Xavier blows out Dayton in AdvoCare final
ORLANDO, Fla. – This victory was especially sweet.
No. 23 Xavier won its first exempt event since 2008 by blowing out rival Dayton 90-61 in Sunday’s AdvoCare Invitational basketball championship at HP Field House. The Musketeers mobbed each other in celebration and hoisted the trophy before 4,633 fans.
“This is a great feeling right now, especially to get it against an in-town rival,” Xavier junior Myles Davis said. “Dayton is a good team so we knew we had our hands full. This wasn’t an easy win whatsoever, but we’re just such a hungry team and guys are just ready to play from the jump. It was just so fun out there.”
It was Xavier's most lopsided victory over Dayton since the 1931-32 season when the Musketeers won by 34 at Schmidt Fieldhouse.
By winning a fifth game in 10 days, including three straight in Florida – defeating Alabama and Southern California before Dayton – XU improved to 7-0 and extended its best start since 2011. Dayton (5-1) absorbed its first loss this season and was denied a second title at the venue.
Edmond Sumner scored 14 points, Trevon Bluiett and Davis added 12, and J.P. Macura, Jalen Reynolds and Remy Abell contributed 11 apiece in the first Xavier-Dayton game since 2013. The Musketeers’ move to the Big East has tabled the teams’ regular-season meetings for now.
There just wasn’t much Xavier didn’t do well in the rout. Dayton relied on the free-throw line for 12 of its first 35 points and never established much of a rhythm due to 22 turnovers throughout.
“Getting back on defense, whether we made the shot or missed the shot, was imperative. They do as good a job as anybody of advancing the ball up the floor,” Xavier coach Chris Mack said.
“Kyle Davis got a lay-up to start the game and we felt like that was a way they felt they could themselves back in the game, if they got cheap, quick easy baskets. And that’s how they like to play, is to run the ball up the floor. We certainly addressed that.”
Xavier broke open the game with a 21-0 run less than halfway through the second half and Dayton, stymied by miscues and seven straight missed field goals, never recovered.
Coach Archie Miller said the team played with many of the same flaws it possessed in tourney games against Iowa and Monmouth, but those discrepancies were exposed by a Xavier team he called “terrific.” XU out-rebounded Dayton 40-26 and scored 17 second-chance points behind 13 offensive boards.
“They had a tremendous frontcourt. Jalen Reynolds, Farr and (Sean) O’Mara are three really, really solid, big guys. Reynolds and Farr in particular have a great attitude inside. They impose their will,” Miller said. “We’re weak inside right now, we’re young inside.”
The closest Dayton came to a second-half comeback was when Kendall Pollard and Scoochie Smith scored to twice bring the Flyers within eight points. But that’s when Xavier mounted its monster run and jumped ahead by 29 points with 12:10 remaining.
The 21-0 spurt started when Davis retrieved the rebound from Sumner’s missed 3-pointer and delivered a lay-up. A Farr dunk triggered a Miller timeout. As the Flyers went scoreless with three turnovers in five minutes, Farr dumped in four more points.
Then Davis, Abell and Bluiett hit 3-pointers, and an O’Mara lay-up made it 68-39.
Xavier led by as many as 33 before a Flyers-heavy crowd. Farr, the only scholarship player who’d faced Dayton before Sunday, knew what to expect.
“I knew there was going to be a lot of chitter-chatter from all the fan bases,” Farr said. “The coaches did a great job saying to stay away from that, whether it’s on social media or anywhere you might see it. We listened to our coach. We stayed focused on the game.”
Sumner took a hard fall late in the outing and hobbled off the court, his hand on his left hip. Mack said afterward that the freshman was fine.
Xavier scored 27 points off turnovers and established such a big lead that Mack started subbing in walk-ons with about two minutes left. Every Musketeer played.
“Dayton uncharacteristically turned the ball over both against man and zone. It probably led to more of their downfall,” Mack said. “But our guys were ready to play. We knew we were playing against an NCAA tournament team. I have great respect for Archie, his coaching staff and the kids they have on their team. It was our day today, and it feels good.”
ALL-TOURNEY TEAM: Reynolds and Bluiett made the AdvoCare Invitational all-tourney team with Dayton's Smith and Iowa's Jarrod Uthoff. Monmouth's Justin Robinson was named MVP after scoring a tournament-record 77 points in three games.