Maybe the buzz created by 13,407 fans eager to see a Big Ten team play the Dayton Flyers at home for the first time since 1997 rattled the building enough to shake loose confetti from some past event.
No confetti dropped two hours later when Dayton completed a 71-66 victory against Northwestern in the second game of the 2024-25 season, but the smiles on the faces of the players and the energy in the building after the 60th straight sellout was enough to put an exclamation point on a memorable night.
“I thought tonight was a great early-season battle,” Dayton coach Anthony Grant said.
“We feel good,” Dayton guard Malachi Smith. “It was our first challenge against a Big Ten team. We’ve got a tough schedule. We got the W on our home court.”
Here are three takeaways from the second game of the season:
1. Dayton overcame a double-digit deficit: The Flyers made a name for themselves last season, erasing 17-point deficits in their last two victories against Virginia Commonwealth and Nevada. In their first big test of the 2024-25 season, they fell behind by 13 points in the first half, trimmed that deficit to three in the second half but then fell again into a 10-point hole.
Dayton had an 18% chance of winning when it faced a 49-39 deficit with 11:54 to play, according to KenPom.com.
“Going into halftime,” Dayton forward Zed Key said, “coach Grant said, ‘Just stay the course. You’ve got to come out and play aggressive and play like we know how to play. We took that to heart, and our press was working.”
Credit: David Jablonski
2. The Flyers turned up the intensity on defense: Dayton trailed 51-41 with 10:50 to play when it began a 15-1 run. Enoch Cheeks and Smith each scored six points during the run. Javon Bennett had the other three points.
The Flyers ran a full-court pressure defense throughout the comeback. Three turnovers by Northwestern during the run led to Dayton baskets.
Dayton tied the game on two free throws by Smith and took the lead on a dunk by Cheeks. The run ended with a layup by Cheeks giving Dayton a 56-52 lead with 4:58 to play.
“(The press) was impactful really in both halves,” Grant said. “I think it’s a cumulative effect over the course of 40 minutes. In order to get in the press, you’ve got to score, and we struggled in the first half. In the second half, we had more consistency in terms of being able to score the ball. So we were able to be more effective.”
Credit: David Jablonski
Credit: David Jablonski
3. Dayton added the first important line to its NCAA tournament resume: Dayton (2-0) ranks 29th in the Pomeroy ratings after the victory. Northwestern (1-1) is No. 39.
This was Dayton’s first victory against a Big Ten team since it beat Iowa 82-77 in the Advocare Invitational in November 2015. The Flyers had lost four straight against Big Ten teams, falling 80-78 to Nebraska in the Wooden Legacy tournament in 2016, 43-42 to Wisconsin in the Battle 4 Atlantis in 2022 and twice to Northwestern (67-64 in 2016 at the United Center in Chicago; and last year by the same score as Saturday, 71-66, in Evanston, Ill.).
“We set goals for ourselves to try to put ourselves in position with the schedule that we make,” Grant said. “The guys work to put ourselves in position to be a team that can be in the conversation for an at-large bid. These games, they matter. These early-season contests, they really matter. Throughout the A-10, these types of games matter. The hope is if we’re going to be a multi-bid league, we’ve got to be able to take care of our business as a conference in the non-conference. That’s why you schedule games like this.”
STAR OF THE GAME
Cheeks scored 16 points on 7-of-10 shooting. He made 2 of 5 3-pointers. He also had six steals and four rebounds. He led Dayton with 33 minutes.
STAT OF THE GAME
Dayton made 8 of 21 3-pointers (38%) after making 8 of 32 in their season-opening 87-57 victory against Saint Francis. The Flyers missed their first five 3-point attempts but made 4 of 7 the rest of the way in the first half. Then they made 4 of 9 in the second half.
LOOKING AHEAD
Dayton plays Ball State (1-1) at 7 p.m. Wednesday at UD Arena.
Ball State lost 71-66 at Georgia State in its opener and beat Division III Franklin College 87-60 on Friday.
Ball State finished 15-16 last season. It was picked to finish seventh out of 12 teams in the Mid-American Conference.
Dayton last played Ball State in Anthony Grant’s first game as head coach in 2017, winning 78-77 on a last-second shot by Josh Cunningham. The Flyers lead the series 6-1.
WEDNESDAY’S GAME
Ball State at Dayton, 7 p.m., 1290, 95.7
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