Ten years ago, Curran made headlines by crowd surfing with UD students on campus when the Flyers beat Syracuse in Buffalo to reach the Sweet 16. There was no big celebration this time — mostly relief for Curran and the Flyer Faithful after a 66-54 victory against La Salle in an arena and a city where the Flyers have struggled over the years.
“I worry every time they come to Philadelphia,” said Curran, who now lives in Philadelphia.
Like the 2020 Flyers, who won 84-58 at La Salle on their way to a 29-2 season and an Atlantic 10 Conference championship, the 2024 Flyers survived the Gola gauntlet, overcoming a cold shooting night to win their 13th straight game.
No. 16 Dayton (16-2, 6-0) lost 62-60 at La Salle two years ago. That was just the most recent sad chapter in its history at La Salle. It is now 4-7 in its last 11 games at the arena.
“Coach was telling us they didn’t have the outcome they wanted last time they came here,” guard Javon Bennett said, “so it was kind of redemption coming back.”
Credit: David Jablonski
Credit: David Jablonski
Here are three takeaways from Dayton’s 18th game:
1. The Flyers continue to build momentum for a historic season: The 13-game winning streak is Dayton’s third longest in the last 50 years. It also won 13 in a row in the 2007-08 season. This is the Flyers’ longest winning streak since a 20-game run to end their 29-2 season in 2020.
Those 2020 Flyers also started 16-2 and finished 29-2. Prior to 2020, the last Dayton team to start 16-2 was the 2008-09 team, which won 21 games before losing its third and finished 27-8.
Dayton is one of 11 teams in the country with two or fewer losses. Princeton (15-1) is the only team with one loss. Dayton has the second-longest active winning streak in the country behind Samford, which has won 17 games in a row.
2. Dayton answered La Salle’s challenge in the second half: La Salle trimmed a 45-33 Dayton lead to 45-42 with a nine-point run in a two-minute stretch. Bennett then hit two straight 3-pointers, and DaRon Holmes II scored on back-to-back layups as Dayton pushed the lead to 55-45 at the 6:33 mark.
“We got it to 45-42, and we had a couple of chances at the rim,” La Salle coach Fran Dunphy said. “We just couldn’t finish. We just rushed ourselves on a couple of plays. We needed better poise down there, and we weren’t poised enough.”
Bennett finished with 13 points. Nate Santos also scored 13.
Credit: David Jablonski
Credit: David Jablonski
3. The Flyers won on a cold shooting night: Dayton made 2 of 8 3-pointers in the first half and then missed its first seven attempts in the second half. Bennett then made three straight 3-pointers.
The Flyers made 5 of 19 3s (26.3%), their third-worst performance of the season. They still rank sixth in the country in accuracy (40.1%).
“We always have the confidence to keep shooting,” Bennett said. “Part of our identity is shooting 3s. Some days it’s going to go in, and some days it’s not going to go in. We just have to be able to keep focus and keep playing defense and playing hard is going to help us win.”
STAR OF THE GAME
Dayton’s DaRon Holmes II scored 22 points on 9-of-16 shooting and had eight rebounds. He has topped 20 points in four straight games. He now has 1,426 points in his career. He passed Brooks Hall (1,404) and Dyshawn Pierre (1,423) to move into 24th place on the all-time scoring list.
STAT OF THE GAME
Dayton held La Salle to a season-low 54 points. La Salle shot 35.6%, its third-worst number of the season. La Salle made 8 of 29 3-pointers (27.6%), its fourth-worst performance.
LOOKING AHEAD
Dayton plays Richmond (13-5, 5-0) at 6 p.m. Saturday at the Robins Center in Richmond, Va. Richmond has won eight games in a row and plays Wednesday at home against George Washington (14-4, 3-2). It beat St. Bonaventure, Loyola Chicago, George Mason, Duquesne and Davidson to start A-10 play.
Dayton beat Richmond 86-60 at UD Arena last season. Dayton has won the last 10 regular-season meetings in the series. The Flyers won the last game in Richmond 55-53 in 2022 on a last-second dunk by R.J. Blakney.
SATURDAY’S GAME
Dayton at Richmond, 6 p.m., CBS Sports Network, 1290, 95.7
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