Aside from the six walk-ons on the roster, including five from the Dayton area, the players live far from home — Arizona; Rhode Island; and Lithuania, for example.
“This is a season where these guys are away from their families,” Dayton coach Anthony Grant said Friday after a 77-69 victory against Youngstown State. “They get a chance to do what they love to do, but we can’t lose sight of the fact that there is some sacrifice that we’re asking them to make when everybody else is away visiting their loved ones. For some of these guys, it’s their first time away from their family. So we tried to make it as comfortable and as much like home as we could. I think the guys appreciated it.”
The home-cooked meal led to another home victory, though the dinner two days earlier likely went much smoother than the game Friday. Dayton (4-2) flirted with being upset by Youngstown State (3-3), which was picked to finish fifth in the nation’s 25th-ranked conference.
“I think the way I would sum up today is we did enough to be able to come up with a win,” Dayton coach Anthony Grant said. “We knew Youngstown State would come out and be ready to go today. We knew how big of a game that was for them.”
This was a game Dayton couldn’t afford to lose. Even the closeness of the score damaged Dayton’s Ken Pomeroy rating. It dropped from No. 64 to No. 69.
Grant wouldn’t blame the distraction of the holiday or perhaps its weariness after playing three games in four days last weekend for the performance.
“We’re not going to ever give ourselves any excuses,” he said. “We don’t want anybody to give us any excuses. I think we have enough experience and maturity in the locker room. We have a standard that we want to play to. I think that guys understand that.”
The Flyers shot a season-worst 57.7% (15 of 26) at the free-throw line after shooting 78.6% in their first five games. DaRon Holmes II, who led Dayton with 18 points, made 6 of 14 free throws and gave a little bow after making his final one with four seconds to play in the game — not to celebrate but to reflect his frustration with his struggles.
The most important thing was the final result, of course, and Dayton now has won 13 straight non-conference home games since three losses in a row to UMass Lowell, Lipscomb and Austin Peay in November 2021. Youngstown State, which made its first four 3-pointers and led by as many as 10 points in the first half, reminded Dayton it has to be wary of everyone.
“I think we started a little slow today,” Dayton guard Koby Brea said, “but we kind of had to just lock in and understand that it’s not really about today’s game. It’s about the impact that this game will have on the future.”
Dayton needs to win all its non-conference home games to improve its chance of earning a NCAA tournament at-large bid in March. Victories against St. John’s and LSU in the Charleston Classic helped its cause. A road victory against Southern Methodist on Wednesday would add another line to Dayton’s resume.
Dayton beat Youngstown State by taking control of the game at the end of the first half. An alley-oop pass from halfcourt by Kobe Elvis to Holmes, who led Dayton with 18 points, capped a 9-0 run, giving the Flyers a 37-35 halftime lead.
“Honestly, I don’t think I’ve ever seen anything like that in my life,” Brea said. “It just goes to show you the kind of player Deuce is — the fact that he was able to catch that and find the rim somehow and still dunk it. It’s unbelievable.”
Elvis scored 11 of his 14 points in the first five minutes of the second half as Dayton pushed its lead to 50-42. Even then, the Flyers couldn’t relax.
The Penguins kept it close by making 13 of 29 3-pointers (44.8%) and cut Dayton’s lead to 53-50 with 5:18 to play on a layup by Ziggy Reid.
Brandon Rush made 4 of 7 3-pointers and led the team with 18 points. Brett Thompson and Bryson Langdon each made three 3s, scoring 14 points apiece.
“We knew that they have some shooters,” Brea said. “I’ve got to give them credit. They really were making shots. But it’s all about our mindset. We have to have an expectation that anytime a team comes into our home court they’re going to have their best game. We have to be able to deal with that.”
Dayton answered with a 6-0 run to put the game out of reach for good. A layup by Javon Bennett, a jump shot by Brea and two Isaac Jack free throws gave Dayton a 66-57 cushion at the 3:27 mark.
“I thought our team tonight showed great poise” Grant said. “Youngstown State came out, and they hit first. They built a little bit of a lead, but we never saw any sense of panic or frustration in our group. I think that’s a credit to our experience. We have some experienced guys now that have kind of been through the battle. They kept calm, and it kept everybody else calm.”
WEDNESDAY’S GAME
Dayton at SMU, 8 p.m., ESPN+, 1290, 95.7
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