Dayton routs Saint Francis for 20th straight season-opening victory

Here’s a quick recap of the game:

What it means: Dayton won its season opener for the 20th straight season. It still has not lost its first game since a 2004 loss to Eastern Kentucky.

This was Dayton’s most lopsided victory in the opener since an 84-53 victory against Southeast Missouri State in 2015. It’s the second largest margin of victory in the 20-game winning streak on opening night.

This was also Dayton’s 17th straight victory at UD Arena. It won its final home game in 2023 and was 15-0 at home last season.

This was Dayton’s highest score in the opener since a 96-68 victory against Austin Peay in 2016.

Stars of the game: Zed Key led Dayton with 14 points on 4-of-4 shooting in his first game as a Flyer. He made 6 of 8 free throws.

Enoch Cheeks (13), Javon Bennett (13), Malachi Smith (11) and Jacob Conner (10) also scored in double digits.

Stat of the game: Dayton had a 50-33 rebounding advantage and a 17-5 offensive rebounding edge.

Top rebounder: Enoch Cheeks had 10 rebounds to go with 13 points.

Back in action: Malachi Smith had 11 points and six assists in his first game since suffering a season-ending injury in the season opener a year ago.

College debuts: Freshman Amaël L’Etang had seven points and eight rebounds in 16 minutes.

Freshman Hamad Mousa had four points in 12 minutes.

Redshirt freshman Jaiun Simon played the final five minutes and scored his first career basket.

Looking ahead: Dayton plays Northwestern at 7:30 p.m. Saturday at UD Arena. Northwestern was leading Lehigh 51-15 at halftime on Monday.

HALFTIME RECAP

Three dunks by Dayton in the last five minutes of the first half helped them build a 40-28 halftime.

Here’s a quick recap of the first half:

Key player: Cheeks led Dayton with nine points on 3-of-7 shooting. He caught an alley-oop pass from Smith for a dunk at the 4:55 mark and dunked again on the fast break 45 seconds later to give the Flyers a 34-22 lead.

Key stat: Dayton had a 27-18 rebounding advantage and outscored Saint Francis 8-0 in second chance points thanks to eight offensive rebounds.

Big run: Dayton built a 14-5 lead with an early 8-0 run.

Turning point: Saint Francis trimmed Dayton’s 23-13 lead to 23-20 at the 8:20 mark. Then the Flyers began a 17-5 run that ended with a dunk by Key in the final minute. Saint Francis answered with a 3-pointer to cut Dayton’s lead to 12 at the half.

Shooting struggles: Dayton made 4 of 18 3-pointers (22.2%). Saint Francis made 5 of 14 (35.7%).

Big advantage: Dayton outscored Saint Francis 12-1 at the free-throw line in the half, making 12 of 19.

Lineup change: Posh Alexander replaced Smith, who started the two exhibition games, in the starting lineup. Jacob Conner and L’Etang were the first players off the bench, followed by Hamad Mousa. Smith was the last player to see action in the first half at the 9:58 mark but played more than eight minutes in the half.

Roster news: Dayton has 13 scholarship players on the roster. Ten dressed for this game.

Redshirt freshman guard Marvel Allen will miss the season with a knee injury after undergoing the first of two surgeries last week. Fifth-year guard Brady Uhl remains sidelined with a sprained ankle. Junior forward Isaac Jack was on the bench but not in uniform.