Dayton coach Anthony Grant wore a look of relief and joy after that memorable victory. His face showed those same emotions Tuesday when his team escaped with a 66-65 victory against UNLV at UD Arena thanks to a 3-point play by Malachi Smith with eight seconds to play.
“Our guys stayed the course,” Grant said, “and believed in each other and believed in what we were doing and found a way to get the win. If you’re going to have a season like we think we’re capable of having, you’re going to have to win games like that. I’ve been around for a long time. You look at these type of wins as some of the guttier wins. Everybody wants to talk about when you play the ranked teams, but these are the ones that kind of make you who you are and who you get a chance to become.”
Credit: David Jablonski
Here are three takeaways from Dayton’s 10th victory:
1. Smith made the biggest basket of his career: As a freshman in 2021, Smith drove to the basket against No. 4 Kansas. The shot was blocked. Mustapha Amzil grabbed the rebound and made the game-winning shot at the buzzer.
This time, with Dayton again trailing by one point, Smith used a crossover dribble to get past UNLV’s Brooklyn Hicks, drew contact and made a one-handed floater from the baseline.
“Coach Grant drew up a good play,” Smith said, “but he drew up a lot of good plays throughout the stretch. I just wanted to make a play. I didn’t want to overthink it. I had guys open, but the best shot for my team was for me to attack and try to get a foul or lay-up and I came out with a good shot.”
Smith missed two free throws earlier in the half but made the go-ahead free throw with eight seconds left.
“I was a little nervous,” Smith said. “I ain’t going to lie.”
Credit: David Jablonski
Credit: David Jablonski
2. Dayton got a stop in the final seconds: UNLV did not call timeout after Smith’s free throw. Dedan Thomas Jr., who led the Runnin’ Rebels with 16 points, dribbled the length of the court and took a jump shot from the corner with Dayton forward Zed Key in front of him. The ball hit the front of the rim as time expired.
“We’ve been in those situations before over the course of the year,” Grant said, “so we had our defense set. We wanted to make sure we tried to keep the ball out of (Thomas’s hands. He did a good job of making it difficult. It was a contested shot at the end. We’re grateful it didn’t go in because they made some contested ones today.”
UNLV’s Julian Rishwain made a number of those contested shots. He made all four of his 3-point attempts in the final eight minutes. The last one gave UNLV a 65-63 lead with 23 seconds to play.
Prior to Rishwain’s go-ahead shot, Dayton scored five quick points after falling behind by four points with 1:25 to play. Nate Santos made a 3-pointer at the 1:15 mark after Dayton had missed four straight 3-pointers. Smith then scored a go-ahead layup on the fast break with 37 seconds to play.
Smith still had one more big shot in him.
“We needed this win badly,” Smith said, “just for seeding and making the tournament, stuff like that. We know we needed this win. We’re trying to go 3-0 in the last three games of non-conference. It was a gutsy win, a rough win, but it doesn’t matter. We got the W.”
Credit: David Jablonski
3. Dayton kept its home winning streak alive: Dayton won its 25th straight home game. This is the third-longest streak in school history. The Flyers won 30 home games in a row from March 2008 to January 2010 and 27 in a row from February 2014 to December 2016.
Dayton also has won 26 straight non-conference home games since losing three in a row to UMass Lowell, Lipscomb and Austin Peay early in the 2021-22 season.
This is the third straight season Dayton has not lost a non-conference home game. It won’t play at home again this season until Dec. 31 when it plays La Salle (6-5) at 2 p.m. in the first Atlantic 10 Conference game of the season. In between then and now, it has one game against Cincinnati at 8:30 p.m. Friday at the Heritage Bank Center in Cincinnati.
STAR OF THE GAME
Nate Santos scored 14 points on 5-of-9 shooting for Dayton. He made 1 of 3 3-pointers. He picked up his fourth foul with seven minutes to play but played the last four and a half minutes without fouling.
STAT OF THE GAME
Dayton won despite making 5 of 23 3-pointers (23.8%). It’s the fourth time this season it has shot under 30%. Javon Bennett made 2 of 6. Amaël L’Etang made 2 of 3.
Enoch Cheeks, Malachi Smith, Posh Alexander and Jacob Conner combined to miss all nine of their attempts.
LOOKING AHEAD
Dayton (10-2) plays Cincinnati (8-1) at 8:30 p.m. Friday at the Heritage Bank Center in Cincinnati. This will be the sixth game between the two teams when both are ranked.
Dayton beat Cincinnati 82-68 last season in the first game between the programs since the 2010-11 season.
Cincinnati beat Xavier 68-65 on Saturday in its last game for its first victory in the Crosstown Shootout since 2018. The Bearcats do not play again before Friday.
FRIDAY’S GAME
Dayton vs. Cincinnati, 8:30 p.m., ESPNU, 1290, 95.7
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