Flyer Connection newsletter: Flyers fail first big test of season at Cincinnati

Dayton showed some fight in rallying from a 16-point deficit, but it trailed by double digits for the last seven minutes in a 74-62 loss, its first of the season.

Cincinnati won its 23rd straight non-conference home game. Dayton fell to 1-9 in true road games in non-conference play in coach Anthony Grant’s nine seasons. By comparison, Dayton was 6-5 in non-conference road games in coach Archie Miller’s six seasons.

The Flyers didn’t play a true road game last season on the non-conference schedule, so this was the first game that fits into that category since a 65-63 victory at Southern Methodist on Nov. 29, 2023.

UC students did their best to try to get into the Flyers’ heads, chanting “Short” repeatedly at Dayton guard Javon Bennett, for example.

“I heard them a little bit, calling my number and talking trash,” Dayton guard De’Shayne Montgomery said, “but I’m just focused on my team trying to win a game.”

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The Dayton fans who traveled to Cincinnati for the game tried to give their team a boost. A “Let’s go Flyers” chant didn’t last long in the second half as Bearcat fans drowned it out.

Cincinnati drew its largest crowd of the season (11,815). It was not a sellout. Fifth Third Arena seats 12,012.

The loss hurts Dayton’s resume, but doesn’t doom it in any way. What it does is raise concerns about the team’s ability to compete in the most important games ahead, starting with a road game at Marquette on Wednesday.

Marquette has won 17 straight non-conference home games since an 80-77 overtime loss to Wisconsin on Dec. 3, 2022.

“We’ve just got to figure out how to play to our strengths,” Grant said. “When guys come into the game, they have to understand what allows them to play well and how they can stay on the floor by doing the things that impact winning. That’s what you play the games for. That’s hopefully the lesson that you learn over the course of the season. How can you become the best version of yourself? We’re not there right now. We’re not supposed to be on November 11, three games into it, but hopefully we can continue to get better.”

Next opponent could be dangerous

Credit: AP

Credit: AP

Dayton can’t look ahead to the Marquette game. It plays Bethune-Cookman at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, and the Wildcats have the potential to end Dayton’s 28-game winning streak in non-conference home games.

Bethune-Cookman lost 95-90 in overtime at Auburn in its season opener but then lost 101-61 on the road to the Miami Hurricanes three days later.

Bethune-Cookman made 12 of 22 3-pointers in its first game and 6 of 28 in its second game.

Auburn has since routed two other low-ranked opponents, Merrimack and Wofford, but only narrowly avoided an upset against Bethune-Cookman in Steven Pearl’s first game as head coach.

“A ton of credit to Bethune-Cookman,” Pearl said after the game. “Their coaches did a phenomenal job. They had us off balance early. The zone gets you stagnant and standing.”

Bethune-Cookman’s fifth-year coach is former NBA player Reggie Theus, who was an All-Star with the Chicago Bulls in 1981 and 1983. He was traded to the Kings months before the Bulls drafted Michael Jordan in 1984.

Theus will try to take Bethune-Cookman to its first NCAA tournament appearance. It’s the preseason favorite in the Southwestern Athletic Conference after finishing third last season. The team has four players averaging between 11 and 15 points per game.

“Everybody’s important,” Theus told the Daytona Beach News-Journal. “And the good thing on our team, I believe that, night in and night out, we can have a different leading scorer every night. We really could. We have depth. We have a lot of interchangeable parts.”

UD finds a way to honor Toppin

Credit: David Jablonski

Credit: David Jablonski

I took my 7-year-old son Chase with me to Baujan Field on Sunday to cover the A-10 women’s soccer championship game. Dayton beat Rhode Island in a penalty kick shootout. It was cold and wet, but Chase did a pretty good job of not complaining until I took him out on the field for postgame interviews.

We watched the team pose for numerous photos with their trophy. I kept telling Chase, “One more interview,” as we talked to coach Eric Golz, goalkeeper Batoul Reda and Riley Kerber, who scored the winning goal in the shootout.

At the same time, I talked to someone from UD who gave me a tip that UD would soon be announcing that Obi Toppin would be part of the 2025 Hall of Fame class. That was a surprise because I knew one of the requirements of making the hall of fame was being a college graduate.

Toppin spent three years at UD but left in 2020 for the NBA. When UD announced the hall of fame news Thursday, I asked a UD spokesman if they had waived the graduation requirement or made a one-time exception. I was told they revised the rules. Here’s the addendum that also opens the door for another All-American, DaRon Holmes II, to be inducted someday.

“The committee reserves the right to waive the degree requirement if an individual earns recognized multiple national honors at the highest levels of performance. The student-athlete must have withdrawn from the University of Dayton in good standing (both academically and athletically), and the reason for withdrawing must be deemed by the selection committee to be valid enough to warrant consideration and election to the Athletic Hall of Fame.”

Toppin will be honored during halftime of a game against North Florida on Dec. 13, along with Kelley Austria, Doug Hauschild and Chris Lemon. Toppin set a school record with 10 dunks against North Florida on Dec. 30, 2019.

Toppin has returned to Dayton every year since his final college game in 2020 for his annual basketball camp for kids. He also has made other appearances at UD Arena.

In January 2022, he sat behind the Dayton bench during a game against Virginia Commonwealth. In July 2022, he had the same seats for all of the games the Dayton alumni team, the Red Scare, played in The Basketball Tournament. In October 2023, Toppin presented a $20,000 check to the Jay’s Light Foundation on the court during a break in the action of Dayton’s exhibition game against Ohio State.

Toppin’s loyalty to Dayton had to have played a small part in UD revising its hall of fame requirements to induct him. Mostly, it had to do with Toppin making history in 2020 as the first national player of the year from Dayton.

Fast Break

Here’s other news that might interest Flyer fans:

🏀 Seven of the 14 A-10 teams are 3-0. Of that group, George Washington has the best victory. It beat South Florida 98-95 on Saturday on a neutral court in Connecticut. South Florida is No. 92 in the Ken Pomeroy ratings. GW is No. 73.

🏀 Former Flyer Ryan Mikesell returned to the court Wednesday for the London Lions after having back surgery in September. He scored eight points in a 97-72 EuroCup victory against Panionios.

🏀 Former Flyers Kobe Elvis and Zed Key played against each other Wednesday in the Czech Republic and posed for a photo together. Key scored 24 points for Pardubice, and Elvis had 18 points for Olomoucko. Key’s team won 87-73.