SPORTS

It's Xavier vs. Dayton for AdvoCare title

Shannon Russell
srussell@enquirer.com
Remember this? Dial back to Jan. 30, 2013, the last time Xavier and Dayton played at Cintas Center. Here, XU's Jeff Robinson attempts a shot against Josh Benson. The Musketeers won, 66-61.

ORLANDO, Fla. – The rivalry is back, if only for one game.

By defeating Monmouth 73-70 in an AdvoCare Invitational semifinal late Friday at HP Field House, Dayton (5-0) ensured a meeting with No. 23 Xavier (6-0) in Sunday’s 4:30 p.m. championship.

Although the schools are located just 48 miles apart, it took the exempt event to reunite them on the hardcourt. Their last outing was Feb. 16, 2013, Xavier’s last year in the Atlantic 10.

Dayton leads the series 85-75. XU is has a 7-4 edge under Chris Mack.

Coaches and fans are well-versed in the depth of the series, like Dayton’s struggles to beat XU in Cincinnati (the last Flyers win over the Musketeers in the city was in 1981 at Riverfront Coliseum) and the Miller bloodline (Sean Miller coached at Xavier and brother Archie leads Dayton).

As an Evansville basketball player, Mack was considered a villain in Dayton for throwing a ball at Wes Coffee’s face on an inbounds pass, a directive by then-coach Jim Crews. Mack wrote a letter of apology to Coffee and transferred to Xavier. Mack's wife, Christi, is a Dayton Athletics Hall of Famer in basketball.

But how much does any of the history extend to players? James Farr is the only Musketeer on Xavier’s active roster in 2012-13, and he was a freshman; Jalen Reynolds and Myles Davis were enrolled but not eligible. None of Dayton’s current players competed in the last game against XU.

Sunday’s showdown essentially will be a road game for Xavier, as Dayton fans are by far the most prevalent group at the tournament. The finale also stands to be the best game on the slate. Stay tuned.

CONFIDENCE BOOSTS: Xavier received quality minutes from Makinde London, Sean O’Mara and Kaiser Gates in Friday’s semifinal win over Southern Cal. Whether it was a London assist, an O’Mara steal or a Gates charge, the players added to the first-half energy frenzy.

Mack liked what he saw.

“They did a great job. We need play from those guys off the bench. I want to play them. But again, it’s the chicken or the egg. I’ve been in that situation years and years ago where you want to go in and make a positive play but quite honestly when you’re in the coaching profession, you think more of, ‘Hey, just don’t stick out.’ John Beilein is famous for saying, ‘I don’t want freshmen to stick out because it’s usually a negative,’” Mack said.

“But tonight those guys came in and they really raised our energy level, which was already very high, and made some positive plays on both ends of the floor.”

NOT SATISFIED: Farr has never played in an exempt event championship so competing for the AdvoCare Invitational title “as a senior means a lot.”

“To win it would mean a lot more. It’s a good feeling, but the job’s not done yet,” Farr said.

Xavier is off to its best start since 2011. That team started 8-0.