Spiders' mission: taking Flyers
BY MIKE HARRIS
TIMES-DISPATCH STAFF WRITER Mar 19, 2001
NIT
UR AT DAYTON
TODAY:
8 p.m., WRNL (910) TICKETS:
Dayton's ticket office (937-229-4433) opens today at 9 a.m.
If John Beilein had only known, he would have taken an extra notebook with him on a recent trip to Philadelphia.
Beilein, the men's basketball coach at the University of Richmond, attended the Atlantic 10 tournament. One of the games he saw was eventual champion Temple's victory over Dayton.
His main interest was watching Temple's vaunted matchup zone defense "and thinking about how I'd try to attack that when given the opportunity," Beilein said.
He'll get that opportunity next season when the Spiders move into the A-10. Tonight at 8, the postseason gods have conspired to pit Richmond (22-6) against Dayton (19-12) in a second-round National Invitation Tournament game at University of Dayton Arena.
"We basically wanted to see the level of play, the size of the players," Beilein said of his tournament visit. "We didn't pay attention to Dayton in particular. SPIDERS We do know they've always had tremendous success at home."
After a leisurely 17 days between the end of the regular season and their 23-point victory over West Virginia in their NIT opener Friday, the Spiders have been sucked into the whole postseason thing. There's little time between games, and the opponents are mostly unfamiliar.
By Saturday morning, they'd assembled a small collection of Dayton tapes. Included was one of the Flyers' 68-59 victory over UNC Wilmington in the NIT's first round.
The team left Saturday night. Yesterday, Kansas fan Scott Kauffman (from Topeka, Kan.) and Syracuse fan Scott Ungerer (from Syracuse) attended NCAA tournament second-round games at UD Arena along with teammates Eric Zwayer and Greg Stevenson.
Richmond had a practice scheduled last night at a local high school. Its game-day shoot-around was scheduled for UD Arena.
By tonight, Richmond will be as prepared as it can be in three days for Dayton.
The Flyers are coached by former Old Dominion boss Oliver Purnell. They started their season off hot, beating Connecticut and Maryland in the Maui Invitational. They've won four of their past five, including the NIT victory.
Dayton split with Massachusetts and beat George Washington. UR beat both those teams. Dayton also lost at home to Old Dominion, which was swept by the Spiders in Colonial Athletic Association play. The Flyers have lost an uncharacteristic five times in 15 home games this season.
Dayton's leading scorer is guard Tony Stanley of Arlington, who averages 16 points. Keith Waleskowski averages 11.3 points and 7.5 rebounds.
The Dayton-Richmond winner will play the winner of last night's game between Connecticut and Detroit. Quarterfinal games are Wednesday-Friday at campus sites, which means Richmond might not return home if it wins tonight and is sent on the road again.
NIT quarterfinal winners convene in New York for the semifinals March 27. The final is March 29.
"We still keep up with the NCAA tournament, but we've got our own thing going now," Ungerer said. "Once you start playing [in the NIT] and get that first win, you get a little taste and think, 'There's still something to play for.' There's still something to accomplish this year."
BY MIKE HARRIS
TIMES-DISPATCH STAFF WRITER Mar 19, 2001
NIT
UR AT DAYTON
TODAY:
8 p.m., WRNL (910) TICKETS:
Dayton's ticket office (937-229-4433) opens today at 9 a.m.
If John Beilein had only known, he would have taken an extra notebook with him on a recent trip to Philadelphia.
Beilein, the men's basketball coach at the University of Richmond, attended the Atlantic 10 tournament. One of the games he saw was eventual champion Temple's victory over Dayton.
His main interest was watching Temple's vaunted matchup zone defense "and thinking about how I'd try to attack that when given the opportunity," Beilein said.
He'll get that opportunity next season when the Spiders move into the A-10. Tonight at 8, the postseason gods have conspired to pit Richmond (22-6) against Dayton (19-12) in a second-round National Invitation Tournament game at University of Dayton Arena.
"We basically wanted to see the level of play, the size of the players," Beilein said of his tournament visit. "We didn't pay attention to Dayton in particular. SPIDERS We do know they've always had tremendous success at home."
After a leisurely 17 days between the end of the regular season and their 23-point victory over West Virginia in their NIT opener Friday, the Spiders have been sucked into the whole postseason thing. There's little time between games, and the opponents are mostly unfamiliar.
By Saturday morning, they'd assembled a small collection of Dayton tapes. Included was one of the Flyers' 68-59 victory over UNC Wilmington in the NIT's first round.
The team left Saturday night. Yesterday, Kansas fan Scott Kauffman (from Topeka, Kan.) and Syracuse fan Scott Ungerer (from Syracuse) attended NCAA tournament second-round games at UD Arena along with teammates Eric Zwayer and Greg Stevenson.
Richmond had a practice scheduled last night at a local high school. Its game-day shoot-around was scheduled for UD Arena.
By tonight, Richmond will be as prepared as it can be in three days for Dayton.
The Flyers are coached by former Old Dominion boss Oliver Purnell. They started their season off hot, beating Connecticut and Maryland in the Maui Invitational. They've won four of their past five, including the NIT victory.
Dayton split with Massachusetts and beat George Washington. UR beat both those teams. Dayton also lost at home to Old Dominion, which was swept by the Spiders in Colonial Athletic Association play. The Flyers have lost an uncharacteristic five times in 15 home games this season.
Dayton's leading scorer is guard Tony Stanley of Arlington, who averages 16 points. Keith Waleskowski averages 11.3 points and 7.5 rebounds.
The Dayton-Richmond winner will play the winner of last night's game between Connecticut and Detroit. Quarterfinal games are Wednesday-Friday at campus sites, which means Richmond might not return home if it wins tonight and is sent on the road again.
NIT quarterfinal winners convene in New York for the semifinals March 27. The final is March 29.
"We still keep up with the NCAA tournament, but we've got our own thing going now," Ungerer said. "Once you start playing [in the NIT] and get that first win, you get a little taste and think, 'There's still something to play for.' There's still something to accomplish this year."
