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Harris, Massachusetts end Dayton's perfect run at home

Jan 17, 2008 - 6:27 AM DAYTON, Ohio (Ticker) -- A little time off and the red-hot outside shooting from the arc was all Massachusetts need to ruin one of Dayton's best starts in school history.

Ricky Harris scored 22 points for the Minutemen en route to an 82-71 upset win over the 18th-ranked Flyers in Atlantic 10 Conference action on Wednesday.

Chris Lowe added 19 points and Gary Forbes put in 16 for Massachusetts (12-4, 1-1 A-10), which shot 43 percent (13-of-30) from the arc in ending Dayton's 13-game winning streak, including 10 in a row at home to open the season.

"In this league, if you don't come ready to scrap and play, you're going to have a hard time winning the game and that doesn't matter where you are playing at, who you're playing, where you're ranked (or where) your record is at," Dayton coach Brian Gregory said.

UMass had a week to prepare for this contest and it showed early as the Minutemen started quickly, jumping out to a 21-7 lead at the 11:24 mark of the first half after Etienne Brower hit a 3-pointer.

"When he (Brower) shoots the ball well we're a better basketball team," Massachusetts coach Travis Ford said. "He's the X-factor, and tonight he shot it well."

It didn't help matters that Dayton shot just 31 percent (10-for-32) in the first half and just 37 percent (25-for-67) for the game.

"We came out with a bad start and had a poor night shooting," Flyers guard Marcus Johnson said. "I think a lot of it was from people not used to scrambling around and not getting open. We just didn't step up."

Dayton (14-2, 2-1) returned the favor with an 22-8 run, tying the game at 29-29 with 2:41 remaining before intermission when Mickey Perry hit the Flyers' only shot from the arc in the first half.

However, the Flyers scored just one more time while the Minutemen hit two 3-pointers in the last 41 seconds to key a 7-2 run to go into the break with a 36-31 advantage.

Harris came out firing in the second half for UMass, nailing each of the first three 3-pointers and scoring 11 of the first 13 points for the team as it took a 49-40 lead with just over 16 minutes remaining.

The Flyers responded again behind leading scorer Brian Roberts, who scored seven points during a 17-7 burst to help Dayton take its first lead of the game at 57-56.

"I told our team to expect a comeback," Ford said. "It's about how you respond to it. They came back and even took the lead, but we responded well."

After the Minutemen's Dante Milligan hit a jumper and Roberts answered with a pair of free throws, Lowe scored four straight points to key a 12-3 stretch that helped UMass take control for good, establishing a 70-62 cushion with 4:45 left.

The Flyers could get no closer than six points the rest of the way.

"I thought our guys did a good job and were focused on the game plan and executing it almost to perfection in terms of what we were trying to do," Ford said. "We were a team that was disappointed in our last time out and we responded. We looked like a wounded team out there and we responded.

"I think this was a team that was a ready to fight. Both teams played extremely hard and this was a very tough game."

Roberts finished with 21 points and Johnson added 15 and 13 rebounds for Dayton.