Bennett wore a different look throughout the second half as No. 25 Dayton put the finishing touches on a 100-83 victory against Saint Louis. Like everyone on the Dayton bench, he had a great time witnessing the type of performance Dayton needed against a team near the bottom of the Atlantic 10 Conference standings.
“Guys had to step up,” Bennett said, “and they all stepped up.”
Bennett hurt his left thumb in the first half Friday in a 77-72 loss at Loyola Chicago. His thumb bent after he caught it in his jersey as he saved a ball from going out of bounds. He doesn’t know if he’ll play again this season. He hopes to know by the end of the week, he said, but first has to see more doctors.
“It’s day by day,” Bennett said.
Dayton knew Sunday it would be without Bennett and Enoch Cheeks and Kobe Elvis would share point guard duties, and they answered the call with former walk-on Brady Uhl also stepping up to play a season-high 13 minutes.
Dayton (23-6, 13-4) ended a three-game road losing streak and a two-game losing streak at Chaifetz Arena, where it had not won since 2021. The Flyers also spoiled Senior Night for the Billikens (11-19, 4-13).
Credit: David Jablonski
Credit: David Jablonski
Here are three takeaways from Dayton’s 29th game:
1. Dayton took control in the final nine minutes of the second half: Dayton trailed 25-21 with 9:12 to play. A free throw by DaRon Holmes II started an 11-0 run. Dayton took its first lead, 27-25, on a 3-pointer by Koby Brea at the 7:38 mark.
Kobe Elvis scored the final five points in the run, two on free throws after Saint Louis was called for an intentional foul and then on a 3-pointer.
Dayton led 49-35 at halftime and didn’t let Saint Louis get any closer than 13 points in the second half. Enoch Cheeks put the exclamation point on the victory with the final basket, a fast-break dunk, as Dayton reached 100 points for the first time since a 106-79 victory against Virginia Commonwealth in 2018.
“We knew Saint Louis would come up with great energy, it being senior night and their last home game,” Dayton coach Anthony Grant said. “We would have to respond to that. I thought the last 10 minutes of the (first) half, we were able to shift the momentum in our favor. I thought it started on the defensive end. We were able to get out in transition. The guys did a great job on the glass to be able to build that lead, and then obviously in the second half, we were able to create some separation.”
2. Dayton matched the school record for made 3-pointers: Dayton made 18 of 33 3-pointers (54.5%). It made 18 of 34 in a 91-67 victory against Oakland. The previous school record of 17 made 3-pointers on 32 attempts was set in a 106-79 victory against Virginia Commonwealth on Jan. 12, 2018.
Koby Brea and Kobe Elvis each made 5 of 8 3-pointers and scored 21 points. Nate Santos made 2 of 4. Enoch Cheeks made 2 of 3. Holmes made 2 of 4. Petras Padegimas and Brady Uhl each made one.
Dayton also broke the Chaifetz Arena record for made 3-pointers. The previous record was 16.
“It’s a good accomplishment,” Brea said. “The amount of weapons that we have on this team and utilizing them, it just paid off.”
Credit: David Jablonski
Credit: David Jablonski
3. The loss is another low point for Saint Louis: The Billikens lost their 19th straight game against top-25 opponents. They are 0-12 under coach Travis Ford, who’s in his eighth season. If they don’t win their final regular-season game Saturday at St. Bonaventure, they will post their worst A-10 record since a 3-15 finish in 2014-15.
Dayton beat Saint Louis with a 38-21 rebounding advantage. The Flyers had 13 offensive rebounds and a 22-6 advantage in second-chance points.
“The rebounding deflated us because you’re getting them to miss,” Ford said. " hat’s a backbreaker and it just energizes a team. You get to the point where you miss and then just think, ‘We’ll go get it.’ You end up playing defense all night and the possessions become very long.”
“They played at an extremely high competitive level. The physicality really hurt us rebounding wise and 50-50 balls. When you’re not doing those things you’re just giving the other team confidence, and we gave them a lot of confidence and it kind of snowballed.”
STAR OF THE GAME
DaRon Holmes II led Dayton with 25 points on 9-of-16 shooting. He had 13 rebounds and five assists. This was his 10th double-double of the season
Holmes now has 1,657 points in his career. He passed Jack Sallee Bill Uhl Sr. in the last game with 20 points against Loyola Chicago and Mike Kanieski and Donald Smith in this game to climb to 11th on the all-time scoring list.
STAT OF THE GAME
Dayton improved its season 3-point shooting percentage to 40.2 by making 18 of 33. It ranks fourth in the nation.
LOOKING AHEAD
Dayton plays Virginia Commonwealth 19-11, 11-6)at 7 p.m. Friday at UD Arena in the final game of the regular season. UD plans to honor three players before the game: fifth-year forward Zimi Nwokeji; fourth-year guard Kobe Elvis; and graduate student C.J. Napier, a walk-on who played the last four seasons at Ohio Northern. Nwokeji and Elvis both have one season of eligibility remaining after this one if they choose to use it.
With one game left in the regular season, Dayton trails Richmond (22-7, 14-2) and Loyola Chicago (21-8, 13-3) in the Atlantic 10 Conference standings. The Flyers can not finish worse than third. VCU lost 69-59 at home to Duquesne on Tuesday to fall two games behind Dayton.
Dayton lost 49-47 at VCU on Feb. 9. VCU has won 11 of the last 15 games in the series.
VCU has won three games in a row against Dayton at UD Arena. Last season, Dayton gave up a 5-0 run to VCU in the last 28 seconds at UD Arena and lost 63-62. In 2022, Dayton fell 53-52 at UD Arena when Adrian “Ace” Baldwin made a go-ahead 3-pointer with six seconds to play. VCU beat Dayton 76-67 at UD Arena in 2021.
FRIDAY’S GAME
VCU at Dayton, 7 p.m., ESPN2, 95.7, 1290
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