Dayton gets to play in the premier in-season tournaments every year, in part, because of its fans. These are made-for-TV events, and Dayton fans help make the arenas look good on television by filling the seats.
“Dayton’s one of the very elite travel programs in the country,” said Pete Derzis, senior vice president of ESPN Events in 2014 at the Puerto Rico Tip-Off. “We’ve recognized that. It’s something that hasn’t changed decade upon decade. There’s always pride in the Flyers. The community has always supported them.”
Eight years later, that’s still true. Dayton will play in the Charleston Classic in 2023 and the Maui Invitational in 2024. Fans are already making plans, no doubt.
Dayton has a long history of playing in these type of tournaments, going back to the National Catholic Invitational in Denver, Colo, in 1949. The Flyers played in a Hawaii tournament for the first time in 1991 and made their only appearance in the Great Alaska Shootout a year later. They made the first of four appearances in the Maui Invitational in 2000.
Throughout the 1990s and the first decade of this century, Dayton played in these events once every two or three years. As for playing three games at one site in a three or four-day period every year, that tradition started in 2008 with the Chicago Invitational Challenge.
For the purposes of this story, I’m going to limit my analysis to the last 11 tournaments, eight of which I’ve covered in person. Here is the best and worst of Dayton’s play in November tournaments from 2010-21.
Best performance: This is an easy choice. Dayton won the ESPN Events Invitational in Orlando in 2021 by beating Miami, Kansas and Belmont. Considering the Flyers entered the tournament after three straight losses at home to UMass Lowell, Lipscomb and Austin Peay, it was maybe the most unexpected tournament run in school history.
Miami ended up making the Elite Eight that season and lost to Kansas in that round. Kansas won the national championship. Dayton was one of six teams to beat it in the regular season.
Second-best performance: Dayton’s first championship during this span came in the Old Spice Classic at the HP Field House. It beat Wake Forest, Fairfield and Minnesota.
In an 86-70 victory against Minnesota, Kevin Dillard had 19 points, 10 assists, seven steals and three blocks. He was named MVP of the tournament.
“When I came here, I said I wanted to win championships,” Dillard said after the victory. “I said I wanted to be part of a winning tradition. We’ve got great fans. We couldn’t have done it without them. I love this community. That’s why I came.”
Worst performance: Dayton has not finished worse than fifth in the last 10 tournaments. Only twice has it failed to win more than one game. In 2017, coach Anthony Grant’s first season, Dayton finished 1-2 in a relatively weak field at the Charleston Classic. It lost to Hofstra, beat Ohio and then lost to Old Dominion.
Best victory: Dayton beat No. 4 Kansas 74-73 on a buzzer-beater by Mustapha Amzil in 2021. It was Dayton’s first victory against a top-four team since it beat No. 3 DePaul 72-71 on Feb. 18, 1984, on The Shot by Ed Young.
» PHOTOS: Dayton vs. Kansas
Second-best victory: Dayton beat Gonzaga, which ranked 11th at the time in the Ken Pomeroy ratings, 84-79 in the first round of the Maui Invitational in 2013. That turned out to be the best victory on Dayton’s resume and helped it earn a No. 11 seed in the 2014 NCAA tournament.
Most disappointing loss: Dayton lost 90-61 to Xavier in 2015 in the championship game of the AdvoCare Invitational championship in Orlando. It was Dayton’s worst loss to Xavier since a 46-12 defeat in 1931-32.
“I’ve got to give full credit to Xavier and their players and staff for a fantastic game,” Dayton coach Archie Miller said after the game. “They ripped through the tournament. They’re going to be a contender for a lot of things. They have a lot of weapons. They played with great force today. They had great attitude.”
Best individual performance: Obi Toppin’s campaign for national player of the year began with his play in the Maui Invitational in 2019. He scored 25 points against Georgia, 24 against Virginia Tech and 18 in a overtime loss to Kansas in the championship game.
“He’s a special talent,” Dayton Athletic Director Neil Sullivan said then, “and we’re lucky to have him.”
Luckiest moment: Amzil benefitted from a friendly bounce on a high-arcing shot over a Kansas defender. He had the ball because Malachi Smith had a layup attempt blocked at the rim with seconds to play. The ball caromed to Amzil in the corner. He took a couple dribbles and got off a shot just in time.
It was great,” Amzil said. “I had to watch the ball bounce in and down. It’s hard to describe. It’s surreal. It’s a great feeling. I saw the clock when I was driving. I was about to kick it out, but there was just one second so I just had to take the shot.”
Second-luckiest moment: Dayton beat Texas A&M 55-53 in the first round of the Puerto Rico Tip-Off in 2014 when Devon Scott tipped in a missed layup by Scoochie Smith with 1.2 seconds to play.
”The play was set up for Scoochie to get a screen from Kendall (Pollard) and make a play from there,” Scott said. “My mindset as he was coming down the lane was to get on the glass no matter what. Miss, make or whatever, I just wanted to make sure I was up there. It just happened to roll my way.”
Unluckiest moment: Dayton lost 67-66 to Baylor in the semifinals of the Maui Invitational in 2013 when Devin Oliver’s tip of a missed jumper by Vee Sanford fell off the rim at the buzzer.
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