Holmes stars as Dayton beats Duquesne for 10th straight victory

Here’s a quick recap:

What it means: Dayton (13-2, 3-0) won its 10th straight game and became the first Atlantic 10 Conference team to win three games this season. The Flyers have not trailed in three A-10 games.

Dayton improved to 10-2 against Duquesne (9-6, 0-3) in Anthony Grant’s seven seasons as coach.

This victory could get Dayton into the Associated Press top 25 for the first time this season on Monday. The Flyers had the 26th-most votes this week.

Star of the game: Holmes made 12 of 15 field goals, including 3 of 5 3-pointers. He made all three 3-pointers in a five-minute span in the second half. This was his highest points total since he scored 34 in a loss to George Mason last February.

Turning point: Duquesne cut a 10-point halftime deficit to four points in the second half. Holmes answered with a 3 and then a reverse dunk. He scored 13 of Dayton’s next 15 points.

Stat of the game: Dayton made 7 of 19 3-pointers (36.8%), while Duquesne made 8 of 30 (26.7%).

Looking ahead: Dayton plays Saint Louis (8-8, 1-2) at 8 p.m. Tuesday at UD Arena. The Billikens opened the A-10 schedule with an 80-73 loss at home to Loyola Chicago and then lost 79-67 at George Mason. On Wednesday, they beat Saint Joseph’s 88-85 in St. Louis. They don’t play again until Tuesday.

Dayton beat Saint Louis 70-56 at UD Arena last season and lost 65-61 at Saint Louis in the final game of the regular season. The Billikens have lost nine games in a row at Dayton.

HALFTIME RECAP

The Flyers did not trail in the first half for the third straight A-10 Conference game, building a 31-21 halftime lead.

Here’s a quick recap of the half:

Key player: Holmes scored 14 points on 6-of-10 shooting.

Key stat: The teams combined to make 4 of 27 3-pointers. Dayton made 2 of 12 with Koby Brea and Nate Santos making back-to-back 3s at one point. Duquesne made 2 of 15.

Rebounding numbers: Dayton had a 27-16 advantage on the boards and turned 10 offensive rebounds into 12 second-chance points.

Big run: Dayton outscored Duquesne 13-2 in the first 5:17 and led the entire first half. Holmes scored off an offensive rebound on Dayton’s final possession of the half to push the advantage to 10 points.

Lineup news: Dayton freshman forward Petras Padegimas missed the third straight game with an illness. Kobe Elvis played 11 minutes in the half after leaving the previous game Sunday against Massachusetts in the first half with a knee injury.