Dayton (7-2) flirted with disaster against the second-lowest ranked Division I team on its schedule — Western Michigan (3-5) is No. 274 in the Ken Pomeroy ratings — before finding a rhythm. It turned a 10-point second-half deficit into a 10-point lead in a 12-minute stretch.
“Western Michigan did a great job bringing the fight to us in the first half and kind of got us out of sorts,” Dayton coach Anthony Grant said. “Most of the last few days, I’ve been imploring the guys to understand the opportunities in front of us and to take it one game at a time. But I think it’s human nature. Ater the mental challenges of going to Maui, coming back, the travel, everything, we weren’t at our best today. In the first half, I thought, obviously Western Michigan had a lot to do with that. Some of it was self-inflicted. I’m proud of the guys for being able to regroup and refocus in the second half.”
Credit: David Jablonski
Credit: David Jablonski
Here are three takeaways from Dayton 22nd straight home victory:
1. The Maui hangover is real: Dayton led three top-25 teams — North Carolina, Iowa State and Connecticut — at halftime in Maui and trailed Western Michigan 35-32 at halftime Tuesday. Dayton faced a halftime deficit for the first time since the second game of the season against Northwestern.
This wasn’t the first time Dayton has not played its best in its first game after the Maui Invitational. In 2013, Dayton beat Gonzaga and California in Maui and almost upset Baylor and then came home to play Delaware State, which ranked 320th in the Pomeroy ratings. The Flyers won 56-46.
“It didn’t look pretty,” then Dayton coach Archie Miller said. “It wasn’t going to be pretty.”
In 2003, one week after winning the Maui Invitational, Dayton saw the Miami RedHawks trim a 17-point deficit to three points in the final minutes before escaping with a 67-61 victory.
In 2000, after upsetting two ranked teams in Maui, Connecticut and Maryland, Dayton lost its next two games at home to Cincinnati and Marshall.
Only the 2019-20 team, which lost to Kansas in the Maui championship game, had no trouble in its first game after the Maui Invitational. It routed Houston Baptist 99-68.
Dayton guard Posh Alexander said the whole team was “dead and down” in the first half. Guard Javon Bennett described the team’s attitude as lackadaisical and said the phrase “trap game” was used coming into this game.
“We see it’s Western Michigan,” Bennett said. “It’s not a big-time team like we were playing in Maui. We definitely learned from this. Every game is important, no matter who it is on the schedule.”
Credit: David Jablonski
2. Dayton stayed hot from 3-point range: The Flyers made 9 of 21 3-pointers (42.9%). It has shot better than 40% three times in the last four games. It improved its season average to 36.4%, which ranks 75th in the country.
Enoch Cheeks made 3 of 5 3-pointers. He has made three 3s four games in a row.
Javon Bennett made 3 of 6, including two in a 62-second stretch that helped Dayton push its lead to 10 points with 5 minutes, 44 seconds remaining. Nate Santos made 2 of 5.
“We believe in each other,” Bennett said. “We’ve spent hours in the gym together, shooting the same shot. We have the confidence in each other to shoot the ball. We just keep feeding each other.”
3. Dayton added to two lengthy streaks: Dayton won its 22nd straight home game. That’s 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 has won 16 straight games against Mid-American Conference teams.
• Dayton leads the series against Western Michigan 4-0. This was the first meeting since 2022 when Dayton won 67-47 at UD Arena.
STAR OF THE GAME
Cheeks, who was named Atlantic 10 Conference Player of the Week on Monday, built on a strong performance in Maui with 23 points against the Broncos. He made 7 of 10 field-goal attempts, including 3 of 5 3-pointers, and 6 of 6 free throws.
STAT OF THE GAME
Dayton made 18 of 22 free throws (81.8%). It made 27 of 30 in the previous game against Connecticut. It is shooting 81.7% (76 of 93) in its last four games. In the first five games, it shot 62% (75 of 121).
LOOKING AHEAD
Dayton plays Lehigh (2-5) at 2 p.m. Saturday at UD Arena. Lehigh has lost to two teams Dayton has played: 90-46 at Northwestern on Nov. 4; and 88-78 at Saint Francis on Nov. 26.
Dayton and Lehigh have played once. The Flyers won 89-71 on Dec. 5, 2009, at UD Arena.
Dayton last played a Patriot League team on Dec. 20, 2014, beating Boston University 78-62 at UD Arena.
SATURDAY’S GAME
Lehigh at Dayton, 2 p.m., WHIO-TV, 1290, 95.7
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