Dayton ends two-game skid with rout of Richmond

Here’s a quick recap of the game:

What it means: Dayton (14-8, 6-3) rebounded from two straight road losses to George Washington and Rhode Island and avoided its first three-game losing streak in Atlantic 10 Conference play since a four-game skid in January 2014.

The Flyers sit alone in third place halfway through the 18-game league schedule. They trail Virginia Commonwealth and Saint Louis (both 7-1). Dayton has won 17 home games in a row against A-10 teams not named VCU. Its last loss at home against anyone other than VCU in A-10 play was on Dec. 30, 2020, against La Salle.

Richmond (11-11, 4-5) has lost 10 of its last 11 games against Dayton. This was Dayton’s most lopsided victory in the series. The teams have played 32 times since 2001.

Star of the game: Koby Brea made 6 of 7 3-pointers and scored 18 points. He tied his career-best performance from 3-point range. He made 6 of 7 against St. Bonaventure last season.

Stat of the game: Dayton made a season-high 14 of 27 3-pointers (52%). The Flyers topped 50% for the first time.

Career high: Malachi Smith recorded 13 assists. His previous high was 12 against St. Bonaventure last season.

HALFTIME RECAP

The Flyers returned to their 2021-22 starting lineup for the first time since November and built a 43-23 halftime lead .

Dayton made all 11 of its field-goal attempts in the final seven minutes.

Here’s a quick recap of the first half:

Lineup news: Kobe Elvis and Malachi Smith started for the first time since November, joining DaRon Holmes II, Toumani Camara and R.J. Blakney in the starting lineup. That was the group that started games most of last season together. They had not started a game together this season since November.

Mike Sharavajamts, Mustapha Amzil and Koby Brea came off the bench in the first half.

Key player: Brea made 4 of 5 3-pointers and scored 12 points in 11 minutes.

Assist numbers: Smith tallied nine assists in the half.

Key stat: Dayton made 1 of 9 3-pointers in the first nine minutes and then made 6 of 8 the rest of the half.

Big run: Dayton outscored Richmond 12-0 to turn a 12-11 deficit into a 23-12 lead at the 5:51 mark.