Dayton’s schedule will include Horizon League opponent for fourth straight year

UD, Youngstown State will meet for first time in 40 years

Credit: Kathleen Batten

Credit: Kathleen Batten

The Dayton Flyers men’s basketball team will play Youngstown State the day after Thanksgiving, according to a source.

The Nov. 24 game at UD Arena was first reported last week by Joel Whetzel, of the Tribune Chronicle in Warren.

Dayton leads the series against Youngstown State 5-4. The first seven matchups took place between 1940 and 1951.

The Flyers and Penguins last played on Dec. 12, 1983. The Flyers won 73-64 at UD Arena. Roosevelt Chapman led Dayton with 22 points. Dayton evened its record at 2-2 in a season that would end with it in the Elite Eight.

The previous matchup took place Jan. 10, 1977, at UD Arena. Dayton won 83-59. Jim Paxson led Dayton with 24 points. The Flyers improved to 10-1 but lost their next nine games and finished 12-11.

Youngstown State finished 24-11 last season, winning the Horizon League regular-season championship for the first time and earning a NIT berth for the first time. It was the winningest season in school history. It ranked 127th in the NCAA Evaluation Tool. Former Dayton guard Dwayne Cohill, playing his final season, led the team with 18 points per game.

Youngstown returns guard Brandon Rush (13.0 points per game) but loses Cohill and two other double-digit scorers: forward Malek Green (13.5) and guard Adrian Nelson (13.5).

Youngstown State’s 2023-24 roster has nine newcomers, including transfers Jaylen Bates (Florida A&M), DJ Burns (Murray State), EJ Farmer (Toledo), Bryson Langdon (Northern Kentucky), Ziggy Reid (Merrimack), Brett Thompson (Tennessee Tech) and Imanuel Zorgvol (Northern Kentucky).

Coach Jerrod Calhoun enters his seventh season at Youngstown State with a record of 96-96.

Dayton is 53-36 against the Horizon League and has played teams from the league at UD Arena the last three seasons. It beat Illinois-Chicago 64-54 in the 2021-22 season opener and beat Robert Morris 60-51 on Nov. 19 last season. It beat Northern Kentucky 66-60 on Dec. 8, 2020.

While Dayton has not announced its full non-conference schedule, this will likely be its first game after the Charleston Classic. It will play three games in that tournament in South Carolina on Nov. 16, 17 and 19.

Dayton’s schedule also includes a game at Northwestern on Nov. 10. It will play at Southern Methodist and welcome UNLV to UD Arena. Dates for those games have not been announced.

Dayton and Cincinnati are also expected to announce a neutral court game soon. Jon Rothstein, of CBS Sports, reported in May the schools were close to finalizing an agreement.

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