The Flyer Faithful weren’t trying to beat traffic as much as they were fleeing the scene. The ones who left early didn’t witness a 13-0 run by the Flyers in the final minutes that made the final score more respectable — but still frustrating, disappointing, depressing, etc.
Dayton (11-6, 1-3) trailed from start to finish in a 67-59 loss to George Mason that put another dent in its dwindling hopes of earning a NCAA tournament at-large berth. The Flyers have squandered their 10-3 performance in non-conference play with three straight Atlantic 10 Conference losses.
The sellout crowd of 13,407 at UD Arena saw the same team that lost 82-62 at George Washington and then 76-72 at Massachusetts — in short, a broken team.
“You’ve got a bunch of guys in there that want to win,” Dayton coach Anthony Grant said. “They want to play well, and so we’ve just got to stay the course. You’ve got 14 games left in conference play. We don’t like the results that we’ve had over the last three, but there’s a lot of basketball left to be played.
“Like I always say, the answer is always in the work. We’ve got to be able to stay the course, stay together, put the work in and keep battling. We know what we’re capable of. We’ve got to get back to finding the things that allowed us to have success in the non-conference. This is a really, really good league as we’re finding out. Mason did a really good job tonight, and I think the credit goes to them.”
Credit: David Jablonski
Here are three takeaways from Dayton’s 17th game:
1. George Mason still has Dayton’s number: The Flyers had won 26 straight home games since a 74-69 loss to George Mason on Feb. 25, 2023, on Tom Blackburn Court. It was the third-longest home winning streak in school history.
A streak that included so many memorable games — the 17-point comeback on Senior Night against Virginia Commonwealth last season, the comeback victories against Northwestern and Marquette and the last-second victory against UNLV this season — ended with one of the worst home performances in recent memory.
Dayton fell into a 6-0 hole and trailed the entire game. It faced a double-digit deficit for about 28 minutes.
Until the 13-point run in the final four minutes, Dayton was on track to suffer its most lopsided loss at home since a 79-58 loss to Lipscomb on Nov. 17, 2022.
George Mason (13-5, 4-1) moved into first place in the A-10. It has a half-game lead over Virginia Commonwealth, Saint Louis and Duquesne (all 3-1).
The Patriots have won four games in a row against Dayton.
“Looking at it on paper, we knew with their size at the guard spot and up front that we would have to really play well,” Grant said. “From an offensive standpoint, they made it difficult for us in the first half, and then they made shots. I thought there were times defensively we may have had a breakdown here there, but for the most part, I thought we played pretty good defense, and they played better offense. They were able to build that lead. In the second half, I thought our guys battled. We fought.”
Credit: David Jablonski
Credit: David Jablonski
2. Dayton finally got shots to fall from 3-point range, and it didn’t matter: The Flyers shot 52.9% (9 of 17) from 3-point range, ending a six-game streak of shooting under 30%. Nate Santos made 4 of 8 and led Dayton with 20 points. Enoch Cheeks made 3 of 5 and scored 11 points.
George Mason was even better, shooting a season-best 55% (11 of 20). It made 7 of 13 in the first half, building a 41-27 halftime lead.
Despite the improved outside shooting, Dayton’s offense struggled throughout the game.
The Flyers too often had to force shots late in the shot clock. Or they settled for difficult shots by the guards near the basket. Another problem was the lack of production by Dayton’s big men. Zed Key, Isaac Jack, Jacob Conner and Amaël L’Etang combined for seven points on 3-of-10 shooting.
“We’re in a little bit of a slump,” Santos said. “You all can see it. We proved ourselves in the first half of the season. Obviously, we’re not playing the same. We’ve just got to come together and figure it out.”
Credit: David Jablonski
Credit: David Jablonski
3. Lineup and rotation changes didn’t make a positive impact: Conner took the place of Javon Bennett, who had started the first 16 games, in the starting lineup. Conner played 11 minutes after seeing a total of five minutes in Dayton’s last two games. He had two turnovers and a steal and missed his only shot attempt.
Isaac Jack also saw more minutes than usual. He had played a total of 11 minutes in the last six games and did not play at all in three of those games. Against George Mason, he had two points and three rebounds in 13 minutes.
The absence of guard Posh Alexander necessitated some of the changes. He sat on the bench with a protective boot on his left foot. Grant described it as a “foot injury” and said “it’s going to take some time for him to heal.”
“From a personnel standpoint, we tried some different looks today,” Grant said. “We tried some different things in terms of trying to get a little bigger to help us on the defensive end.”
Dayton has now lost three straight A-10 games for the first time since January 2014 when it dropped four in a row. That team turned its season around and reached the Elite Eight.
“It’s a journey,” Grant said. “What we did in the non conference, I think certainly we’ve shown that we can be really good on both sides of the ball at times. We’ve got to be able to make the adjustments and get guys back to playing at the level that we know we’re capable of playing on both sides of the ball. I think we can do that.”
STAR OF THE GAME
Darius Maddox led George Mason with 20 points on 8-of-11 shooting. He made 4 of 5 3-pointers.
STAT OF THE GAME
George Mason shot 50% (14 of 28) from 2-point range. Dayton shot 38.2% (13 of 34).
LOOKING AHEAD
Dayton plays Loyola Chicago (10-6, 1-2) at 4 p.m. Saturday at UD Arena.
SATURDAY’S GAME
Loyola Chicago at Dayton, 4 p.m., CBS Sports Network, 95.7, 1290
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