Lowery, Dayton play spoiler for second straight night

Nov 30, 2008 - 6:25 AM HOFFMAN ESTATES, Illinois (Ticker) -- Dayton toppled a pair of heavyweights en route to bringing home some hardware.

Rob Lowery scored a career-high 21 points, including 10 in the second half, as Dayton knocked off No. 15 Marquette, 89-75, in the title game of the Chicago Invitational on Saturday.

Chris Wright had 13 points and 13 rebounds and freshman Chris Johnson added 12 and 11 for the Flyers (6-0), who upset an opponent from a major conference for the second straight day.

After edging Auburn, 60-59, in overtime on Friday, Dayton took control of the contest early in the second half, grabbing a 49-41 advantage with 15:31 remaining behind a 9-3 run. Reserve guard Stephen Thomas had all five of his points during the burst, including a three-point play off a turnover by Dominic James.

"I felt good," junior guard London Warren said. "To beat in back-to-back games teams from the Big East and SEC, you have to have a lot of heart and a lot of fight. We just do not stop fighting."

Wesley Matthews came right back with two free throws and a layup for Marquette, but Dayton had the momentum in its corner, later going on an 11-3 burst that made it 63-48 with 11:01 left. Wright had four points and Johnson added a three-point play during the run.

"Marquette's a super team," Flyers coach Brian Gregory said. "We had to hit on all cylinders to win. It started with our defense, and ended with our rebounding, and in between we got better on offense."

Marquette (5-1) could get no closer than eight points in absorbing its first loss of the season.

On the other hand, Dayton is off to its best start since winning its first nine during the 2003-04 campaign.

Lowery came up big on the offensive end, connecting on 9-of-13 shots. Overall, the Flyers went 53 percent (30-of-57) from the field, a much better effort than the game against Auburn, when Dayton missed all 24 of its 3-pointers.

"I just played my game," the junior guard said. "I've been playing like this the whole season, just shots haven't been falling. It's about this team. We play so hard and we believe in each other. That was important tonight."

Surprisingly, it was Dayton's third win over a Big East club in the past two years. Last season, the Flyers knocked off both Louisville and Pittsburgh when they were ranked within the top 20.

Still, Wright and his teammates are trying to look at the bigger picture as Dayton has been unable to reach the NCAA Tournament since 2004.

"It's a big win, but it's a long season and you can't hang your hat on one win," said Wright, who was named the tournament's MVP. "Marquette is ranked and out of the Big East conference, but that doesn't mean anything to us. We just come out and play basketball. We love to play and we came here for a reason and that's to win."

Matthews scored 23 of his 28 points in the second half for the Golden Eagles, who shot 39 percent (24-of-61) from the field, including 4-of-20 on 3-pointers.

"We've got to guard the ball," Marquette coach Buzz Williams told The Chicago Tribune. "We've got to make layups. We've got to make free throws. That's it. Pretty easy to see."

Second-leading scorer Jerel McNeal was nearly nonexistent after halftime, going just 2-of-8 from the field for four points while committing all five of his fouls. The senior guard finished with 16 points on 7-of-23 shooting.

James attempted to pick up some of the slack, scoring 19 points and handing out eight assists for Marquette, which ended up with more turnovers (14) than assists (13).