Dayton basketball: Belgian guard contributes to victory at Duquesne

Beyond that, Pouedet didn’t know much about the Dayton Flyers until an opportunity to play with them came about two months ago. He had hoped to find a school last summer, but it didn’t happen.

“I had a unique summer,” Pouedet said. “I had no team, and then on a random day in November, I got a call from my agent about Dayton, and I just knew right away that’s where I want to go to and it was the right opportunity for me.”

Pouedet, a 6-foot-2, 22-year-old guard, signed with Dayton on Nov. 25, arrived on campus in the second week of December and made his debut in a 64-61 loss to Liberty on Dec. 21.

Pouedet played 12 minutes in that first appearance and made his only field-goal attempt. He played a total of 10 minutes in the next three games and tallied a single assist in each game but didn’t attempt a shot.

Then, in a 71-65 victory at Duquesne on Tuesday, Pouedet scored four points in 14 minutes. The four points came on two free throws and a layup on back-to-back possessions midway through the second half.

“It’s great to help,” Pouedet said. “It’s awesome. It’s a really good team. So I’m just happy I can help. It’s been tough. It’s always supposed to be when you join teams in the middle of the season. It’s not supposed to be easy.

“It’s nice to score. It’s nice to help the team. I just have to be aggressive, and the rest will come.”

Dayton added Pouedet to address a lack of depth at the guard position. The team lost freshman guard Jaron McKie to season-ending shoulder surgery in October. Sophomore guard Adam Njie Jr. was sidelined by what UD described as a “potential eligibility issue” and didn’t play in a game before leaving the university and the program after the first semester.

Another player who has played point guard, Jordan Derkack, missed the game Tuesday with a lower-body injury. Two big men, Malcolm Thomas and Amaël L’Etang, missed their fourth straight game with injuries.

With eight available scholarship players, Pouedet and freshman Damon Friery received more playing time than usual and made the most of it.

“Everything’s new to (Pouedet) in terms of what we do and how we do it,” Dayton coach Anthony Grant said. “So the only thing that he can do to get the experience is to go through it. This opportunity, I think, will only help him. It’ll help our team.”

Pouedet said he’s still learning the system and that “it’s a process.”

“It’s tough, because as a point guard, you can’t go to the corner and just wait,” he said. “You have to be that guy. You have to be the leader. I’m just learning because I’m used to a different type of basketball. but it’s good, man. I’m happy.”

Dayton (13-4 overall) improved to 4-0 in the Atlantic 10 Conference and won its second A-10 road game Tuesday in Pittsburgh.

“I’m really impressed,” Pouedet said. “Like I said, I haven’t followed (Dayton). I just started following them in November. ... Down three guys who really play (and still winning), I haven’t seen that ever.”

Dayton returns to action at 8:30 p.m. Friday against Loyola Chicago. There will be 13,000-plus fans as usual at UD Arena. Pouedet said the largest crowd he played in front of previously in his career numbered maybe 5,000.

“I’ve really enjoyed it,” he said. “It’s insane.”

Credit: David Jablonski

Credit: David Jablonski