Post by Commissioner on Dec 13, 2021 20:00:15 GMT -5
Sam posted this in the Atlantic 10 thread, and got me going:
I wonder if they ever considered changing their name to the University of Dayton Marianist. 🤔
I wonder the same. As a kid and young man, I always thought of Dayton as our top rival after Marquette. I think of the Golden Age of Titan Hoops as running from 1949 (when Bob Calihan took over as coach) through perhaps 1980, Willie McCarter's first season at the helm and our last winning season with Vitale/Gaines recruits. Or you can neatly round it to a 30 year period, 1950-1979, Calihan's first great team (20-6) through Smokey Gaines's last; if you want a shorter period, you can do the 20 years from Dave DeBusschere's first varsity season (1960) through 1979.
A look at the historical record shows the schools have met 63 times, with Dayton holding a 34-29 edge. After playing Dayton with some regularity in the 1920S and 30s (with the Titans usually getting the better of Dayton--we won 13 of 14), for some reason we didn't play Dayton between the 1937 through the 1956 seasons, except for 1948. The series resumed in 1958, with Dayton winning in both '58 and '59. During the 20 years of shorter Golden Era--1960-1979--we played 18 more times. Though Dayton was the better program in those years, with more ranked teams, more NCAA appearances, a Final Four, we got our share of licks in, going 8-10 against the Flyers in the those 20 years.
A few of the games:
Jan. 17, 1961: Detroit 71, Dayton 57.
Dayton held Dave DeBusschere to just 8 points, but Charlie North hit for 23 as the Titans easily vanquished 9-2 Dayton. Both teams would eventually make the 12 team NIT field (Dayton finished 20-9), where both would lose to Holy Cross, Detroit in the first round and Dayton in the semi-finals.
Titan/Dayton program from Jan. 17, 1961
February 11, 1962, Detroit 97, @ Dayton 75.
Dave Debusschere set a school scoring record with 44 points and grabbed 21 rebounds as the Titans scored perhaps the biggest win in their long rivalry with Dayton, crushing the Flyers at Dayton, 97-75. DeBusschere hit 16 of 26 shots from the floor.
The blowout at Dayton was vital to helping the Titans withstand a sluggish loss to a mediocre Marquette team two nights later, and gain their first NCAA bid ever. Meanwhile Dayton, which entered the game at 13-5, did not lose again in 1962, winning its final 11 games and defeating St. John’s in Madison Square Garden to win the NIT.
February 9, 1963: Dayton 70, Detroit 68.
January 9, 1965: Detroit 76, Dayton 74 (OT).
8-2 Dayton came into Detroit in January of 1965, but high-scoring sophomore forward Donnie May was out for this one. The real UD featured a sophomore star of its own in broad-shouldered center Dorie Murrey, and an able supporting cast including Lou Hyatt, John Watson, and Terry Page. The Titans were just 7-5, however, and had been blown out by Indiana, Minnesota, and Notre Dame.
The Titans led by 5, 41-36, at the half, and opened a 10 point lead in the second half. But Murrey hit the bench with 4 fouls and Dayton went on a 19-7 run to take a 65-63 lead with under four minutes to play. Hyatt hit a jumper to tie the game at 65 with 3:21 to play, and then Dayton went into a stall to play for final shot (ah, those pre-shot clock days). Page forced the issue by fouling John Wannamacher with 28 seconds to play, and Wannamacher obligingly missed the front end, but Detroit was unable to capitalize and the game went to OT. The Titans led all the way in the OT, with a pair of Watson free throws providing the final and ultimately winning points. Coach Calihan used just six players in the game. Murrey and Hyatt led the Titans with 20 each, and Page and Watson each added 14. The fifth starter on that team was guard Jim Boyce.
The overtime win over the Flyers seemed to be the moment the talented Titans finally came together. The Titans thumped Marquette by 12 in their next game, lost at Villanova 74-72 on a pair of free throws with 4 seconds remaining, then rolled off 10 more wins in their final 11 games, including a 14 point win at Marquette and a victory in a rematch with Notre Dame at Memorial. That got the Titans an NIT bid, where they recorded their first ever post-season victory by downing La Salle. Dayton, for its part, finished 22-7 and made the Sweet 16 of the NCAA tournament, losing to eventual runner-up Michigan.
January 11, 1969: Dayton 64, Detroit 62.
Spencer Haywood's 30 points weren't enough and Dayton beat 13th ranked Detroit before 7732 fans at Calihan (nee Memorial). The loss dropped the Titans from the top 20, and elevated Dayton into it at #20. Dayton eventually got an NCAA bid and finished the year at 20-7.
January 20, 1974: Detroit 79, Dayton 72 (OT).
