It’s the first loss of 2020 for Dayton (1-1), which won its last 20 games of the 2019-20 season and then beat Eastern Illinois 66-63 in its 2020-21 season opener Tuesday.
Ibi Watson tied the game with a 3-pointer with 9 seconds to play. SMU did not call timeout. Bandoumel dribbled the length of the court and made the winning shot over Dayton’s Jordy Tshimanga and Watson.
The officials put 0.2 seconds left on the clock. Jalen Crutcher missed a desperation shot at the end, though it came after the buzzer.
Three missed free throws by Tshimanga in the final 3:01 hurt Dayton, which led by as many as 12 points early in the second half.
Turnovers hurt Dayton throughout the game. It had 19. SMU had 14. The Flyers shot 48 percent from the field while SMU shot 38 percent.
Watson led Dayton with 23 points. Johnson scored 14.
Kendric Davis scored 21 points for SMU. Bandoumel had 19.
Ibi Watson ties it, but SMU gets a good bounce and beats Dayton 66-64 at the buzzer. First loss of 2020 for the Flyers. pic.twitter.com/XCbd2GxQH5
— David Jablonski (@DavidPJablonski) December 5, 2020
HALFTIME RECAP
Watson and Johnson each scored 10 points to lead the Dayton Flyers to a 32-27 halftime lead.
Dayton opened the game with a 10-4 run and then gave up a 9-0 run. It regained the advantage with a 7-0 run in less than a minute and led the rest of the half.
Dayton committed 10 turnovers, including four in a 90-second stretch late in the half, while SMU had eight turnovers.
Dayton out-rebounded SMU 20-16 and shot 44 percent from the field to SMU’s 32 percent. SMU made 1 of 10 3-pointers, while Dayton made 3 of 11.
Tshimanga had eight rebounds and four points for Dayton in the half. Jalen Crutcher had six points and three assists.
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