Dayton falls short of upset against No. 9 BYU in ESPN Events Invitational final

What it means: Dayton (6-2) finished runner-up in the event for the second time. It lost to Xavier in the championship game in 2015. It won the title in 2011 and 2022. It is 10-2 in the tournament.

Brigham Young (6-1) improved to 4-0 in the series against Dayton.

Stars of the game: BYU senior Richie Saunders, the only player who played in this game and in the last meeting between the two schools in 2022, scored 29 points. He made 6 of 10 3-pointers.

Javon Bennett led Dayton with 22 points. He made 6 of 11 3-pointers.

Stat of the game: Dayton made 6 of 14 free throws. BYU made 15 of 18.

Big runs: Dayton led 39-30 after a 3-pointer by De’Shayne Montgomery on the first possession of the second half. BYU then outscored Dayton 15-0 in less than four minutes.

BYU’s run continued, and it stretched its lead to 56-43 with 12 minutes, 47 seconds to play.

Comeback: Dayton chipped away at the lead and tied the game at 67-67 on a fast-break layup by Bryce Heard with four minutes to play. BYU answered with a 3, but Heard again tied the game, this time on a 3.

Big plays: BYU took the lead for good on a 4-point play by Saunders with 2:56 to play.

Dayton still had a chance in the final minute. Heard, who scored a career-high 16 points and made 4 of 5 3s, made a 3 with 52 seconds remaining.

Dayton forced a turnover. Then Montgomery missed a shot at the rim that would have cut the deficit to one point. That’s where the comeback stalled.

Looking ahead: Dayton plays East Tennessee State (5-1) at 7 p.m. Tuesday at UD Arena.

HALFTIME RECAP

Dayton by as many as 11 points in the first half and took a 36-30 lead into halftime.

Here’s a quick recap of the first half:

Key player: Bennett made 6 of 10 shots, including 5 of 8 3-pointers. He scored 17 points for Dayton.

Bennett made 2 of 10 3s in an 84-79 overtime victory against Georgetown in the first round Thursday.

Key stat: Dayton shot 42% (8 of 19) from 3-point range, while BYU shot 27% (3 of 11).

Big run: The game was tied at 22-22 with 7:19 to play. A jumper by Bennett started an 11-2 run. He made two 3s in the stretch, and Bryce Heard added another 3.

Dayton led 33-24 with four minutes to play.

Strong start: Dayton opened the game with a 15-6 run.

Missed opportunities: Jordan Derkack made 1 of 5 free throws. He missed all three attempts after being fouled on a 3-point shot.

Earlier game: Miami beat Georgetown 78-65 in the consolation game.