Three takeaways from Dayton’s victory against Youngstown State

Holmes has made major strides at the free-throw line. Entering the game against Youngstown State, he had made 32 of 39 (82.1%). His percentage dropped to 71.7% because of one bad night. That was only one reason the Dayton Flyers struggled to beat Youngstown State 77-69.

Dayton (4-2) trailed by as many as 10 points in the first half and never led by more than nine in the second half but still won its 13th straight non-conference home game. The last losses that fit in that category — against UMass Lowell, Lipscomb and Austin Peay — came in back-to-back-to-back games in November 2021.

“Let’s keep it like that,” said Dayton guard Koby Brea in the postgame press conference after being reminded of those losses.

The Flyers did not play well against a team ranked No. 202 in the Ken Pomeroy ratings but took a 37-35 halftime lead with a 9-0 run to end the first half. They then kept the lead throughout the second half.

“I think the way I would sum up today is we did enough to be able to come up with a win,” Dayton coach Anthony Grant said. “We knew Youngstown State would come out and be ready to go today. We knew how big of a game that was for them.”

Here are three takeaways from Dayton’s sixth game:

1. Youngstown State kept it close with long-range accuracy: The Penguins ranked 69th in the country when they shot 36.2% from 3-point range last season. They returned their top 3-point shooter, Brandon Rush, but shot 8.7% (2 of 23) in their season-opening 72-62 loss at Louisiana. In their first five games, they shot under 30% four times.

Against Dayton, however, Youngstown State made its four 3-pointers to build a 14-8 lead. It made 8 of 15 in the first half and 5 of 14 in the second half to finish 13 of 29 (44.8%).

Rush made 4 of 7 3-pointers and led the team with 18 points. Brett Thompson and Bryson Langdon each made three 3s, scoring 14 points apiece.

Teams are shooting 43.3% from long range against Dayton. That ranks 349th out of 362 Division I teams.

“We have to be better on the defensive end,” Dayton coach Anthony Grant said. “I think we have to have more of a commitment and understanding of what it takes. Our guys have to understand that every single night we’re going to get everybody’s best shot.”

2. Kobe Elvis and Holmes combined for the play of the night: Elvis threw an alley-oop pass from near halfcourt to Holmes for a dunk in the final seconds of the first half to give the Flyers a 37-35 halftime lead.

“Honestly, I don’t think I’ve ever seen anything like that in my life,” Brea said. “It just goes to show you the kind of player Deuce is — the fact that he was able to catch that and find the rim somehow and still dunk it. It’s unbelievable.”

Holmes finished with 18 points despite his free-throw woes. He made 6 of 8 field goals.

Elvis had four assists and 15 points. He scored 11 points in the first five minutes of the second half as Dayton pushed its lead to 50-42.

3. Dayton finally put the game away with a late 9-0 run: The Flyers missed several chances to push their lead to double digits and then saw the Penguins make one final push to get back into the game. A layup by Ziggy Reid cut Dayton’s lead to 53-50 with 5:18 to play.

A layup by Javon Bennett on Dayton’s next possession, followed by a Brea jump shot and two Isaac Jack free throws gave Dayton a 66-57 cushion at the 3:27 mark.

“I thought our team tonight showed great poise” Grant said. “Youngstown State came out, and they hit first. They built a little bit of a lead, but we never saw any sense of panic or frustration in our group. I think that’s a credit to our experience. We have some experienced guys now that have kind of been through the battle. They kept calm, and it kept everybody else calm.”

STARS OF THE GAME

Koby Brea and Kobe Elvis combined to make 6 of 15 3-pointers. They each scored 15 points.

STAT OF THE GAME

Dayton blocked nine shots. DaRon Holmes II blocked four shots. Isaac Jack had three blocks. Dayton entered the game with 12 blocked shots in five games.

LOOKING AHEAD

Dayton plays Southern Methodist (4-2) at 8 p.m. Wednesday in Dallas, Texas. The Flyers beat the Mustangs 74-62 at UD Arena in the second game of last season. SMU was 10-22 last season and 5-13 in the American Athletic Conference. This season, it has losses to Texas A&M and Wisconsin, both top-25 teams in the Ken Pomeroy ratings, and a 70-58 victory against West Virginia.

WEDNESDAY’S GAME

Dayton at SMU, 8 p.m., ESPN+, 1290, 95.7