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Burrell, Xavier smother Dayton in A-10 rout

Jan 25, 2008 - 5:16 AM CINCINNATI (Ticker) -- A highly anticipated matchup between two of the top teams in the Atlantic 10 Conference turned into an extremely one-sided affair.

Stanley Burrell had 13 points and B.J. Raymond added 12 as No. 22 Xavier routed 19th-ranked Dayton, 69-43, on Thursday.

Josh Duncan chipped in 11 points off the bench for Xavier, which won for the 23rd straight time against Dayton on its home floor, using its defense to smother the Flyers from start to finish.

Playing for the 145th time in the series, it was only the second-ever meeting between the teams when both were ranked.

But only one of the teams played like it on Thursday, as the Musketeers (16-4, 4-1 A-10) - who trailed only once at 2-1 - set the tone from the beginning.

Dayton (14-3, 2-2) missed its first six shots from the field and Xavier went on an early 10-0 spurt to take a 15-4 lead six minutes into the contest.

The Flyers were never able to get within striking distance, climbing within seven before the Musketeers again stretched the lead back to double figures. Xavier outscored Dayton, 13-6, over the final seven minutes of the first half to take a 36-18 advantage at the intermission.

"We are obviously not pleased with our performance," Dayton coach Brian Gregory said. "We were put in a difficult situation and we did not play poised enough, smart enough or tough enough to be successful against a quality team."

The bulge continued to grow during the second half as Xavier gradually built its lead up to 55-28 on a jumper by Raymond with 11:09 to play. The Musketeers took its largest lead at 69-36 after Adrion Graves made his second consecutive 3-pointer with 3:41 left.

Dayton's leading scorer Brian Roberts, who came into the game averaging 20.1 points per contest, netted a season-low five points on just 2-of-5 shooting - much in part to the defense of Burrell and Xavier.

"They had a really quality team defense today," Gregory said. "Even when you are open for a second, someone else is helping out."

Roberts, who averaged 17.0 points in the three games against Xavier last season, has been battling an illness for a "better part of the month" according to Gregory.

"I felt okay warming up, but once the game started, I got winded really quick," Roberts said. "I couldn't catch my breath. In the second half I started cramping up, and after the game I was still a little weak.

"But Xavier came out and played well. They are a good team and this is a tough place to play."

The Musketeers outrebounded the Flyers, 41-24, for the game and Dayton made just 14-of-46 (30 percent) field goals.

Another huge key to the game was the outside shooting as the Musketeers shot 11-of-23 from the arc while the Flyers made a dismal 2-of-18 from the 3-point line.

Marcus Johnson had 12 points to lead the Flyers, who have lost two straight after a 13-game winning streak.