After an impressive 11-1 start, including wins over Michigan, Michigan State, and Minnesota, the Titans lost consecutive road games to Western Michigan and Villanova. This overtime win over a good Dayton club, 10-3, temporarily got the Titans back on track. Jerry Guinane, making a rare start, scored 10 of the Titans final 16 points in regulation, but with the score tied at 62 Owen Wells missed the front end of a one & one with seven seconds to play, giving Dayton a chance for the win. Wells compounded the problem when he fouled Dayton's Mike Sylvester, an 85% foul shooter, as Sylvester heaved up a long desperation jumper at the buzzer. But Sylvester missed both foul shots, and Riley Dotson scored 6 and Walter Smith 5 (all on free throws) as the Titans dominated the extra period. Wells led the Titans with 18 points, Dotson added 16, and Guinane finished with 14. Dayton finished the year ranked 20th in the nation, and reached the Sweet 16 in the NCAA tournament before losing in triple overtime to UCLA. Calihan attendance was 4890.
Jan. 15, 1977: Detroit 65, @ Dayton 63.
What may have been our best team ever successfully stretched its winning streak to 11 in a row, on the way to 21, by beating 10-2 Dayton. The game was tied at the half, but the Titans took the lead at the start of the second half and held it the entire remainder, though never by more than a few points. Dayton closed to 64-63 and had the ball but Doug Harris missed a layup with under 10 seconds remaining, Dayton was forced to foul, and the real UD held on for the win. Detroit’s balanced scoring was led by John Long with 16, Terry Tyler and Terry Duerod with 12 apiece, and Dennis Boyd with 11.
January 15, 1978: Detroit 87, Dayton 73.
1978 was to be the year for the Titans, who entered the season ranked 20th in the AP poll. The Titans slowly advanced to 15th, but were dealt a crushing blow in December when Magic Johnson’s Spartans blew the home club out of Calihan Hall, 103-74. The problem for the Titans after that was that the schedule had very little meat that year, being dominated by the likes of Harvard, Wayne State, Canisius, CCNY, Adrian, Oakland, and Buffalo, and with 19 of 27 games played at Calihan. Thus, Dayton’s visit to Calihan in mid-January gave the Titans a rare chance to boost their resume with a showy victory for post-season consideration. The Flyers entered Detroit at 10-4, including wins over Syracuse, Memphis, and Georgia Tech. The Titans were 12-1.
Senior center Terry Tyler dominated this one from the opening tip, and finished with 24 points, 20 rebounds, and 6 blocked shots. Attendance at Calihan Hall was 8096.
A couple other games worth mentioning outside that era:
Feb. 14, 1985: Detroit 68, Dayton 67.
In one of the most exciting games in the long Dayton rivalry, Keith Gray hit a baseline jumper to pull the Titans to within one point with 8 seconds left. Greg Wendt fouled Dayton's Damon Goodwin after the inbounds, and Goodwin missed the front end of a one and one. Wendt grabbed the rebound, dribbled the court, and hit a 24 foot bomb at the buzzer for the win. Wendt led the Titans with 19 points. With the win over NCAA-bound Dayton, the Titans liked their chances for a post-season bid, especially after beating #4 Memphis two weeks later, but the 16-12 Titans were snubbed by the NIT.
Feb. 9, 1995: Detroit 75, Dayton 57.
Significant mainly because it was the last time Detroit has hosted Dayton, and our last regular season meeting for 23 years. Despite a 7-20 finish, Dayton decided it had gotten too good for the Titans. Attendance at Calihan was 2191. Detroit and Dayton had played every year between 1981 and 1995.
March 22, 2001: Detroit 59, Dayton 42
The Titans won their third consecutive road game to advance to the NIT Final Four in Madison Square Garden by trouncing Dayton, 59-42. The Titans led 33-23 at the half, but Dayton held UD scoreless for the first five and a half minutes of the second half. The problem for Dayton was that Detroit’s defense also stepped it up, and Dayton was able to knock just five points off the Titans’ lead. The Titans then forced turnovers on 4 consecutive Dayton possessions and broke the game open. The Titan blitz eventually turned into a 23-3 run that opened a 56-31 lead with just under three minutes remaining. Having held Dayton to just 8 points in the first 17 minutes of the half, the Titans simply coasted home – or perhaps better put, to Madison Square Garden.
Rashad Phillips led the Titan attack with 23 points. The victory, Detroit’s 25th of the year, tied the school record. The Titans, however, lost to Alabama in the NIT semis, and then to Memphis in the consolation game, to finish the year at 25-12. Still, it is the furthest the Titans have ever advanced in post-season play.
March 13, 2002: Dayton 80, Detroit 69.
Dayton won an NIT rematch in Dayton. Greg Grays had 25 and Willie Green 18 for Titans. Ramod Marshall had 23 for Dayton.
