The Dayton Flyers need all the help they can get from the North Pole this month. Hundreds of Santas working together to cheer them to victory can’t hurt.
Dayton rode that support to its 14th straight victory at home. It played its most complete game of the season, bouncing back from its worst performance of the season at Virginia Tech, and beat UNC Asheville 79-56.
“Our guys did a really good job No. 1 with the scouting report,” Dayton coach Anthony Grant said. “The coaches did an excellent job preparing them for what we were going to see. (Asheville) came in averaging about 84 points a game and were top 10 in the country in 3-point shooting field-goal efficiency. A couple of guys on the team are really, really talented, scoring at a high clip. The urgency was great to see in terms of being able to take some of those strengths away from them. I thought offensively we flowed really well. It was good to see guys understanding how to help each other from an offensive standpoint.”
Asheville (6-4) made 5 of 22 3-pointers (22.7%). It shot 37% or better in eight of its first nine games and made nine or more 3-pointers six times.
While Asheville entered the game ranked ninth in the country in 3-point shooting percentage, Dayton ranked among the worst teams in the country from long range. The Flyers made 3 of 15 3-pointers (20%) in a 77-49 loss Wednesday to the Hokies, but responded by making a season-best 42.9% (6 of 14).
The most promising sign for Dayton was the performance of third-year guard Koby Brea, who made 3 of 5 3-pointers and scored a season-high 11 points in what until this point had been a season full of injury and illness. In his first four appearances this season, Brea made 3 of 14 3-pointers. He missed the first two games of the season with an injury and then missed four games with an illness.
“It’s a great feeling,” Brea said. “I felt like I hadn’t had my superpowers in a while, and they’re starting to come back a little bit. I just had to see that first one go in, and once that first one goes in, everything opens up.”
Credit: David Jablonski
The offensive star for Dayton was forward DaRon Holmes II, who had a double-double in the first half (15 points and 11 rebounds) and finished with 27 points, one off his career high, on 11-of-18 shooting with 12 rebounds. He also blocked four shots and dunked six times.
Holmes has recorded double-doubles in four straight games. He leads Dayton with 16.6 points per game.
“I was just locking in,” Holmes said. “I’ve been telling myself I have to play with more energy over the course of the season. I feel like at first I wasn’t playing as hard as I should have. So I’m trying to play harder. Now I’ve got to work on turnovers.”
Dayton overcame 11 first-half turnovers to build a 34-19 halftime lead. It never trailed after opening the game with a 9-2 run.
Asheville got as close as 12 points in the opening minutes of the second half. Dayton then pushed its lead to 20 points with an 8-0 run that featured two 3-pointers by Mustapha Amzil, who scored 10 points.
Toumani Camara had 13 points and 11 rebounds. It was his second double-double of the season.
Mike Sharavjamts led Dayton with eight assists. R.J. Blakney had 11 points on 4-of-5 shooting.
“The thing we talked about coming in,” Grant said, “is several times there have been five- or six-minute spurts in each half that have derailed us in a variety of different games — games that we’ve won and games that we haven’t won. I didn’t think we had any of those lulls today. They’re a good team. They had some success at times. Everyone goes through runs. But what you want to see is your guys not doing it to yourself, both offensively and defensively. I didn’t feel like we had any of that today.”
NOTES: Kaleb Washington, who was suspended earlier this season, has been suspended again, Grant said. Washington was not at the game. Grant said Washington was suspended for a “violation of team rules” and “not meeting the standards of the program.” ... Walk-on Brady Uhl grabbed his first career rebound in the first half and also made his first career 3-pointer. He had three points in eight minutes. ... Richard Amaefule saw action in his second straight game. He grabbed four rebounds in just under six minutes and missed his two field-goal attempts.
SATURDAY’S GAME
Dayton vs. Wyoming, 8 p.m., CBS Sports Network, 1290, 95.7
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