be like without Hauschild because earlier this week UD announced he will retire after this school year. I’m at least 12 years away from having enough money in the 401K to retire, so I can’t join him.
Tom Archdeacon broke the news with a column about Hauschild.
I told Hauschild if he wanted to feel good about himself he should read all the comments from his former colleagues or sports writers that came when I shared Archdeacon’s story on X (Twitter) and Facebook. Of course, Hauschild would probably squirm while reading them as much as he would appreciate them. He’s not someone who’s going to bask comfortably in the adulation, which he’ll have to do Saturday when UD honors him at halftime.
“I’m positively verklempt,” Brendan Bergan, who works for Xavier, wrote. “What an amazing run! Few people have meant more to me in my life and career trajectory. Doug is an absolute legend and wonderful human being who has helped so many students find their way over the years.”
“Working for Doug has had an immense impact on my career, and really enhanced my experience attending UD,” Nick Kerver, of the University of Toledo wrote. “I can’t thank him enough. Happy retirement to the GOAT.”
“I’ve only ever covered one school, but have interacted with a few other SIDs,” Matthew Schwade, of FlyerHoops.com, wrote. “Confident in saying that Doug has been the best and classiest in the biz and next season will be ‘different’ without him. Congrats Doug on your retirement and Thank You!”
“There are people in places who help you unlock your potential by giving you an opportunity,” wrote UD graduate Keith Raad, a play-by-play broadcaster for the New York Mets. “Doug was that guy at Dayton for me. Kind when I was a nobody. Selfless when he didn’t have to be. The person you want to be around because of who he is as a person and as a pro. Congrats!”
A gathering of my predecessors
I’m always in search of story ideas to fill our special Flyer Connection section, which runs every two weeks. The stories can’t be timely or anything related to how the team is playing now because I have to write them two weeks in advance of their publication.
My latest idea is a good one. I’m going to get together with three former UD beat writers — Hal McCoy, Bucky Albers and Doug Harris — at the Dayton Daily News office for a roundtable discussion next week about what it’s like covering the Flyers. I’m hopeful Tom Archdeacon, who likely has covered more UD games than anyone, will also join us. They’ll share their favorite memories (or least favorite because Albers was on the beat during the dark ages of the 1990s) and we’ll compare notes about how the job has changed.
One of the biggest changes is access. I don’t get to watch the team practice as sports writers did for so many decades. That still happens in some programs, but it’s rare these days.
McCoy, of course, is better known as the longtime Reds beat writer for the Dayton Daily News. He’s in the Baseball Hall of Fame for the job he did on that beat for decades. He covered Dayton when UD Arena opened in 1969, and he still covers the Flyers for Press Pros Magazine.
Albers covered the Flyers for 19 years before retiring in 2006. He was a sports writer for 43 years at the Dayton Journal Herald and Dayton Daily News.
Harris, who played for Dayton from 1975-79, took over the beat from Albers and covered the team until retiring before the 2013-14 season, at which point I got the job. While Harris stepped away from his full-time job at the paper, he has been a valuable freelance writer for us for years now, covering Wright State sports.
Fast Break
Here’s other news that might interest Flyer fans:
🏀 Massachusetts and Fordham played what might go down as the best game in college basketball this season on Wednesday. UMass won 120-118 in triple overtime in the Bronx, N.Y.
“No game in the history of Rose Hill had ever produced 238 points,” Mike Lopresti wrote on NCAA.com. “No Fordham game had ever gone three overtimes there. Why is all that a big deal? Thursday is Rose Hill’s 100th anniversary. They rang out the 99th year in unforgettable style.”
🏀 George Mason coach Tony Skinn talked about his team’s victory at UD Arena in a story on the school’s website.
“This is why we scheduled the way we scheduled,” Skinn said. “We had a chance to go to Marquette in front of a rowdy crowd and we had a chance to go to Duke. If that’s not one of the toughest places to play, I don’t know what is. We were prepared for this. The guys locked in and knew how competitive they needed to be in this atmosphere. We made a couple shots early which gave us the confidence to propel us to the win.”
🏀 Former Dayton forward Toumani Camara, a second-year pro with the Portland Trail Blazers, scored a career-high 23 points Tuesday in a 132-114 loss to the Brooklyn Nets. His previous career high was 18 points. Camara has started all 39 games this season. He’s averaging 9.6 points after averaging 7.5 points as a rookie.
What do you want to know about the Flyers?
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