Much like in its last road game at Southern Methodist, Dayton gave up momentum in the final minutes of the first half, fell into a double-digit hole in the second half and trailed the rest of the way. Unlike that game, which Dayton lost 77-69 after cutting the deficit to three points in the final minute, there was no late drama in this one.
Dayton fell to 0-2 in non-conference road games this season and 0-5 in the last five seasons. It lost to Mississippi State and Saint Mary’s in true road games in Anthony Grant’s first season, 2017-18, and lost at Auburn in the 2018-19 season. It did not play a non-conference opponent on their home court in the 2019-20 season or last season.
Dayton hasn’t won a non-conference road game — except on a neutral court — since Nov. 15, 2016, when it beat Alabama 77-72 in Tuscaloosa.
Ole Miss took control early with a 15-4 run to start the game. Dayton rallied to cut the deficit to 23-20 with 3:39 to play only to give up a 11-4 run in the last 3:23.
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Dayton committed 12 turnovers — just under its single-game average of 12.4 — in the first half. Toumani Camara, who led Dayton with six turnovers in the previous game, a 62-57 victory against Virginia Tech, had four of them.
In the second half, Ole Miss extended its lead to 13 points in the opening minute. Dayton cut the deficit to five points six times in the first 10 minutes. It faced a 52-47 deficit after a 3-point play by Malachi Smith at the 10:22 mark. Ole Miss then outscored Dayton 9-2 over the next three minutes with Daeshun Ruffin scoring the last seven points in that stretch. Ruffin led Ole Miss with 19 points and made 9 of 12 free throws.
Dayton got no closer than seven points in the final minutes after falling behind by as many as 15 points.
The Flyers finished with 19 turnovers, one off their season high. Camara, who had 15 points and nine rebounds, had eight of them.
Malachi Smith led Dayton with 16 points and recorded a career-high 11 assists, four more than his previous best. DaRon Holmes II had 14 points.
Dayton struggled from long range, making 4 of 18 3-pointers. It made 6 of 22 in its loss to SMU.
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