By Cord Rankin
GAME NOTES
https://ballstatesports.com/documents/2024/11/11/Ball_State_Game_Notes_at_Dayton.pdf
DAYTON — The University of Dayton men’s basketball team will remain home on Wednesday to host Ball State. Dayton is 2-0 on the young season, while Ball State is 1-1.
Dayton UD won its second game on Saturday in exciting fashion on Saturday with a 71-66 come-from-behind win over Northwestern. The Flyers trailed by 10 (51-41) just inside 11 minutes left in the game, but scored 13 of the next 14 points to lead for the first time (and for good) with 7:22 left in the game.
Enoch Cheeks and Nate Santos led the Flyers with 16 points apiece. Nine of Cheeks’ points game in the last 10-and-a-half minutes. He also had a career-best six steals. Malachi Smith added 14 points and six assists, and Zed Key scored 11 (7-7 FT).
The Ball State game will be broadcast by WHIO Radio, televised on Spectrum News 1 and streamed on ESPN+. Streaming audio, video and live stats will be at DaytonFlyers.com.
UD are a “new look” team entering the 2024-25 season.
DaRon Holmes II has moved on to the NBA after the most productive freshman, sophomore and junior seasons in UD history.
While Dayton returns four rotation players from last year’s 25-8 team that reached the second round of the NCAA tournament, the Flyers will look for strong contributions from five newcomers (three transfers and two freshmen) and three players who redshirted the 2023-24 campaign.
The Dayton roster includes five players who have earned all-conference recognition in their past – junior forward Nate Santos (Atlantic 10), junior Enoch Cheeks (Horizon League). junior Javon Bennett (Northeast Conference), redshirt junior Malachi Smith (Atlantic 10) and fifth-year senior Posh Alexander (Big East).
#TRENDING
• Nate Santos was named First Team Preseason All-Atlantic 10 after being named to the third team after last season. The 6-7 forward from Geneva, Ill. was the Flyers’ second-leading scorer (11.7) and rebounder (6.3) last year. He was also second on the team in 3-pt. FG% (.418, 51-122). Santos was fourth in the A-10 in three-point shooting, and 10th in rebounding in 2023-24.
• Posh Alexander was named Second Team Preseason All-Atlantic 10 and to the Preseason All-Defensive Team. Alexander is a fifth-year transfer who already has 1,000 career points and 500 career assists. The fourth recruit from New York City in Anthony Grant‘s tenure at UD, he led the Big East in steals in each of the last four seasons (three at St. John’s and one at Butler). Last year at Butler, Alexander averaged 11.3 points, 4.9 assists, 4.3 rebounds and 2.2 steals per game. He was 16th in the nation in steals per game. In his three years at St. John’s, he averaged 10.9, 13.8 and 10.2 points a game.
• Enoch Cheeks was also named A-10 Preseason All-Defensive. He led the team in steals (40), was second in blocked shots (21), and was third in rebounding (4.7) in his first season at UD after transferring from Robert Morris. The Providence, R.I. native was the 2023-24 winner of UD’s Steve McElvene Award. Cheeks was consistently assigned the opponents’ top perimeter player on defense. In the 25 games (out of 33) where the Flyer foe’s top player was a guard or wing, that player was held under his average 17 times. He started in all 33 games and averaged 8.1 points per game (9.5 in A-10 play).
• UD ranked 20th in average attendance in NCAA Division I last season, averaging a capacity crowd of 13,407 fans a game in 2023-24. Of schools in the top 25 in attendance, only Kansas, Purdue, Michigan State and UConn also sold out every game of the season.
• Dayton has already announced it has sold out every game for the upcoming 2024-25 season. That includes both exhibition games that have already been played. This will be the fourth consecutive year the Flyers have sold out every home game.
• This is also the 55th anniversary season of UD Arena. The Arena underwent a $76.2 million transformation project that was completed in time for the 2019-20 season.
• The Flyers are wearing “DJD” on their left shoulder strap in memory of Don Donoher. Coach Donoher died last April at the age of 92. He was the first man to coach his alma mater in the NCAA tournament after appearing in it as a player. A member of the NABC College Basketball Hall of Fame, he is Dayton’s all-time winningest coach (437).
UP NEXT
• Dayton remains home, taking on Capital on Saturday, Nov. 16. Game time is 7 p.m. ET.
Capital is coached by UD Hall of Famer Damon Goodwin. Goodwin and Anthony Grant were Flyer teammates.
COURTESY BALL STATE ATHLETIC COMMUNICATIONS
