For one half, though, no one in the sellout crowd of 13,407 was looking ahead to the Maui Invitational, where Dayton plays next week. New Mexico State erased a nine-point first-half deficit and trailed 29-28 at halftime.
Dayton’s 20-game home winning streak looked to be in danger. Its perfect start seemed to be in trouble. Its hope of taking momentum into Maui was fading.
Then the second half started — and Dayton was dominant. The Flyers pushed their lead to as many as 29 points and routed New Mexico State 74-53, improving to 5-0 for the first time since the 2019-20 season.
The Aggies, who played at UD Arena for the first time after two appearances at the UD Field House in the 1960s, fell to 3-1 this season and 0-3 in their history against Dayton.
“Coach (Anthony Grant) said in the locker room it was just a great performance overall, a great collective performance,” Dayton forward Nate Santos said. “It’s great heading into next week that we had this type of performance.”
“We started getting more stops,” forward Zed Key said. “Our offense came together. And we made shots.”
Credit: David Jablonski
Credit: David Jablonski
Here are three takeaways from Dayton’s fifth game:
1. Santos got hot: The senior forward scored a season-high 23 points, making 6 of 10 3-pointers. He made 5 of 6 3s in the second half. He hit back-to-back 3s to turn a 10-point lead into a 16-point advantage early in the second half. His final 3 of the game gave Dayton its biggest lead, 72-43 with 3:33 to play.
Santos has made 12 of 18 3s in victories against New Mexico State, Capital and Northwestern. He missed all nine of his attempts in the games against Ball State and Saint Francis.
“I think Nate’s played really well all the way through,” Grant said. “Tonight shots went in for him. That’s the game of basketball, right? You play the game the right way. You work hard. And Nate does all the right things. So it was great for him tonight to see shots go in. He got some really good looks. I’m just happy for him. He was 6 of 10. Those are great numbers. But I thought overall he played a really solid game on both sides. I think he really has all year.”
Credit: David Jablonski
2. Dayton turned up the pressure: Just as Dayton did against Northwestern when it rallied from a 10-point deficit in the second half to win 71-66, it used a full-court pressure defense to harass New Mexico State in the second half.
The Flyers had 14 points off turnovers and 18 fast-break points.
“Their guards are explosive,” Grant said. “They are really good when they get in open-floor situations. I can’t put a finger on it right now, but I thought we wore them down, and the press certainly was part of that. At the end, that allowed us to open the lead up.”
3. Dayton struggled from the free-throw line: The Flyers could have had a bigger edge at halftime but made 4 of 11 free throws (36.4%) in the first half. They made 6 of 7 in the second half to finish at 55.6% (10 of 18). Through five games, Dayton is shooting 64.9%, well below the national average of 70.6.
Key missed his first three attempts before making his final two. Amaël L’Etang, who made all four of his 2-point field-goal attempts and scored 11 points, made 3 of 5 free throws. Hamad Mousa missed both of his attempts.
“I think it’s uncharacteristic for our group,” Grant said. “We’ve really struggled at the free-throw line. But I’ve got all the confidence in the world that we have guys that are more than capable from the free-throw line.”
STAR OF THE GAME
Santos topped 20 points for the fourth time in two seasons at Dayton. He fell three points short of the career-high 26 points he scored against Grambling State last season. He tied his career high with six made 3-pointers. He made 6 of 9 against Grambling. He ranks third on the team in scoring with 11.2 points per game.
STAT OF THE GAME
Dayton made a season-high 10 3-pointers on 27 attempts, shooting 37%. It shot 38.1% (8 of 21) against Northwestern. It’s shooting 30.3% on the season. The national average is 32.8.
LOOKING AHEAD
Dayton leaves Friday for the Maui Invitational. Dayton plays No. 10 North Carolina (2-1) in the first round at 11:30 p.m. Monday at the Lahaina Civic Center. The game starts at 6:30 p.m. in Maui.
Dayton leads the series against North Carolina 2-1. The Flyers won the last meeting 79-68 in the NIT championship game in 2010. North Carolina won the previous matchup 81-51 on Dec. 31, 2006. Dayton won the first game in the series 76-62 in the national semifinals in 1967.
Dayton is 1-5 against top-10 teams in coach Anthony Grant’s eight seasons. That one win came against No. 4 Kansas in the ESPN Events Invitational in 2021.
MONDAY’S GAME
Dayton vs. North Carolina in Maui Invitational, 11:30 p.m., ESPN2, 1290, 95.7
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