Dayton routs UMass for fourth straight victory

Here’s a quick recap of the game:

What it means: Dayton (19-9, 11-4) has now won four games in a row twice during Atlantic 10 Conference play. It opened the league schedule with four straight victories. This was Dayton’s third straight road victory after three straight road losses.

The victory keeps Dayton in second place by itself with three games to play. It trails first-place Virginia Commonwealth (21-7, 12-3) by a game.

Dayton has won seven straight games in the series against UMass — by a combined margin of 109 points — since an 86-82 double-overtime loss at UMass in 2018. This was Dayton’s second straight victory in Amherst.

Star of the game: Dayton forward DaRon Holmes II scored 22 points on 9-of-14 shooting. It’s his second straight 20-point game. He had 20 in a 65-49 victory at Loyola Chicago on Saturday.

Stat of the game: Dayton made 8 of 19 3-pointers (42.1%), while UMass made 3 of 12 (25%). Koby Brea made 3 of 5 3-pointers for the Flyers and scored 11 points. Kobe Elvis made 2 of 5 and scored 10. Mustapha Amzil scored all six of his points by making 2 of 2 3s.

Turning point: Dayton led 25-23 with four minutes to go in the first half and outscored UMass 18-4 over the next six-plus minutes.

Milestone: Richard Amaefule scored his first point as a Flyer in the final minutes with a free throw.

Looking ahead: Dayton plays George Mason (16-12, 8-7) at 6 p.m. Saturday at UD Arena. The game will air on ESPNU.

HALFTIME RECAP

Dayton outscored Massachusetts 12-4 in the last four minutes of the first half to build a 37-27 halftime lead.

Here’s a quick recap of the half:

Key player: Holmes led Dayton with 14 points on 6-of-10 shooting.

Key stat: Dayton shot 53.8% (14 of 26) from the field, while UMass shot 35.7% (10 of 28).

Big run: Dayton opened the game with a 9-0 run in the first three minutes. Koby Brea scored five points in the run. Holmes had four points. Dayton made its first four shots from the field. Then Toumani Camara made 2 of 2 free throws to extend the lead to 11-2.

Turning point: Dayton led 25-23 entering the final four minutes. Then Malachi Smith started a 12-2 run with a 3-pointer.

Foul trouble: Camara picked up his second foul with 12:25 left in the half and didn’t return. He had four points in eight minutes.

Rotation news: R.J. Blakney returned to action after missing two games. He played five minutes in the half and scored two points at the free-throw line. Mike Sharavjamts did not make the trip to Amherst because of an illness.