Virginia Tech hands Dayton its most-lopsided loss in 7 years

Here’s a quick recap:

What it means: Dayton (5-5) remains winless away from UD Arena at 0-5 and still has not won a true road game in non-conference play since the second game of the 2016-17 season. It’s 0-7 in Grant’s six seasons in those games. Dayton also fell to 0-6 in Blacksburg.

History lesson: This is Dayton’s worse loss, by scoring margin, since a 90-61 loss to Xavier in the championship game of the Advocare Invitational in 2015.

Star of the game: Virginia Tech’s Grant Basile, the former Wright State forward, scored 20 of his 23 points in the first half.

Dayton’s top scorer: DaRon Holmes II had 13 points on 5-of-15 shooting.

Key stat: Dayton made 3 of 15 3-pointers (20%). It’s the fourth time in the last six games it has shot 20% or worse.

FIRST-HALF RECAP

The 14-point first half against Wisconsin is off the hook. The Flyers played a worse half of basketball in this one. Dayton led Virginia Tech 10-4 five minutes into the game Wednesday but trailed 42-21 at halftime.

Here’s a quick recap of the first half:

Key player: Basile outscored Dayton by himself until a 3-pointer by Toumani Camara in the final minute. Basile, who averages 13.9 points, scored 20 points in the half on 8-of-10 shooting. He made 4 of 6 3-pointers.

Key stat: Dayton shot 24.3% (9 of 37) from the field and 10% (1 of 10) from 3-point range, while Virginia Tech shot 56.3% (18 of 32) and 33.3% (5 of 15).

Big run: Virginia Tech outscored Dayton 16-0 in a near seven-minute stretch, turning a 24-18 lead into a 40-18 lead in the final minute.

Rotation news: Richard Amaefule and Kaleb Washington, who had played fewer than five minutes between them all season, were among the first players off the bench. They combined for seven minutes off the bench.