As has been stated here, Dayton doesn't like being called a mid major, and yesterday's game is an example of why. The hosted an ACC team in front of a sold out crowd of over 13 thousand, won the game, improved to 7-4 (after a slow start they've won 6 of 7), and added another high major scalp to the ones they took from Miami and Kansas. Dayton is for real. They are one of the teams I look at with envy and say, "what if?".
I wonder if they ever considered changing their name to the University of Dayton Marianist. 🤔
I wonder the same. As a kid and young man, I always thought of Dayton as our top rival after Marquette. I think of the Golden Age of Titan Hoops as running from 1949 (when Bob Calihan took over as coach) through perhaps 1980, Willie McCarter's first season at the helm and our last winning season with Vitale/Gaines recruits. Or you can neatly round it to a 30 year period, 1950-1979, Calihan's first great team (20-6) through Smokey Gaines's last; if you want a shorter period, you can do the 20 years from Dave DeBusschere's first varsity season (1960) through 1979.
A look at the historical record shows the schools have met 63 times, with Dayton holding a 34-29 edge. After playing Dayton with some regularity in the 1920S and 30s (with the Titans usually getting the better of Dayton--we won 13 of 14), for some reason we didn't play Dayton between the 1937 through the 1956 seasons, except for 1948. The series resumed in 1958, with Dayton winning in both '58 and '59. During the 20 years of shorter Golden Era--1960-1979--we played 18 more times. Though Dayton was the better program in those years, with more ranked teams, more NCAA appearances, a Final Four, we got our share of licks in, going 8-10 against the Flyers in the those 20 years.
A few of the games:
Jan. 17, 1961: Detroit 71, Dayton 57.
Dayton held Dave DeBusschere to just 8 points, but Charlie North hit for 23 as the Titans easily vanquished 9-2 Dayton. Both teams would eventually make the 12 team NIT field (Dayton finished 20-9), where both would lose to Holy Cross, Detroit in the first round and Dayton in the semi-finals.
Titan/Dayton program from Jan. 17, 1961
February 11, 1962, Detroit 97, @ Dayton 75.
Dave Debusschere set a school scoring record with 44 points and grabbed 21 rebounds as the Titans scored perhaps the biggest win in their long rivalry with Dayton, crushing the Flyers at Dayton, 97-75. DeBusschere hit 16 of 26 shots from the floor.
The blowout at Dayton was vital to helping the Titans withstand a sluggish loss to a mediocre Marquette team two nights later, and gain their first NCAA bid ever. Meanwhile Dayton, which entered the game at 13-5, did not lose again in 1962, winning its final 11 games and defeating St. John’s in Madison Square Garden to win the NIT.
February 9, 1963: Dayton 70, Detroit 68.
January 9, 1965: Detroit 76, Dayton 74 (OT).
8-2 Dayton came into Detroit in January of 1965, but high-scoring sophomore forward Donnie May was out for this one. The real UD featured a sophomore star of its own in broad-shouldered center Dorie Murrey, and an able supporting cast including Lou Hyatt, John Watson, and Terry Page. The Titans were just 7-5, however, and had been blown out by Indiana, Minnesota, and Notre Dame.
The Titans led by 5, 41-36, at the half, and opened a 10 point lead in the second half. But Murrey hit the bench with 4 fouls and Dayton went on a 19-7 run to take a 65-63 lead with under four minutes to play. Hyatt hit a jumper to tie the game at 65 with 3:21 to play, and then Dayton went into a stall to play for final shot (ah, those pre-shot clock days). Page forced the issue by fouling John Wannamacher with 28 seconds to play, and Wannamacher obligingly missed the front end, but Detroit was unable to capitalize and the game went to OT. The Titans led all the way in the OT, with a pair of Watson free throws providing the final and ultimately winning points. Coach Calihan used just six players in the game. Murrey and Hyatt led the Titans with 20 each, and Page and Watson each added 14. The fifth starter on that team was guard Jim Boyce.
The overtime win over the Flyers seemed to be the moment the talented Titans finally came together. The Titans thumped Marquette by 12 in their next game, lost at Villanova 74-72 on a pair of free throws with 4 seconds remaining, then rolled off 10 more wins in their final 11 games, including a 14 point win at Marquette and a victory in a rematch with Notre Dame at Memorial. That got the Titans an NIT bid, where they recorded their first ever post-season victory by downing La Salle. Dayton, for its part, finished 22-7 and made the Sweet 16 of the NCAA tournament, losing to eventual runner-up Michigan.
January 11, 1969: Dayton 64, Detroit 62.
Spencer Haywood's 30 points weren't enough and Dayton beat 13th ranked Detroit before 7732 fans at Calihan (nee Memorial). The loss dropped the Titans from the top 20, and elevated Dayton into it at #20. Dayton eventually got an NCAA bid and finished the year at 20-7.
January 20, 1974: Detroit 79, Dayton 72 (OT).
