ANALYSIS: 3 takeaways from Dayton’s win over Lehigh

It wasn’t the complete performance the score might indicate, but Dayton can feel good about a fast start and dominant finish going into a big game against No. 5-ranked Marquette on Dec. 14, as players also prepare for end-of-semester finals this week. The Flyers were coming off a comeback win over Western Michigan on Tuesday.

“We gotta get more consistent and put together a 40-minute game, but overall, you know, to be in the position we’re in, I think the guys have done a good job,” Grant said. “You know, certainly this time of year, all across the country, the guys have a lot on their plate, getting ready for finals, finishing up semester papers, a lot from a mental standpoint. This is the time of year that you have to be mindful of the weather changing and a lot going on with guys staying healthy. So, we’re grateful that for the most part, we’ve been able to continue with the level of consistency. So timing, I think, right now, going into the finals week and a little bit of break is good and overall, we’re pleased where we are.”

Here are three takeaways from Saturday’s win:

1. Dayton took the foot off the gas: The Flyers took a 41-25 lead into halftime and extended that lead to a 28-point gap less than six minutes into the second half, but the defense let up for about a nine-minute stretch. Lehigh went on a 22-9 run to make it 66-51 with 5:52 remaining before Dayton whipped back into shape and closed out the game strong.

Dayton had opened the game with three 3-pointers for its first baskets and ended up finishing in much the same way. Enoch Cheeks hit a 3-pointer to swing the momentum back in the Flyers’ favor, then Malachi Smith added one shortly after that and Nate Santos iced it off with back-to-back 3s with less than three minutes remaining.

“It’s more about understanding the urgency and trying to put it together for 40 minutes,” Grant said. “So I’ll go back and look at the film ... going back to our last game. I didn’t think we had that in the first half. And then ... tonight, we had it for a good stretch until we didn’t, and I thought the game changed there at about the 12-minute mark. So now we had to kind of fight through the after-effect of that. … But it’s still, to me, a work in progress in terms of us understanding how to do that (have consistency).”

Against Western Michigan on Tuesday, the Flyers trailed at halftime and needed to rally from a 10-point deficit in the second half to win by eight points. Santos said getting off to a good start was the emphasis all week.

Credit: Erik Schelkun

Credit: Erik Schelkun

2. Teamwork was high, mistakes low: Grant was most pleased with the teamwork he saw on the court Saturday, as the Flyers finished with 21 assists on 28 baskets. On top of that, they had just four turnovers.

Smith led with nine assists, Javon Bennett added six and Posh Alexander had five, and none of them had any turnovers.

“I thought for us today, our guys did a good job offensively,” Grant said. “The ball moved well, you know, 20-something assists on 28 baskets. Think our back court did a great job of taking care of the ball.”

Dayton finished with a 57.1 percent field goal rate, while Lehigh shot just 38.5 percent.

Smith said Lehigh did a good job of trying to limit quick transitions early, but once the Flyers found a rhythm, they were hard to stop.

“I think we need to keep playing like that,” Smith said. “I think we’re hard to guard. That’s our identity now. We can play slow, but I think we play better when we’re fast in transition.”

Credit: Erik Schelkun

Credit: Erik Schelkun

3. Playing with pride at home: The Flyers not only have a nice winning streak going at home, including all seven games at UD Arena this season, but now they also get to play a ranked opponent for the first time in front of their fans.

Dayton so far has faced its stiffest competition at the Maui Invitational, where it had losses to then-No. 12 North Carolina and then-No. 5 Iowa State before beating then-No. 2 UConn in the final game of the event.

Marquette, coming off a win over Wisconsin on Saturday, will be the first big test at home.

“I haven’t started any prep on Marquette,” Grant said. “Obviously, you’re aware of ... what they’ve done — outstanding team, outstanding talent, really well-coached team. And so we’re going to do the best we can to make sure we’re as prepared as we can for next weekend.”

STAR OF THE GAME

Santos went 6-for-6 from 3-point range, a performance that ranks as the second best in UD history, behind Shawn Haughn’s 8-for-8 effort against St. Louis on Feb. 13, 1994. Santos finished with a season-high 24 points, just two points off his career high. Santos said it felt much different than his 0-for-6 performance in the opener.

STAT OF THE GAME

The Flyers finished 62.5 percent from 3-point percentage range (16 of 23), their best performance from behind the arc since they made 14 of 22 (63.6 percent) in a 98-64 victory at George Mason on Feb. 6, 2016. Dayton has shot better than 40 percent four times in the last five games.

LOOKING AHEAD

Dayton plays No. 5 Marquette (9-1) at 7 p.m. Dec. 14 at UD Arena. The teams have shared one common opponent, both losing to Iowa State. Marquette fell to the Cyclones 81-70 in the Big East/Big 12 Battle on Wednesday. The Flyers lost 89-84 on Nov. 26 in the Maui Invitational.

Dayton and Marquette have played 35 times with the Golden Eagles leading the series 21-14. The Flyers won 89-75 on Nov. 29, 2008 in the Chicago Invitational.

Dayton has faced one other Big East team this season, beating UConn 85-67 on Nov. 27 in the Maui Invitational.

SATURDAY’S GAME

Marquette at Dayton, 7 p.m., CBS Sports Network, 1290, 95.7