Fans in the Red Scare student section held up a poster featuring the student’s sad look on Friday night. Another sign read simply, “SLU-SERS.”
The Billikens brought an eight-game losing streak at UD Arena into the first of two matchups against Dayton this season and did little in the last 24 minutes to stop that streak.
The Flyers seized control at the end of the first half and dominated the second half to beat Saint Louis 70-56, completing their most impressive week of the season and moving into second place in the Atlantic 10 Conference with three weeks left in the regular season.
“I’m really proud of the effort the guys put in today,” Dayton coach Anthony Grant said. “We knew this was going to be a hard-fought game. We have a lot of respect for St. Louis and the team they have. Our guys understood that these opportunities at home are rare. We wanted to make sure we took advantage of it. I thought we did a great job. Our coaching staff put together a great scouting report. The guys did a great job of following that. I thought we set the tone in both halves.”
Dayton (17-9, 9-4) moved within a half game of first-place Virginia Commonwealth (18-7, 9-3), while Saint Louis (16-9, 8-4) dropped to third place.
Here are three takeaways from Dayton’s 26th game:
1. Malachi Smith returned to action and played a strong first half: After spraining his ankle six days earlier in a 68-59 loss at St. Bonaventure, Smith did not play Tuesday in a 62-58 victory at VCU. He returned to the starting lineup in this game and scored all 14 of his points in the first half. He made 5 of 7 shots from the field and led the team with six assists in 25 minutes.
Dayton turned an 18-13 deficit at the 14:17 mark into a 22-18 lead at the 11:33 mark. Smith scored the last four points in the run on back-to-back layups. He did not play in the last 11 minutes of the game after Dayton extended a 41-34 halftime lead to 54-38.
“That’s what he’s capable of,” said Dayton guard Koby Brea, who made 3 of 6 3-pointers and scored 13 points. “I feel like he’s one of the best point guards in the country. When he’s able to do the things he does, it opens up everything for all of us. He did a hell of a job. Unfortunately in the second half, he didn’t play too much but knowing him, I know he’ll bounce back and he’ll be fine.”
2. Dayton’s defense shut Saint Louis down in the second half: The Billikens made their first four 3-point attempts in the first four minutes and made 1 of 11 in the last 36 minutes. In the second half, they missed all six of their attempts. VCU put up even worse second-half numbers against Dayton on Tuesday, missing all nine of its 3-point attempts after halftime.
Saint Louis shot 39.5% (15 of 38), its third-worst performance of the season, from 2-point range. It shot 35.5% (5 of 15) from 3-point range after shooting 40% or better in six of its last seven games.
Saint Louis guard Yuri Collins, who leads the nation with 10.1 assists per game, had six assists.
3. Dayton proved again it will be one of the teams to beat in the A-10 tournament: The Flyers have been playing catch-up in the conference since losing four of six games after a 4-0 start. Now they can glimpse first place again, though they’ll need help from VCU to get there.
Whether Dayton can win the A-10 regular-season title or share it, by beating VCU and Saint Louis in a four-day stretch, it showed it’s capable of winning the A-10′s NCAA tournament bid in March in Brooklyn, N.Y.
“It’s game by game,” Dayton forward Toumani Camara said. “We’re on to the next game. We can’t get too much ahead of ourselves.”
STAR OF THE GAME
Toumani Camara led Dayton with 17 points and 10 rebounds. He made 5 of 8 shots from the field, including 2 of 2 3-pointers. He scored 26 points in the previous game against VCU. This was his third straight double-double and seventh of the season.
STAT OF THE GAME
Dayton made 9 of 22 3-pointers (40.9%). It is 10-1 when it shoots 40% or better.
LOOKING AHEAD
Dayton gets a week off before playing at last-place Loyola Chicago (8-15, 2-9) at 7 p.m. Feb. 17. The Flyers won the first matchup 85-81 in overtime on Jan. 31 at UD Arena. Loyola plays at Richmond (12-13, 5-7) on Saturday and at Massachusetts (13-11, 4-8) on Tuesday.
FRIDAY’S GAME
Dayton at Loyola Chicago, 7 p.m., ESPN2, 1290, 95.7
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