Dayton had not lost a game since Dec. 21, 2019, when it fell 78-76 to Colorado on a buzzer-beating 3-point in overtime. The sting of that defeat faded as Dayton won 20 straight games to close the regular season. Then, on Saturday at UD Arena, Southern Methodist reminded Dayton what it feels like to lose at the buzzer.
After Dayton’s Ibi Watson tied the game on a 3-pointer with 7 seconds to play, SMU’s Emmanuel Bandoumel, a 6-foot-4 junior forward, dribbled the length of the court and took a jump shot near the rim. Dayton’s Jordy Tshimanga and Watson were draped all over him, but the ball hit the back of the rim, bounced into the air and fell through the net with 0.2 seconds remaining, giving the Mustangs a 66-64 victory.
While Tshimanga and Watson did a good job contesting the shot, Dayton did not try to slow Bandoumel at any point during his sprint to the basket.
“We tried to control the ball,” Watson said, “and we didn’t do a good enough job of that.”
“He made a hell of a shot,” Dayton coach Anthony Grant said. “Give him credit.”
Bandoumel scored 19 points on 6-of-12 shooting.
“How many big shots has he made for us?” SMU coach Tim Jankovich said on his postgame radio show. “If you remember last year, he’s a guy who can definitely deliver in the clutch. We’ve got a number of guys who have that kind of courage.”
This was Dayton’s first loss at home since March 1, 2019, when it fell 72-70 to Rhode Island. It won its final home game that season, all 17 home games last season and its first home game this season.
“I feel down for sure,” Dayton forward Chase Johnson said. “We had some really good things happen tonight, though.”
Watson led the Flyers with 23 points. Johnson had 14 points. Tshimanga had eight points and 12 rebounds. Jalen Crutcher had 10 points and seven assists.
Dayton committed 19 turnovers to SMU’s 14. The Mustangs took 12 more shots (58-46) because of that difference.
There were missed opportunities in the final minutes as well. Tshimanga missed the front end of a 1-and-1 with 3:01 to play and Dayton trailing 60-57. He missed two free throws with 1:22 to play with Dayton leading 61-60.
The Mustangs then took a 62-61 lead on a jump shot by Bandoumel with 56 seconds to play. Watson’s game-tying shot followed two free throws by Kendric Davis, who led SMU with 21 points, with 19 seconds remaining.
“Give credit to SMU,” Grant said. “I thought they were able to make a couple of plays there, including the last play to end it. But it was a hard-fought game. We both played extremely hard. As much as it hurts to lose it, we’ll be able to learn from it and get better.”
TUESDAY’S GAME
Northern Kentucky at Dayton, 7 p.m., Spectrum News 1, 1290, 95.7
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