By Cord Rankin
Game Time is 7:30 P.M. ET
GAME NOTES
https://daytonflyers.com/documents/2024/11/9/Northwestern_Web.pdf
DAYTON — The University of Dayton men’s basketball team will play the first of six Power 5 foes on its non-conference schedule, when the Flyers host Northwestern Saturday at UD Arena.
Dayton opened the season with an 87-57 win over Saint Francis on Monday. Zed Key led five Flyers in double figures with 14 points. Enoch Cheeks had a double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds. Javon Bennett also had 13 points, followed by Malachi Smith’s 11 points (with six assists) and Jacob Conner with 10.
The Northwestern game will be broadcast by WHIO Radio, televised on WHIO-TV 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 two 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, including both pre-season exhibition games. This will be the fourth consecutive year the Flyers have sold out every home game. UD’s sellout streak stands at 60 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).
UP NEXT
• Dayton remains home, taking on Ball State on Wednesday, , Nov. 13. Game time is 7 p.m. ET.
COURTESY DAYTON MEDIA RELATIONS