After an impressive 11-1 start, including wins over Michigan, Michigan State, and Minnesota, the Titans lost consecutive road games to Western Michigan and Villanova. This overtime win over a good Dayton club, 10-3, temporarily got the Titans back on track. Jerry Guinane, making a rare start, scored 10 of the Titans final 16 points in regulation, but with the score tied at 62 Owen Wells missed the front end of a one & one with seven seconds to play, giving Dayton a chance for the win. Wells compounded the problem when he fouled Dayton's Mike Sylvester, an 85% foul shooter, as Sylvester heaved up a long desperation jumper at the buzzer. But Sylvester missed both foul shots, and Riley Dotson scored 6 and Walter Smith 5 (all on free throws) as the Titans dominated the extra period. Wells led the Titans with 18 points, Dotson added 16, and Guinane finished with 14. Dayton finished the year ranked 20th in the nation, and reached the Sweet 16 in the NCAA tournament before losing in triple overtime to UCLA. Calihan attendance was 4890.
Jan. 15, 1977: Detroit 65, @ Dayton 63.
What may have been our best team ever successfully stretched its winning streak to 11 in a row, on the way to 21, by beating 10-2 Dayton. The game was tied at the half, but the Titans took the lead at the start of the second half and held it the entire remainder, though never by more than a few points. Dayton closed to 64-63 and had the ball but Doug Harris missed a layup with under 10 seconds remaining, Dayton was forced to foul, and the real UD held on for the win. Detroit’s balanced scoring was led by John Long with 16, Terry Tyler and Terry Duerod with 12 apiece, and Dennis Boyd with 11.
January 15, 1978: Detroit 87, Dayton 73.
1978 was to be the year for the Titans, who entered the season ranked 20th in the AP poll. The Titans slowly advanced to 15th, but were dealt a crushing blow in December when Magic Johnson’s Spartans blew the home club out of Calihan Hall, 103-74. The problem for the Titans after that was that the schedule had very little meat that year, being dominated by the likes of Harvard, Wayne State, Canisius, CCNY, Adrian, Oakland, and Buffalo, and with 19 of 27 games played at Calihan. Thus, Dayton’s visit to Calihan in mid-January gave the Titans a rare chance to boost their resume with a showy victory for post-season consideration. The Flyers entered Detroit at 10-4, including wins over Syracuse, Memphis, and Georgia Tech. The Titans were 12-1.
Senior center Terry Tyler dominated this one from the opening tip, and finished with 24 points, 20 rebounds, and 6 blocked shots. Attendance at Calihan Hall was 8096.
A couple other games worth mentioning outside that era:
Feb. 14, 1985: Detroit 68, Dayton 67.
In one of the most exciting games in the long Dayton rivalry, Keith Gray hit a baseline jumper to pull the Titans to within one point with 8 seconds left. Greg Wendt fouled Dayton's Damon Goodwin after the inbounds, and Goodwin missed the front end of a one and one. Wendt grabbed the rebound, dribbled the court, and hit a 24 foot bomb at the buzzer for the win. Wendt led the Titans with 19 points. With the win over NCAA-bound Dayton, the Titans liked their chances for a post-season bid, especially after beating #4 Memphis two weeks later, but the 16-12 Titans were snubbed by the NIT.
Feb. 9, 1995: Detroit 75, Dayton 57.
Significant mainly because it was the last time Detroit has hosted Dayton, and our last regular season meeting for 23 years. Despite a 7-20 finish, Dayton decided it had gotten too good for the Titans. Attendance at Calihan was 2191. Detroit and Dayton had played every year between 1981 and 1995.
March 22, 2001: Detroit 59, Dayton 42
The Titans won their third consecutive road game to advance to the NIT Final Four in Madison Square Garden by trouncing Dayton, 59-42. The Titans led 33-23 at the half, but Dayton held UD scoreless for the first five and a half minutes of the second half. The problem for Dayton was that Detroit’s defense also stepped it up, and Dayton was able to knock just five points off the Titans’ lead. The Titans then forced turnovers on 4 consecutive Dayton possessions and broke the game open. The Titan blitz eventually turned into a 23-3 run that opened a 56-31 lead with just under three minutes remaining. Having held Dayton to just 8 points in the first 17 minutes of the half, the Titans simply coasted home – or perhaps better put, to Madison Square Garden.
Rashad Phillips led the Titan attack with 23 points. The victory, Detroit’s 25th of the year, tied the school record. The Titans, however, lost to Alabama in the NIT semis, and then to Memphis in the consolation game, to finish the year at 25-12. Still, it is the furthest the Titans have ever advanced in post-season play.
March 13, 2002: Dayton 80, Detroit 69.
Dayton won an NIT rematch in Dayton. Greg Grays had 25 and Willie Green 18 for Titans. Ramod Marshall had 23 for Dayton.