Dayton beat Ball State 78-77 on Nov. 10, 2017, preserving a season-opening winning streak that reached 20 games this season. It was the first of 151 victories (and counting) for Grant in eight seasons.
“The way we were able to win the game was something that was hard to forget,” Grant said.
Dayton avoided an upset thanks to a basket by forward Josh Cunningham with 0.1 seconds to play. Forward Xeyrius Williams threw an in-bounds pass to Cunningham. Cunningham caught the ball under the basket between two defenders and didn’t hesitate before dropping it in the basket.
“It’s amazing,” Cunningham said then. “We wanted to do it for coach Grant. He played here before. I know it means a lot to him.”
The game was also notable for being the college debut for Jalen Crutcher, who ranks 17th in scoring in UD history. It was also the first college game on the bench for future national player of the year Obi Toppin, who sat out his freshman season as an academic redshirt.
Grant was asked about his UD coaching debut in his postgame press conference after a 71-66 victory Saturday against Northwestern because the Flyers (2-0) play Ball State (1-1) at 7 p.m. Wednesday at UD Arena. It’s the first game against the Cardinals since that 2017-18 season opener.
Here are seven things fans should know about the matchup:
1. MAC streak: Dayton has won 14 games in a row against Mid-American Conference teams since an 84-55 loss to Buffalo on Nov. 30, 2011.
The streak includes victories against every current MAC program except Buffalo and Kent State: three victories against Miami; two victories against Western Michigan and Northern Illinois; and single victories against Ball State, Toledo, Akron, Ohio, Central Michigan, Eastern Michigan and Bowling Green.
2. Series history: Dayton is 5-0 against Ball State in the modern era with two victories in the 1950s at the UD Fieldhouse and three victories this century at UD Arena: 80-65 in 2002; 59-35 in 2010; and the 78-77 victory in 2017.
3. Ball State history: The Cardinals finished 15-16 overall last season and 7-11 in the MAC. It was their third losing season in the last four seasons.
Two seasons ago, in coach Michael Lewis’ first season, Ball State finished 20-13. It was the program’s first 20-win season since back-to-back 21-win seasons in 2015-16 and 2016-17.
Ball State last played in the NCAA tournament in 2000, which was the final season for coach Ray McCallum, who left for a job at Houston.
4. Transfer portal losses: Basheer Jihad, a 6-foot-9 forward, transferred to Arizona State after leading Ball State in scoring last season (18.6 points per game).
• Jalin Anderson, a 6-4 guard, transferred to Incarnate Word after averaging 15.8 points in one season with the Cardinals.
• The team’s third leading scorer, 6-4 guard Davion Bailey (12.6), also transferred to Incarnate Word.
5. Top returner: Mickey Pearson Jr., a 6-7 fifth-year forward, averaged 12.2 points last season and ranks second on the team in scoring (14.0) through two games this season.
6. Top newcomers: Jermahri Hill, a 6-5 junior guard who played at junior colleges the last two seasons, scored 17 points in each of the first two games: a 71-66 loss at Georgia State on Nov. 4; and an 87-60 victory against Division III Franklin College on Friday.
• Payton Sparks, a 6-9 senior center, is only a newcomer in that he didn’t play last season at Ball State. He played two years for the Cardinals before transferring to Indiana, where he saw limited playing time last season. Dayton was one of the schools he visited while he was in the transfer portal. After last season, Sparks returned to Ball State. He’s averaging 9.0 points this season.
7. Odds and ends: KenPom.com gives Dayton a 97% chance of winning and predicts an 81-61 score.
• Dayton seeks its first 3-0 start since the 2019-20 season when it won its first five games before losing to Kansas in the Maui Invitational championship.
• Lewis was an assistant coach at Nebraska when Dayton lost 80-78 to the Cornhuskers at the Wooden Legacy tournament in 2016. He was an assistant coach at Butler when Dayton lost twice to the Bulldogs in the 2012-13 season.
Lewis played at Indiana for Bob Knight from 1996-2000 and ranks second in school history in assists.
• Ball State was picked to finish seventh out of 12 teams in the Mid-American Conference preseason poll.
• Ball State ranks 239th in the Pomeroy ratings. That makes it the fourth lowest-ranked Division I non-conference opponent for Dayton ahead of No. 281 Lehigh, No. 307 Western Michigan and No. 345 Saint Francis.
WEDNESDAY’S GAME
Ball State at Dayton, 7 p.m., 1290, 95.7
Credit: David Jablonski
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