LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Point guard, shooting guard, it doesn’t matter how to you try to label Dayton’s Brian Roberts.
“I just want the ball in my hands and I want to make plays,” Roberts said.
The senior made plenty of them Saturday, scoring 28 points as Dayton upset No. 14 Louisville 70-65. The win spoiled Louisville coach Rick Pitino’s first attempt at joining the 500-win club.
“This is a huge win for our program and for Dayton,” Roberts said. “We opened some eyes today. I know from this point on, there’ll be a lot of people looking at us.”
The Cardinals sure got an eyeful as Roberts lifted the Flyers (7-1) to their second straight victory over Louisville (5-2).
Last year, Roberts scored seven points in the final three minutes to pull off the upset. He dominated from the start on Saturday, scoring 14 of Dayton’s first 19 points as the Flyers raced to an early lead then held off a late charge.
“For us to come in to this environment and keep our poise shows a lot of toughness,” Roberts said.
Roberts wanted to redeem himself after subpar performances against Holy Cross and High Point. He delivered with the kind of steady play that’s made him one of the best guards in the Atlantic 10.
“Brian was the best player on the court for 40 minutes,” Dayton coach Brian Gregory said. “You’ve got to give him credit. He stepped up big.”
The Cardinals got off to a sluggish start and simply had no answer for Roberts, denying Pitino a shot at becoming the 17th active coach to reach 500 wins. Not that he cared after watching his team struggle again without injured starters David Padgett and Juan Palacios.
“We’re still not where we need to be fundamentally and we are paying for it now,” Pitino said. “We’re just not understanding basketball and the fundamentals.”
Derrick Caracter had 16 points and seven rebounds and Earl Clark had 15 points, 12 rebounds and four blocks for Louisville, but the Cardinals shot 43 percent from the field and couldn’t get the stops when they needed them.
The Cardinals trailed by as many as 12 points during a horrid first half, but held the Flyers scoreless for over six minutes during a 13-0 run that gave the Cardinals a 41-39 lead with 10 minutes to go.
Dayton responded behind Roberts, who hit two pull-up jumpers and added two free throws during a 14-5 burst that put Dayton back in front 53-46 with 7:05 remaining.
“We got the lead and it looked like we were in the groove but they wouldn’t go away,” Louisville guard Edgar Sosa said.
The Cardinals got within three points several times in the final minutes, but the Flyers made their free throws to clinch it.
“We gathered our composure and really made plays the last 10 minutes,” Gregory said. “We took a step forward today as a team … we just have to keep building on this.”
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