Dayton improves to 5-0 with dominant second half against New Mexico State

Here’s a quick recap of the game:

What it means: Dayton improved to 5-0 for the first time since the 2019-20 season when it won its first five games before losing to Kansas in the Maui Invitational championship game. This is Dayton’s fourth 5-0 start of the last 12 seasons.

Dayton won its 21st straight home game. That’s tied for the third-longest streak in school history. The Flyers won 30 home games in a row from March 2008 to January 2010, 27 in a row from February 2014 to December 2016 and 21 in a row from December 1959 to January 1961.

Dayton improved to 3-0 against New Mexico State (3-1). This was the first meeting between the schools since the 1960s.

Star of the game: Dayton’s Nate Santos made 6 of 10 3-pointers, including 5 of 6 in the second half, and scored 18 of his 23 points in the second half.

Stat of the game: Dayton outscored New Mexico State 18-5 in fast-break points.

Big run: Dayton had a 14-0 spurt in the second half to take a 67-41 lead. The Flyers led by as many as 29 points.

Injury news: Dayton’s Jacob Conner suffered an injury in the final seconds of the first half and was not on the bench in the second half. After the game, coach Anthony Grant said Conner turned his ankle, but he did not have any more information than that.

Looking ahead: Dayton leaves Friday for the Maui Invitational. Dayton plays No. 10 North Carolina in the first round at 11:30 p.m. Monday at the Lahaina Civic Center. The game starts at 6:30 p.m. in Maui.

HALFTIME RECAP

Dayton blew a nine-point lead in the first half but maintained a 29-28 halftime lead.

Here’s a quick recap of the half:

Key players: New Mexico State guard Christian Cook made 4 of 6 field goals and led all scorers with nine points.

Eight players scored for Dayton. Amaël L’Etang led the team with six points in the half.

Key stat: Dayton made 4 of 11 free throws (36.4%) in the first half. Zed Key missed his first three attempts but made his last two.

Big run: Dayton led 27-18 after two free throws by L’Etang with 4:10 to play. New Mexico State then outscored Dayton 10-0 in the next three minutes to take a 28-27 lead entering the final minute. Key’s free throws with 51 seconds to play put Dayton back on top.

Lineup news: Dayton went back to its original starting lineup — Malachi Smith, Nate Santos, Javon Bennett, Zed Key and Enoch Cheeks — after resting Cheeks and Key in a 76-55 victory against Capital University on Saturday.