This was Dayton’s third win in five games against Cincinnati after losing nine games in a row in the series from 1975-83. The programs have played 91 times but haven’t met since 2010 except for two closed-door scrimmages before the last two seasons. They haven’t played at UD Arena since 2004.

Here’s an excerpt from the story Bucky Albers wrote about that 1987 game for the Dayton Daily News:

Flyers rally past UC

Some people probably missed it.

The first half was so one-sided in Cincinnati’s favor that some Dayton fans probably left the UD Arena at halftime Saturday night.

They missed a rare treat.

The Flyers, trailing by 20 points at the intermission, made one of the finest comebacks in UD history to shock the Bearcats 67-64.

It was unbelievable.

Try this one on for size.

Steve Smith, who hadn’t even gotten out of his warmup suit in the last three games, played point guard (yes, point guard) in the absence of injured Dan Christie and was the star of the game.

Smith, who never had played the point for any significant time, answered the challenge with 18 points and eight assists as the Flyers punished UC a bit for some of those agonizing defeats in the past.

“I had everything to gain and nothing to lose,” said Smith, who had started only three of the Flyers’ first 17 games.

“There’s a lot of people in the city who have written me off. When I go out on the court, I am playing for my team and myself and nobody else.”

UD coach Don Donoher couldn’t have been more pleased.

“What really amazed me about Steve is that he was able to go as long as he did,” Donoher said. “He sucked it up and did a fine job.”

In the first half, it didn’t appear that Smith’s contribution would be of any significance.

He and everybody else on the floor were being upstaged by Roger McClendon, a slender, 6-foot-4 Bearcat guard out of Champaign, Ill., whose parents now live in Dayton.

McClendon matched the entire Dayton team by scoring 23 points in the first 20 minutes, helping his team build a 43-23 lead.

In that superb half, Cincinnati made a sizzling 68 percent of its shots. McClendon, driving to the basket and popping his jump shot from everywhere, made 9 of 10. His only miss was from 3-point range, where he made 4 of 5.

“That,” said Donoher, “was as good a basketball as I’ve ever seen. I didn’t think our defense was all that bad. It was just awesome what they did.”

At halftime, Donoher reminded his troops of what had happened in the same building 48 hours earlier.

Loyola of Chicago, trailing the Flyers by 18 points early in the second half, erased the deficit and took the lead only to lose at the end 66-64.

“If they could come back on us like that,” Smith said, “we could do the same thing.”

The Flyers, of course, had to have Cincinnati’s cooperation. Unable to apply a press because the Bearcats might have torn it to ribbons, UD had to hope that the Bearcats would turn cold.

Or, as Donoher put it, “They had to have a pathetic half, and they did.”

There was precedent. UC had blown big leads in losses to Stetson, Memphis State, Miami and South Carolina. But never one this big.

“I don’t think there’s too many teams that come back from 20 down,” Donoher said.

Not many of the 13,511 spectators had much hope, either.

“Put in the second team!” yelled a lady in the blue seats. “They can do better than this.”

“Look over on the bench,” another fan countered. “This is the second team.”

With Christie, Ed Young and Negele Knight in street clothes because of injuries, not many of the preseason first teams were in the lineup.

But in the second half, it was as if the two teams switched uniforms.

The Flyers, who had made 41 percent of their shots in the first 20 minutes, took advantage of the orange hoop the Bearcats had set aglow for them and made 56 percent (14 of 25) in the second half.

Meanwhile, the Bearcats couldn’t buy a basket. They made only 8 of 27 as coach Tony Yates watched in disbelief.

“I didn’t think we had a letdown at all,” Yates said. “We were getting the same shots. We were just missing them.”

McClendon, who made only 2 of 10 shots in the second half, would not acknowledge that Noland Robinson’s zealous defensive effort had anything to do with it.

“He was fouling me all night,” McClendon said, “and that’s my only comment.”

The second half began rather ominously with UD’s Anthony Grant picking up his fourth foul in the fourth minute.

This was after UD whittled four points off the Bearcat lead.

Then the Flyers simply caught fire. Troy McCracken made a layup. Smith sank a 3-pointer and Robinson drove to the baseline to reduce the UC lead to nine at 45-36 with 14:21 left.

The crowd, sensing that victory was possible, responded with the kind of deafening roar usually reserved only for Notre Dame games.

Grant hit a jumper to make it 48-38, and at the other end, McClendon fired up an air ball.

Smith and Grant buried 3-pointers, and Smith made nifty passes to set up baskets by Grant (a full-court lob) and Bill Uhl.

McClendon, who would collect only two baskets in the second half, restored UC’s lead to five at 56-51 with 8:08 left, but the Flyers would not buckle.

It was 56-53 when Robinson hit a pair of free throws, but two 3-point attempts by Smith went in and out and Robinson missed another from beyond the line.

Dayton finally caught up at 58 when Troy McCracken rebounded a Grant miss. Then, after the pressing McClendon was whistled for an offensive foul, Grant put UD ahead to stay at 60-58 with two free throws.

Robinson, who had the chore of guarding McClendon most of the night, made a driving, pumping jumper in the lane and sank a free throw for a 3-point play that gave UD a 63-59 edge with 1:06 left.

Donoher was so excited that he did a moderate version of his DePaul victory dance (circa 1984) by punching the air with his fist as he left the court.

Afterward, he said the only similar comeback victory he could remember was last year’s 70-68 triumph over Miami.

“We were down 17 twice in the second half,” he recalled. “On the other side of that (game), I can’t remember.”

Chances are, Donoher will remember this one for a long time.