Twice in the previous three years, the horsepower of SMU had brought the Flyers down to earth, but in the fourth meeting between the programs in four seasons, Dayton made more plays in the final six minutes to win 65-63 and earn a non-conference road victory in the regular season for the first time in coach Anthony Grant’s seven seasons.
“It’s momentum for us,” Dayton guard Koby Brea said. “It’s been a while since we got a non-conference away game. This is a good start. We could be something special. It was a good win and everything, but we’ve got to keep moving forward. On to the next one.”
“Everybody’s saying coach Grant can’t get any non-conference road wins,” Dayton forward DaRon Holmes II said, “and there you go, we just got one.”
“These road wins are hard to get,” Grant said. “We’re happy to get the win, and we’ll just keep moving forward.”
Brea scored seven of his team-high and career-high 22 points in the last five minutes. Holmes scored three of his 20 points in the last 5:23. The players combined to outscore SMU 10-0 at the key moment of the game, turning a 60-55 deficit into a 65-60 lead.
“They’re a good offensive team,” SMU coach Rob Lanier said. “We knew we were going to have to win ugly down the stretch. We gave ourselves a chance. They made a couple big shots. We didn’t get many stops. Credit to them.”
Brea broke a 60-60 tie on a short jump shot just before the shot clock expired with 1:47 to play. On Dayton’s next possession, he made a 3-pointer to give the Flyers a 65-60 lead entering the final minute. He made 6 of 8 3-pointers, raising his season percentage to 47.6 (20 of 42).
“My confidence is always up,” Brea said. “I don’t get shaken up when I miss a shot. Opportunities are going to come, and you’ve got to be ready to shoot it again. As the game was going on, everybody was trusting me. Everybody felt like a big shot was coming from me. I was ready for it.”
Credit: David Jablonski
During Dayton’s 10-0 run, SMU missed 12 straight shots before Chuck Harris made a 3-pointer with 41 seconds to play to cut Dayton’s lead to 65-63.
Then, after Dayton’s Nate Santos missed the front end of a 1-and-1 with 14 seconds remaining, SMU had the ball and faced a 65-63 deficit. Zhuric Phelps, who led SMU with 15 points on 6-of-15 shooting, missed a layup with six seconds remaining. The Mustangs retained possession as the ball went out of bounds off Dayton with three seconds to go.
During a timeout, Holmes said the message in the huddle was, “Get a stop and get a rebound.” Brea said the goal was “to play hard and don’t let them get a good look.”
Phelps then missed a 3-pointer from the corner as time expired. He faked a shot as Enoch Cheeks defended. Cheeks still had time to get a hand up. Santos also ran at Phelps and threw up his hands along the baseline. The ball hit the front of the rim.
“Cheeks did a good job,” Brea said. “He kind of flew by him, and (Phelps) thought he was going to have an open shot, but (Cheeks) came back and still contested. Nate also got a hand up in there, too. So it was a total team effort for that last possession.”
The Flyers and Mustangs played in front of George W. Bush and Laura Bush. The former President and First Lady sat courtside. At one point, Dayton guard Javon Bennett nearly slid into the couple as he chased a loose ball. While Grant never noticed the Bushes, the players knew the 43rd President was there.
“We pointed at each other a couple of times,” Holmes said. “We winked at each other. It was very cool.”
Barack Obama was still President the last time Dayton beat a non-conference opponent on its home court in the regular season. Dayton’s 77-72 victory at Alabama on Nov. 15, 2016, came one week after the 2016 election.
The eight-game losing streak included losses to Mississippi State, Saint Mary’s, Auburn, SMU, Mississippi, UNLV, Virginia Tech and, earlier this season, Northwestern. Counting three NIT road games in Grant’s tenure, Dayton is now 2-10 in non-conference road games.
This victory improves Dayton’s chances of earning a NCAA tournament at-large bid in March if it doesn’t win the Atlantic 10 Conference tournament. The Flyers have now beaten three teams ranked in the top 100 of the Ken Pomeroy ratings (No. 87 LSU, No. 64 St. John’s and No. 84 SMU) while losing only to top-60 teams (No. 57 Northwestern and No. 1 Houston).
Dayton won by making 10 of 20 3-pointers while SMU made 5 of 22. Dayton won despite 17 turnovers. SMU scored 23 points off those turnovers. It had a 12-0 advantage in fast-break points as some of those turnovers led to easy baskets.
“When we played at Northwestern, we had opportunities there but didn’t finish,” Grant said. “This was very similar. I thought Northwestern’s ability to get second shots probably cost us the game. So I was worried here. But we made enough plays. Brea’s play in the lane (with 1:47 left), the big 3 that he hit, just the some of the stops we got defensively, I thought the guys made plays to put us in position to have a chance to win.”
SATURDAY’S GAME
Grambling State at Dayton, 2 p.m., Bally Sports Ohio, 1290, 95.7
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