Dayton Flyers notes: Livingston II dominates for George Mason in second half

Patriots star makes 7 of 9 3-pointers, scores 29 points

Credit: David Jablonski - Staff Writer

Credit: David Jablonski - Staff Writer

Dayton Flyers coach Anthony Grant compared George Mason star Otis Livingston II to Massachusetts guard Luwane Pipkins on Monday, and he turned out to be more right than he could have wanted to be.

Pipkins burned the Flyers twice earlier this season, and Livingston dominated Dayton on Wednesday, scoring 29 points on 10-of-15 shooting in an 85-67 victory against the Flyers at EagleBank Arena.

"Obviously, we knew coming in who he was and what he was capable of doing," Grant said. "We just didn't do a good enough job. He did a great job getting where he wanted and getting the shots he wanted and did a great job helping his team. We didn't defend him at the level we needed to defend him."

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Livingston, a 5-foot-11 junior guard, has scored 30 or more points twice this season. He entered the game ranked fourth in the Atlantic 10 Conference in scoring in league games (19.8 points per game).

Livingston made all five of his 3-point attempts in the second half and 7 of 9 in the game. Three of the 3-pointers came during an 80-second span in the second half as the Patriots pushed a 48-37 lead to 57-39.

"It was a high ball screen that Justin (Kier) kept setting," Livingston said. "I just came off and was looking to be aggressive and attack either for myself or my teammates. I was fortunate enough to make those shots."

Off the bench: Xeyrius Williams played 11 minutes for Dayton after not seeing any action in the previous two games. Kostas Antetokounmpo played 16 minutes after not playing Saturday in an 88-84 loss at Virginia Commonwealth.

Both players entered the game in the first half but saw most of their action in the final minutes. Grant benched the starters when the game got out of hand.

Next game: Dayton plays Fordham (9-16, 4-9) at 7 p.m. Saturday at UD Arena. Fox Sports Ohio will televise the game.

Dayton has 13 straight victories against Fordham and has never lost to Fordham at UD Arena in 13 meetings.

Fordham's two-game winning streak ended Wednesday with a 71-55 loss at home to St. Joseph's (11-14, 6-7).

Another sellout: Dayton announced Wednesday the Fordham game is sold out. It will be the 120th sellout in UD Arena history and the fourth this season. Dayton also sold out the Ball State, Penn and Rhode Island games.

Around the A-10: No. 16 Rhode Island (21-3, 13-0) beat Richmond 85-67 on Tuesday for its 16th straight victory. The Rams own a four-game lead over St. Bonaventure (19-6, 9-4) with five games to play.

• The Bonnies beat La Salle 79-68 on Tuesday in Philadelphia. St. Bonaventure will put its seven-game winning streak on the line Friday against Rhode Island in Olean, N.Y.

• Davidson (14-10, 9-4) kept its grip on third place by beating VCU 74-63 in Richmond on Wednesday.

• George Washington (11-15, 4-9) is no longer in last place by itself after winning 83-72 at Massachusetts (11-15, 4-9) on Wednesday. George Washington shares last place with La Salle, Fordham and UMass.

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