Men’s basketball scores a big 85-67 win over No. 2 UConn to close out the Maui Invitational

LAHAINA, Maui – After losing its first two Maui Invitational games in the final minutes to No. 12 North Carolina and No. 5 Iowa State, the University of Dayton men’s basketball team made sure everything would be different against second-seeded UConn, and Outscored the Huskies 23-10 over the final five and a half minutes to win on the road, 85-67.

Enoch cheeks led the Flyers with 20 points. Nate Santos scored 18 points, Noble Alexander added 16 (with six assists) and Zed key had 15 (including nine rebounds).

Dayton is now 6-2 this season, with both losses on Maui coming by a total of nine points to two top-12 teams. UConn is now 4-3.

GAME REVIEW
1st Half – Dayton 41, UConn 34
• Zed key scored Dayton’s first five points as the Flyers led 8-5 at the first media timeout (14:46).
• A couple Javon Bennett Free throws gave UD a 12-9 lead at 11:57 of the second intermission.
• Pass bucket Enoch cheeks And Nate Santosfollowed by a three-pointer from Noble Alexander gave Dayton a 19-14 lead at the 7:58 mark.
• The Flyers went five and a half minutes without a field goal, but that was in part because UD’s possession was interrupted by UConn fouls. Dayton made eight straight freebies during that span.
• The Huskies took a 27-25 lead, but Santos hit the final free throw to tie the game.
• UConn hit a three-pointer to regain the lead, but Bennett sank a three-pointer to tie the game and Smith hit another to give UD a 33-30 lead with 3:11 left.
• Dayton took a 41-34 lead into the locker room thanks to Alexander, who scored UD’s final six points of the half.
• It was the first time this season that UConn trailed at halftime.

2nd Half – Dayton 85, UConn 67
• The Huskies needed just three minutes, 14 seconds to fight back and tie the game at 43, but a layup by Smith gave UD a lead it held until the final 15:42 of the game.
• The game remained close, with Flyers leading by seven and just two points until Alexander hit Key for an alley-oop dunk at 6:58 that increased the score to 60-55.
• Dayton’s lead was at least two possessions the rest of the game.
• With UD up 62-57, the lead grew to double digits Isaac Jack was undercut in terms of a rebound. The foul was upgraded to a flagrant foul, giving UD two free throws and the ball.
• Key came on for Jack and sank the free throws, Alexander beat his man to the rim and drew another foul, which meant both, and then after a UConn miss, Bennett grabbed the rebound, pushed it up the floor and then scored Cheeks for a transition three-pointer to make the score 69-57, forcing UConn to call a timeout with 4:19 left.
• This three-pointer would see Cheeks score 10 of his 20 points over the next three minutes.
• A pair of free throws from Santos would give Dayton a 20-point lead with 21 seconds left, and a UConn bucket with 12 ticks left on the clock would make the final score 85-67.

BY THE NUMBERS
• 20 – Enoch Cheeks’ The 20 points included 8-12 FG shots and 3-5 from distance.
• 18 – Nate Santos’ He scored 18 points, five of nine from the field and six of seven from the line.
• 16 – Noble Alexander The stat was more than just his 16 points. He also had six assists (with zero turnovers) and five rebounds. He was 5-7 from the field and 5-5 at the line.
• 15 – Nine of Zed Keys 15 points fell at the finish. He made nine of 10 free throws in the game and 14 of 15 in the tournament.
• +16 – Dayton outrebounded UConn 41-25. Key had nine, Cheeks seven and Alexander three. Nine of the 10 Flyers who saw action in the game grabbed at least one rebound.
• +23 – Despite having pedestrian stats (5 points, 3 rebounds, 2 assists, team-high two steals), Javon Bennett led UD in +/- with a score of +23.
• 50% – Dayton shot .500 for the game (25-50), including .471 (8-17) from three.
• 90% – The Flyers shot .900 (27-30) from the line.
• 2 – This was UD’s fifth win in 25 games against teams ranked No. 1 or No. 2 in the final AP Poll. It was the first since Dayton’s 97-82 victory over second-place Notre Dame at UD Arena on March 4, 1974.
• 18 – This was also the Flyers’ largest margin of victory over a top-five team, their largest against a ranked team on the road and their largest against a ranked team since Dayton beat sixth-ranked Pitt 80-55 in December. September 29, 2007, in the arena.

NEXT
• UD begins Tuesday with a five-game home series against Western Michigan.
• Game time is 7:00 p.m. ET.