Dayton routs Rhode Island for 12th straight victory

Here’s a quick recap of the game:

What it means: Dayton (15-2, 5-0) won its 12th straight game. It’s the longest winning streak since a 20-game streak in 2020.

The Flyers moved into first place by themselves by a half game over Richmond (12-5, 4-0), which plays later Saturday afternoon at Davidson.

This was the most lopsided victory for either team in the Dayton-Rhode Island series. The Flyers avenged a 75-70 loss at Rhode Island last season.

This was Dayton’s highest score since a 99-68 victory against Houston Christian on Dec. 3, 2019.

Stars of the game: Javon Bennett led Dayton with a season-high 22 points. He made 8 of 9 field goals.

DaRon Holmes II added 21 points on 7-of-13 shooting. He left the game with 14:53 to play and didn’t return. Dayton had a 30-point lead at that point.

Stat of the game: Dayton made 16 of 27-pointers (55.9%). That was three short of the school it record it set earlier this season in a victory against Oakland.

Koby Brea made 5 of 7 3-pointers. Bennett made 4 of 5. Nate Santos made 2 of 3. Brady Uhl made 2 of 3 in the final minutes.

Archie Miller’s return: There was a brief acknowledgement of Miller, the second-year Rhode Island coach, during pregame introductions in his first game at UD Arena since his final game with the Flyers in 2017. Most fans cheered. There were some boos. Miller did not react. Introductions for Dayton began immediately.

Miller’s wife Morgan sat behind the Rhode Island bench with his brother Sean Miller, the head coach at Xavier.

Miller received a coach’s box warning for venturing onto the court and almost running into Koby Brea at the 3-point line.

HALFTIME RECAP

Dayton opened the game with an 11-0 run, made 9 of 16 3-pointers and built a 47-27 halftime lead against Rhode Island

Here’s a quick recap of the half:

Key player: DaRon Holmes II scored 14 points on 6-of-11 shooting. He had five rebounds and three blocked shots.

Key stat: Dayton bounced back from its third-worst 3-point shooting performance of the season (8 of 28 against Saint Louis on Tuesday) by shooting 56.3% in the first half. Javon Bennett, who was 1 of 8 on Tuesday, mad 3 of 4. Koby Brea made 3 of 3.

Big run: Dayton turned a 24-15 lead into a 39-15 lead at the 5:37 mark with a 15-0 run in a four-minute stretch.