There’s another aspect of the Lahaina Civic Center that differs from the rest of the world. The rims are soft — pillow soft. That’s sort of an urban legend but one the players believe.
“The rims are really jiggly,” Dayton guard Enoch Cheeks said.
“The rims were definitely jiggly,” Dayton forward Nate Santos said.
The UD players used that same adjective in separate interviews. It was obvious they had talked about it. The soft Maui rims led to Dayton averaging 86.3 points in three games against No. 12 North Carolina, No. 5 Iowa State and No. 2 Connecticut. In the first five games, all played at UD Arena, Dayton averaged 77.0 points per game.
Dayton now has the 15th most efficient offense in the country, according to KenPom.com.
“I feel like offensively we played really well,” Grant said after a 85-67 victory against UConn. “I think our guys are understanding the pace we want to play at, how to play together and support each other and to help each other have success.
“What I love seeing is on the defensive end. Specifically in the second half, that’s what probably cost us the first two games here. I’m proud of what we’re doing on the offensive end, but I’m probably more proud from a defensive standpoint that we were able to put two halves together.”
Dayton’s offensive success throughout the three games and defensive improvement in the third game were two takeaways.
Here’s a breakdown of Dayton’s play in Maui:
Credit: David Jablonski
MVP
Cheeks, a fifth-year guard, averaged 15.7 points and 7.0 rebounds in the three games. He made 9 of 19 3-pointers.
Cheeks leads the team in scoring (15.3) and rebounding (7.7) through eight games.
“He’s a guy that makes winning plays” Dayton coach Anthony Grant said. “That’s probably the best way I could put it. He’s just a winning player on both sides of the ball. He impacts the game not just by scoring, not by what you see at the end of a box score, but in his footprint. He’s an intangible guy, great defender, a guy that understands how to impact winning.
“I think he’s an underrated guy on both sides of the ball. It’s great that the stat sheet kind of indicates what he’s capable of. I think he’s one of those guys that you need to be able to win at any level.”
Best single-game performance
Redshirt junior guard Malachi Smith scored 22 points on 7-of-9 shooting and added nine assists against Iowa State.
Most underrated performance
Fifth-year guard Posh Alexander was the KenPom.com MVP of the UConn game. He scored a season-high 16 points to go along with six assists and no turnovers.
“Really proud of what Posh Alexander was able to do today,” Grant said Wednesday. “He was a big reason why we were able to win the way we were able to win today. It’s just up and down the line, different guys.”
Most unexpected contributions
Jaiun Simon played the last five minutes in the season opener against Saint Francis. He did not see action in the next two games. He played 13 minutes against Capital, but that didn’t seem to indicate he’d earn valuable minutes in the games ahead.
That’s just what Simon has received in the last four games. He saw early action against New Mexico State and then in all three games in Maui. He’s still playing limited minutes but making contributions. He had one rebound and one assist against UConn.
Best chant
Dayton fans teased UConn coach Dan Hurley on Wednesday, chanting “Hurley’s angry” several times in the second half. Hurley was on relatively good behavior during the game and did not recreive a technical foul as he did Monday in a loss to Memphis.
Hurley fell to 5-6 in his career against Dayton. He was 5-5 in six seasons at Rhode Island.
Ranking improvement
Dayton climbed from No. 38 to No. 26 in the Ken Pomeroy ratings over the three days. It started the season at No. 27 but fell to No. 43 after its first four games.
Maui history
Dayton now has a 10-5 record in five Maui Invitational appearances. It finished third in 2000, first in 2003, third in 2013, second in 2019 and seventh in 2024.
Non-conference tournaments
Dayton is 10-11 in seven November tournaments in Grant’s eight seasons. It has one championship in his tenure: the 2022 ESPN Events Invitational.
TUESDAY’S GAME
Western Michigan at Dayton, 7 p.m., Spectrum News 1, ESPN+, 1290, 95.7
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