UD vs. St. Louis

8:35 p.m.: It's 19-14 St. Louis. Nothing will go in basket for us.

8:42 p.m.: We're fighting back. 26-23. They are 9-9 at foul line.

8:46 p.m.: Wow we're up 28-26. Great defense. We're 5-5 from foul line.

8:53 p.m.: Oops. Spoke to (sic.) soon. 36-28, St. L at half. 10 unanswered points.

9:38 p.m.: UD still fighting. We're down 54-51.

10:06 p.m.: 64 all. We're going to it.

10:06 p.m.: That's OT

10:24 p.m.: We win 79-72. Unbelievable.

Those are the series of texts I received from my mom (who attended the game) about the Dayton-St. Louis matchup while I was at work last night. And while plenty of things were going through my mind while receiving those texts ("Why don't you text full sentences?"; "I knew this would happen."; "What is with your obsession with free throws, Mom?") The main thing I was thinking up until the last text went something along the lines of, "Guess they've played well so far. Now's when they'll start to fall apart."

But you know what? UD didn't fall apart. They gave up a prayer of a three to send the game to overtime, and didn't let it bother them. Matt Kavanaugh was in foul trouble all game it would seem (I'm basing this off the box score, in which he has five fouls and had played 16 minutes to Luke Fabrizius' 32), and Dayton persevered. Then, they turned in about as good an overtime performance as a team can: They took the lead, and protected it late at the foul line, going 10-12 in the five extra minutes alone.

I really can't give much analysis of the game; The only information I have is the Dayton Daily News game story, the box score, and my mom's impressions from the game (hint: they focus almost solely on how great UD was from the foul line). But so far this season, UD has played three impressive games: against Minnesota in the Old Spice Classic, and then at home versus Alabama and now St. Louis. In the Alabama game, UD shot the lights out and had Bama's best big man in foul trouble. Those were the two biggest reasons they looked so good. The games against Minnesota and St. Louis have one big similarity: Kevin Dillard was the best player on the court. Against the Gophers, Dillard recorded 19 points, 10 assists and seven steals, and was in complete control of the game. Versus the Billikens, I can't say for sure if he was in complete control because I wasn't there (he probably wasn't to the same degree; he had five turnovers), but Dillard had 18 points, 10 assists, a steal and a block. He was extremely good.

Guard play has always been lauded as the most important aspect of college basketball. I've never bought into that entirely, because of course teams with good guards are going to be better than teams with bad guards. Just like teams with good forwards and centers are going to be better than teams with bad forwards and centers. But with UD this season, we may be seeing the formula for the team's success. When Dillard plays well, he is taking lots of pressure off his teammates to create, and as a result players like Paul Williams and Chris Johnson find it easier to score. When London Warren and Rob Lowery were running the show, UD could get by without great point guard play, because it had Marcus Johnson, Chris Johnson and Chris Wright to pick up the slack. When Brian Roberts was in control, he couldn't pick up the slack enough for his mediocre teammates. This season, I'm suspecting if Dillard picks it up just enough, this team goes up to another level.

The question now becomes, how often is that going to happen? Against Murray State, Dillard scored eight, had four assists and five turnovers. He had eight and four again verus Florida International. Against Seton Hall, he went 5-14 from the floor en route to 14 points, four assists and three turnovers. None of those games are going to get it done. And I understand 18 and 10 is not a realistic expectation for the rest of the season. But 14/15 points, five assists and two turnovers? That would work. Is that too much to ask.

We'll find out soon. UD heads to Temple and St. Bonaventure its next two games.