Bracket revealed for Dayton’s November tournament

Dayton, Miami Hurricanes will play for the first time since 1989

Credit: Al Diaz

Credit: Al Diaz

The Dayton Flyers will play the Miami Hurricanes at noon on Thanksgiving in the first game of the ESPN Events Invitational.

The bracket was announced Thursday and also includes these first-round matchups that follow Dayton vs. Miami on Nov. 25: Kansas vs. North Texas; Drake vs. Belmont; and Alabama vs. Iona.

Dayton will play Kansas or North Texas on the second day of the tournament on Nov. 26. After a day off for all teams, the event concludes on Nov. 28. All the games will be televised on ESPN networks.

Ticket information will be announced later this summer, and fans can sign up on the event website to guarantee first access to tickets and a $10 discount on all tickets.

All games will take place at the HP Field House at ESPN Wide World of Sports near Orlando, Fla. Dayton last played there in November 2015 when the tournament was called the Advocare Invitational. The Flyers beat Iowa and Monmouth before losing to Xavier.

Dayton and the University of Miami last played on Dec. 6, 1989, at Miami Arena. The Flyers lost 87-82. It was Jim O’Brien’s first loss as head coach after a 3-0 start.

That was the final game in a four-game series that started in 1986. Dayton won the first three games and also beat Miami in 1956, 1967, 1968 and 1970. UD leads the series 7-1.

Miami finished 10-17 last season. It was the worst record for coach Jim Larrañaga in 10 seasons. His team lost five players to the transfer portal following the season but got good news this summer when Isaiah Wong (17.1 points per game) and Kameron McGusty (13.3), the top-two leading scorers last season, decided to return to school instead of keeping their names in the NBA Draft.

Dayton played both its potential second-round opponents in the 2019-20 season. It lost 90-84 to Kansas in overtime in the Maui Invitational championship game and beat North Texas 71-58 at UD Arena.

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