Dayton Flyers notes: Nwokeji makes season debut after missing time with concussion

Nwokeji, a second-year forward playing in his home state, was one of the first players off the bench in the first round of the ESPN Events Invitational at the HP Fieldhouse. He played only seven minutes and didn’t score in Dayton’s 76-60 victory against the Miami Hurricanes, but it was an important step.

“It felt good to finally be out there with my guys after my concussion,” Nwokeji said.

Nwokeji’s parents, Kennedy and Linda, and sister Kanene drove from their home in Tallahassee, Fla., to the game at the HP Fieldhouse at ESPN’s Wide World of Sports near Disney World. This was the first time his mom saw him play in person since he arrived at Dayton.

Nwokeji was also sidelined earlier in the preseason because of a heel injury. It was one thing after another for him. He said he just kept his head down and tried to focus on what his teammates were doing in practice. He was even able to sit on the bench for the first game of the season against Illinois-Chicago but did attend the other three home games.

Dayton went 1-3 without Nwokeji. Of the team’s struggles, he said, “With our youth, that’s not something we want, but we know it’s something we need to learn from.”

Next opponent: Dayton (2-3) will play No. 4 Kansas (4-0) in the semifinals at 1:30 p.m. Friday, or 20 minutes after the 11 a.m. game between Miami and North Texas in the consolation round.

Kansas advanced with a 71-59 victory against North Texas. Kansas led for the last 36 minutes and was never seriously challenged.

Ochai Agbaji, the nation’s leading scorer with 26.3 points per game, led the Jayhawks with 19 points. Remy Martin, a transfer from Arizona State, scored 15.

Agbaji started against Dayton in the Maui Invitational championship game in 2019. He had two points in that game, which Kansas won 90-84 in overtime. Christian Braun, who scored 16 points, also played against Dayton two years ago, as did David McCormack, who had three points against North Texas.

No one from Dayton’s roster played against Kansas two years ago.

“The pieces are all different than what they were in wehat may be one of the best games in both of our schools’ histories,” Kansas coach Bill Self said. “It was a fabulous basketball game. They played their best game, based on what I’ve seen, today. They looked good, and they dominated the game start to finish. We’re going to have to attack pressure, and then if we beat the pressure, we’ve got to score with the short clock.”

Kansas and Dayton had the most fans at the Maui Invitational. It’s the same story here.

Dayton may be the only team that will challenge us for the most fans,” Self said, “and I think at this point, they may have more than us here.”