Dec. 8, 2007
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LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Behind a game-high 28 points from senior Brian Roberts, the Dayton Flyers upset the No. 11/14 Louisville Cardinals 70-65 on Saturday.
The last time the Flyers knocked off a nationally ranked team on its home court was back in 1985 when UD stopped the DePaul Blue Demons at the Rosemont Horizon.
Dayton, who improved to 7-1 overall and 3-1 on the road on the season, won three consecutive non-conference road games for the first time since the 2000-01 season.
Roberts shot 10-of-17 from the floor, 6-of-6 from the free throw line and added five rebounds to drop Louisville to 5-2 on the season and give the Cardinals its first home loss of the 2007-08 campaign.
Freshman Chris Wright added nine points and seven rebounds, while sophomore Kurt Huelsman recorded seven rebounds and five points. Dayton has won six in a row.
The Flyers shot 45 percent from the floor, but more importantly converted 16-of-20 shots from the free throw line and also 15-of-16 in the second half. Dayton's defense forced 15 Louisville turnovers and held the Cardinals to 43 percent shooting from the floor.
UD held Louisville scoreless through the first four and a half minutes of the game jumping out to a 7-0 lead.
Roberts hit back-to-back shots to put the Flyers ahead 14-4 with 11:43 in the first half. In fact Roberts recorded 14 or UD's first 19 points of the game.
But the Cards would slowly chip away at the Flyers lead and bring it to a 34-26 contest at halftime. Dayton shot 15-of-31 from the floor (48 percent) while Louisville was held to 9-of-27 shooting and 4-of-13 from three-point range. The 26 points allowed by the Flyers was also the third consecutive game Dayton has held an opponent to 30 points or less in a half.
However, in the second half Louisville got going on the offensive end with a 13-5 run and tie the game at 39-39 with 15 minutes remaining. Dayton went on a cold streak where they did not hit a field goal for a seven-minute span.
Dayton would begin to find its rhythm on offense and regained the lead to 53-46 with less than eight minutes to play.
UD kept the lead intact 59-54 with less than four minutes to play thanks to a bucket by Roberts and a dunk by Marcus Johnson. Dayton's defense held strong forcing two missed shots late and a Wright lay-up put the Flyer advantage to 62-56.
Louisville cut the deficit to four with a minute remaining when Roberts nailed two free throws to put the advantage to 64-58. The Cardinals knocked down a three and fouled Johnson with 33 seconds to go. Johnson sank both free throws to put the Flyers ahead 66-61.
The Cardinals once again cut the game within striking distance at 66-63 when Jimmy Binnie came up clutch again and converted two free throws. The Cardinals cut the lead once again to three before Roberts iced the game with two more free throws.
Binnie finished the game with nine points on 3-of-6 shooting from the floor. London Warren added a career-high four steals and four points.
Dayton begins a six-game homestand on Saturday, December 15, 2007 against the Coppin State Eagles beginning at 7 p.m. ET.
