Flyers Overcome A Double-Digit Halftime Deficit To Win At The Buzzer

ORLANDO – In a rematch of the 2019 Maui Invitational Championship, the Dayton Flyers buzzer-beat Kansas, the No. 4/3 team in the nation Friday 74-73 in the semifinals of the ESPN Events Invitational in Orlando.  The win was sealed when redshirt freshman Mustapha Amzil’s shot danced off the rim, kissed the glass and then found net to lift the Flyers over the Jayhawks.  

The Flyers advance to the championship game of the ESPN Events Invitational and will play the winner of this afternoon’s Iona-Belmont matchup on Sunday at 4:00 p.m.  This was the Flyers’ first win over a top-five team since 1984 when they knocked off No. 3 DePaul  (also at the buzzer) 72-71.

The Flyers were led by freshman DaRon Holmes II who had a career-high 16 points in the contest.  Holmes II was joined by sophomore Toumani Camara and redshirt junior Elijah Weaver who each had 14.

Dayton is now 3-3 on the season, while Kansas is now 4-1.

GAME BREAKDOWN

1st Half: Kansas 45, Dayton 35

• Kansas jumped out to an early 8-1 lead making four of their first five shots.
• The lead was extended to 13-2 four minutes in off an 11-1 run by the Jayhawks.
• Dayton answered back making its next four shots all by different Flyers, to reduce the lead to six.
• Redshirt freshman Koby Brea quickly scored six points off a pair of 3-point baskets after checking into the game as the Flyers trailed 19-14.
• A pair of baskets by Camara and Smith trimmed the Jayhawk lead to six forcing a Kansas timeout with 7:26 remaining.
• Kansas continued the trend of hot shooting and maintained a 37-27 lead with 3:54 remaining in the half.
• Camara, Brea and Holmes II led the way for the Flyers in the half with eight points apiece.
• Both teams shot 50% from the field in the half, with the Jayhawks taking 34 shots compared to the Flyers 22.
• Dayton had nine turnovers in the half compared to Kansas who had just one.

2nd Half: Dayton 74, Kansas 73

• The Flyers opened the half on a 9-0 run which trimmed the Jayhawk lead to three.  The run featured a pair of layups by Camara and a three by Weaver.
• Dayton tied the game at 49 off a steal by Smith that resulted in another three by Weaver.
• Following a Jayhawk timeout, the Flyers took their first lead of the game at 53-50 off two straight dunks by Holmes II forcing another Kansas timeout.
• The Flyers continued their hot streak from the field making nine of 10 from the field.  Neither team separated during that time as Dayton led 57-56 with 11:42 remaining.
• Smith scored six straight points for the Flyers in under a minute to put Dayton ahead 63-61 with 8:16 left.
• The Flyers run continued as Dayton went ahead six off a three from Weaver and a layup by redshirt freshman Moulaye Sissoko.
• A 6-0 run by the Jayhawks that featured three Dayton turnovers made it a one-point game with 4:57 remaining.
• Dayton held Kansas scoreless for a 2:58 stretch as the Flyers led 70-67 with two minutes remaining.
• A quick 6-0 run by Kansas put the Jayhawks ahead 73-70 with one minute remaining forcing a Dayton timeout.
• Dayton answered back with a Smith layup that made it a one-point game, following an offensive foul by Kansas. The Flyers then had the ball down one with 19 seconds remaining.
• After gathering the offensive rebound following a block Mustapha Amzil drove from the right wing and put up a soft floater that hit off the rim and dropped through as time expired to give the Flyers the win.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS

• Five Flyers hit double digits — DaRon Holmes II (16), Toumani Camara (14), Elijah Weaver (14), Malachi Smith (10), and Koby Brea (10). 
• Camara led the Flyers in the rebounding category with seven, while Smith and Amzil each had five.
• Smith also led Dayton with six of the team’s 12 total assists.
• Dayton held Kansas to 4 of 19 from three (21%) and none in the second half.  This was the lowest total Kansas has been held to the season.
• Kansas shot 45% on their 20 free throw attempts while Dayton shot 58% from the charity stripe.
• The Flyers out rebounded the Jayhawks 32-24.
• Dayton’s bench outscored Kansas’s bench 18-11.
• The last time UD defeated any ranked opponent was last year when the Flyers beat No. 22 Saint Louis on Jan. 26, 2021.

UP NEXT

• The Flyers will play the winner of Iona-Belmont to close out the ESPN Events Invitational on Sunday afternoon.  The game will take place at 4:00 p.m. and be televised on ESPN2.
• UD’s next home game at the Arena will be Dec, 1st against Alabama State.

GAME NOTES

ORLANDO — The University of Dayton men’s basketball team will take on third-ranked Kansas Friday in the semifinals of the ESPN Events Invitational in Orlando.  The Flyers advanced in the bracket with a 76-60 win over the Miami Hurricanes in the very first game of the tournament on Thursday.  Dayton-Kansas tips off at 1 p.m. ET, and will be seen on ESPN.  

In the Miami win, true freshman DaRon Holmes II led UD with 15 points (5-6 FG), while is classmate Malachi Smith had 14 points (6-7 FG), seven assists (with no turnovers), six rebounds and two steals.  Elijah Weaver added 14 points (all in the second half) and Mustapha Amzil added 11 points, six rebounds and a team-best +22 off the bench.

The ESPN Events Invitational is 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 ESPN 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 last week’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).  
• Dayton came to the tournament shooting just .228 (18-79) from three-point, but took a bite out of that by making 11 of 19 treys (.579) against Miami.
• 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 ESPN Events Invitational will conclude on Sunday with a game with Belmont, or Iona.

COURTESY DAYTON MEDIA RELATIONS