Walk-on freshman guard Makai Grant missed a 3-pointer, the first field-goal attempt of his career, from the corner in front of the Dayton Flyers bench and remains 902 points behind his dad Anthony Grant on the all-time scoring list. Players on the bench were ready to go crazy if it had dropped, as they did minutes earlier when walk-on guard turned scholarship player Brady Uhl made a 3.
Grant had a big grin on his face as his son got back on defense. After No. 21 Dayton’s 96-62 victory against Rhode Island, he was asked how much he wanted to see the shot fall.
“Not as much as his mom probably,” Grant said.
Everything else went right for the Flyers on Saturday afternoon at UD Arena. They recorded their most lopsided victory of the season and their most lopsided victory ever against Rhode Island, taking all of the drama out of former UD coach Archie Miller’s return to UD Arena.
This was Dayton’s highest score since a 99-68 victory against Houston Baptist on Dec. 3, 2019, and its highest score in an Atlantic 10 Conference game since a 106-79 victory against Virginia Commonwealth on Jan. 12, 2018.
“I thought our guys did a great job today just in terms of locking in and understanding what we needed to do to have a good performance,” Grant said, “and it was great to see. We started both halves on an 11-0 run. The ball moved. We finished the game with 24 assists and two turnovers. We did a great job of taking care of the basketball and shared the ball. I thought our defense created offense.”
Dayton (15-2, 5-0) ensured it will stay in the top 25 for a second straight week. It likely will climb into the top 20 for the first time since a 20-game winning streak landed it at No. 3 at the end of the 2019-20 season.
For the fourth time in five Atlantic 10 Conference games, the Flyers never trailed. They built an 11-0 lead in the opening minutes as DaRon Holmes II scored seven of his 21 points. They led by as many as 24 points in the first half and had a 47-27 halftime lead.
The rout continued in the second half allowing Grant to rest Holmes for the final 14 minutes and a lineup of walk-ons for the last 2:33.
“It felt great,” Holmes said. “That’s our habits that we have in practice. All the things we work on every day, staying disciplined and consistent, that all pays off. (Rhode Island’s) a great team. We went out there and did we were supposed to do and took care of business.”
Rhode Island (9-9, 3-2) suffered two losses by more than 30 points in a four-day stretch. It fell 99-64 at St. Bonaventure on Wednesday. That was its worst loss since a 76-42 loss at Virginia Commonwealth on Feb. 19, 2019. This 34-point loss matches that game.
“Congratulations to Dayton and their team and their staff,” said Miller, who coached Dayton from 2011-17. “They’re extremely well coached. They’re one of the best teams in the country. We knew coming in here the first four to eight minutes was really going to be important. We really struggled this week just in general with those things. You can see the inexperienced. The togetherness, the people that have been in these environments before, we just don’t have that yet. When you play a team of this quality, where they spread you out and they also have DaRon Holmes inside, who can do both, they put a lot of pressure on you. You’ve got to play really well.”
Holmes had plenty of help. Javon Bennett made 8 of 9 field goals, including 4 of 5 3-pointers, to score a season-high 21 points. He had 21 points in the previous four games combined, making 2 of 18 3-pointers in that stretch.
“My coaching staff and my teammaates have the ultimate confidence in me to keep shooting the ball,” Bennett said. “It was just one of the nights where I was able to hit most of my shots.”
Koby Brea scored 15 points on 5-of-7 shooting from 3-point range. He improved to his season percentage to 49.5 (51 of 103). He entered the game ranked second in the country in accuracy among players who average at least 2.5 3-point attempts per game.
Nate Santos and Brady Uhl each made 2 of 3 3-pointers. The Flyers shot 59.3% (16 of 27) as a team, falling three made 3-pointers short of the school record they set Dec. 20 in a 91-67 victory against Oakland.
Dayton jumped to fifth in the country in 3-point shooting percentage (40.8) after shooting under 40% in their last four games.
“We’re arguably the best shooting team in the country,” Holmes said. “We really work on that at practice. That’s our one of our many advantages. It’s great when they go in. When they’re not falling, we always find a way.”
TUESDAY’S GAME
Dayton at La Salle, 6:30 p.m., ESPN+, 95.7, 1290
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