Flyer Freshmen Shine As Dayton Wins 76-60

ORLANDO – The University of Dayton men’s basketball defeated the Miami Hurricanes on Thursday by a score of 76-60.  The Flyers advance to the next round of the ESPN Events Invitational and will play the winner of this afternoon’s Kansas-North Texas matchup Friday at 1 p.m. ET.  This was Anthony Grant‘s 80^th career win at Dayton.

The Flyers were led by a pair of true freshmen who saw career highs in the contest.  DaRon Holmes II scored 15 off 5-of -6 shooting while Malachi Smith scored 14 with six rebounds and seven assists off 6-of-7 shooting.  Redshirt Junior Elijah Weaver also had 14 points and made four threes.

Dayton is now 2-3 on the season, while Miami is  now 3-2.

GAME BREAKDOWN

1st Half: Dayton 36, Miami 25

• Both teams’ defenses started the game out strong, forcing a combined seven turnovers in the first four minutes.
• The Flyers jumped out to an early 6-4 lead off four straight points from Holmes II.
• Dayton’s defense held Miami to just 13 points in the first 10 minutes on 29% shooting.
• Miami was held scoreless for a 5:19 stretch where they missed eight straight field goals.  Dayton scored nine consecutive points during this time to take a lead they would not give up.
• Back-to-back layups by Smith gave the Flyers a 20-13 lead forcing a Miami timeout with 7:27 remaining.
• The lead was extended to 12 off five straight points by redshirt freshman Mustapha Amzil.
• The Flyers maintained a double-digit lead for the remaining three minutes of the half which gave the Flyers their largest halftime lead of the season.
• Holmes II led the Flyers in the half with 12 points off 4-4 shooting.  Amzil had eight points and four rebounds.
• The Hurricanes shot 30% from the field during the half and 1-11 from three.

2nd Half: Dayton 76, Miami 60

• Miami quickly scored three times to open the half reducing the Flyers lead to five.
• Dayton answered right back with an 8-0 run which featured two straight threes by Elijah Weaver.  This gave the Flyers a 44-31 lead four minutes into the half.
• In the first eight minutes of the half, Dayton shot 3-for-4 from three and maintained a 14-point lead.
• The Dayton lead was extended to 59-41 with 7:27 remaining off Weaver’s third three-pointer of the contest.
• The Flyers lead was cut down to 12 with two minutes remaining.
• The Flyers finished the game making five of their last seven shots from the field.
• Weaver scored all of his 14 points in the half.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS

• Four Flyers hit double digits — DaRon Holmes II (15), Malachi Smith (14), Elijah Weaver (14, all in the second half) and Mustapha Amzil (11). 
• Thirteen of the first 20 Dayton points were scored by true freshmen Holmes and Smith.
• Dayton made 11 threes, shooting 58% from beyond the arc, which was the best shooting performance of the season.  Miami was held to just four threes on 20 attempts.
• Amzil recorded his first double-digit scoring game of the season and making three from beyond the arc.
• Smith led the way in the assist category with seven of the teams 14 assist.
• Toumani Camara also tied Smith and Amzil for the most rebounds with six.
• The Flyers out rebounded the Hurricanes 29-24
• Dayton continued to see a balanced scoring attack with seven players scoring at least five points.
• Dayton led for 31:43 minutes throughout the game which was the most the Flyers have led all season in a contest.

UP NEXT

• The Flyers will play the winner of the Kansas-North Texas game on Friday at 1:00 p.m. ET.
• The ESPN Events Invitational will conclude on Sunday with a game with Alabama, Belmont, Drake or Iona.
• UD’s next home game at the Arena will be Dec, 1st against Alabama State.

GAME NOTES

DAYTON — The University of Dayton men’s basketball team will travel for the first time this season, when UD goes to Orlando to play in the eight-team ESPN Events Invitational Nov. 25-28.  The Flyers will play the Miami Hurricanes in the very first game of the tournament.  The game tips on Thanksgiving at 12 Noon ET.  

The ESPN Events Invitational will mark the 14th consecutive exempt tournament in a full season schedule for UD.  Dayton won this tournament (when it was known as the Old Spice Classic) in 2011. ,  

The game will carried by WHIO Radio, televised on ESPN2 and streamed on ESPN+.  Streaming audio, video and stats will be available at DaytonFlyers.com.

#TRENDING 
• For the first time in UD Arena history, all season and single game tickets have been sold before the season even began.  That announcement was made on Nov. 4.  All 17 regular season home games are sold out, extending an ongoing sellout streak for the Flyers to 28.
• Two Flyers were named Preseason All-Atlantic 10.  Forwards Toumani Camara and Mustapha Amzil were both named to the third team.  
• Camara, a transfer from Georgia, is the first immediately-eligible transfer to earn preseason accolades in Atlantic 10 Conference history.  He saw action in 57 games in two seasons at Georgia, and started his last 48 games as a Bulldog.  Last year, Camara averaged 12.8 points and 7.7 rebounds per game in 28.4 minutes of action. Camara had 14 points, six rebounds, three assists and three steals in Saturday’s loss to Austin Peay. 
• Amzil joined the team mid-year and exactly 50 days after he signed, he earned the first of his three Atlantic 10 Rookie of the Week awards.  In 19 games (15 starts), Amzil was third for UD in scoring (9.9 points a game), rebounds (5.6), FG% (.496, 68-137) and 3-pt. FG% (.382, 26-68).  
• Three of the four Flyers in double figures against Austin Peay — Koby Brea (career-high 13 points in 18 minutes), Moulaye Sissoko (career-high 12 in 13 minutes) and Kobe Elvis (10).
• True freshman DaRon Holmes II was the top Dayton scorer in the UMass Lowell game with 13 points (6-10 FG).  He also tied the Flyer record for blocked shots in a game with six.
• Malachi Smith was one of three Flyers with 11 points against Lipscomb.  He also had four assists, four rebounds and two steals in a career-best 31 minutes. He made his first career start against Austin Peay.
• The Covid year has complicated “the clock” for college student-athletes.  With that in mind, the Flyers’ 12 players who are listed as freshmen or redshirt freshmen are the second -most in NCAA Division I men’s basketball.  Only Arizona (13) has more.  Next is Air Force (11) with Marquette and Vanderbilt (10 each) right behind.
• Dayton’s incoming freshman class is ranked 21st-best in the nation.  DaRon Holmes II, a consensus Top 50 recruit, is the highest-rated prospect to ever come to UD.  

UP NEXT 
• The Flyers will play either Kansas or North Texas on Friday.  The ESPN Events Invitational will conclude on Sunday with a game with Alabama, Belmont, Drake or Iona.

COURTESY DAYTON MEDIA RELATIONS