By Malcolm Price
1 18 2025
GAME NOTES VS. LOYOLA CHICAGO
https://daytonflyers.com/documents/2025/1/17/Loyola_1.pdf
DAYTON — The University of Dayton men’s basketball team plays its second home game of the week Saturday afternoon when the Loyola Ramblers come to town. Game time at University of Dayton Arena is 4 p.m. ET.
Dayton is 11-6 overall, and 1-3 in the Atlantic 10. The Flyers have dropped their last three conference games. Loyola is also 11-6 overall and 2-2 in the A-10.
UD’s last action was Wednesday, Jan. 15 when the Flyers dropped a 67-59 decision to George Mason. Nate Santos led with 20 points, backed by Malachi Smith (14 points) and Enoch Cheeks (11).
The Loyola game will be broadcast on WHIO Radio, televised by the CBS Sports Network, and streamed on the CBS Sports app. Streaming audio, video and live stats will be at DaytonFlyers.com.
#TRENDING
• Nate Santos was named First Team Preseason All-Atlantic 10 after being named to the third team after last season.
• Santos’ 6-for-6 shooting performance from deep against Lehigh is the second-best in D-I. It is also the second-best ever at UD, behind Shawn Haugh’s 8-for-8 in 1993-94.
• 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 (1,439 and 588 respectively). 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).
• Enoch Cheeks was also named A-10 Preseason All-Defensive Team. 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).
• 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).
• Amaël L’Etang was named the A-10 Rookie of the Week on Nov. 25. He scored 11 points (4-6 FG) in 13 minutes against New Mexico State.
• Cheeks was named the A-10 Player of the Week on Dec. 2 after averaging 15.7 points and 7.0 rebounds against North Carolina, Iowa State and UConn in Maui.
• Cheeks is 12th in the A-10 in rebounding (7.1) and sixth in steals (1.8). Of the top 12 A-10 rebounders, Cheeks is the shortest by three inches.
• Smith is second in the A-10 in assists (5.6) and third in assist-to-turnover ratio (2.6)
• Zed Key is seventh in FG% (.596, 59-99). He is tied for 10th in D-I for most dunks (34).
• As a team, Dayton is second in the Atlantic 10 in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.69) and is tied for third in FG% (.470, 441-939).
• This is the Flyers’ 30th season in the Atlantic 10.
• 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, including both exhibition games that have already been played. This will be the fourth consecutive year UD has sold out every home game. That streak is now 68 games.
• 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 wins). He was the 2017 winner of the USBWA’s Dean Smith Award.
UP NEXT
• UD’s next game is at Duquesne on Tuesday, Jan. 21.
• Game time is 7 p.m. ET.
• The Flyers’ next home game is the first of three consecutive appearances (and five overall this season) on the Atlantic 10’s Friday Night Showcase on ESPN.
• Dayton will host Saint Joseph’s on Friday, Jan 24 at 7:30 p.m. ET.
COURTESY DAYTON ATHLETIC COMMUNICATIONS