Dayton basketball: Flyers dominate second half against UNCW to reach NIT quarterfinals

What it means: Dayton (25-11) followed an 80-66 first-round victory at Bradley on Wednesday with another strong performance on the road. The Flyers have won 10 of their last 12 games with the only two losses coming against Virginia Commonwealth.

The Flyers lost in the second round of the NIT twice in Anthony Grant’s first eight seasons as coach: at Vanderbilt in 2022; and at Chattanooga in 2025. This is their first NIT second-round victory since they won 81-66 at Cincinnati in 2010 en route to their third NIT championship.

Dayton improved to 4-0 against UNCW (27-7) and 2-0 against the Seahawks in the NIT. This was the first game in the series since 2011.

Dayton spoiled the first postseason home game in UNCW’s history. This was UNCW’s third NIT appearance.

Star of the game: De’Shayne Montgomery led Dayton with 20 points on 8-of-13 shooting.

Stat of the game: Dayton shot 36% (9 of 25) from 3-point range. UNCW shot 14% (3 of 21), its second-worst percentage of the season.

Turning point: Dayton led 37-35 after UNCW scored the first basket of the second half. The Flyers outscored the Seahawks 16-2 in the next six minutes and led by double digits the rest of the way.

Looking ahead: No. 2 seed Dayton will play No. 1 seed Wake Forest or Illinois State on Tuesday or Wednesday in the quarterfinals. Those teams play at 4:30 p.m. Sunday in Winston-Salem, N.C.

If Wake Forest loses, Dayton would play at home in the quarterfinals. If Wake Forest wins, Dayton will play on the road.

HALFTIME RECAP

Dayton erased a 10-point deficit to take a 37-33 halftime lead.

Here’s a quick recap of the first half:

Key player: Montgomery led Dayton with 12 points on 5-of-9 shooting.

Key stat: Dayton made 5 of 14 3-pointers (36%). Wilmington made 1 of 6 (17%).

Turning point: Dayton trailed 24-14 with 10 minutes to play and then began a 16-4 run that started with 3s by Javon Bennett and Jacob Conner. A layup by Bennett with 5:45 to play gave Dayton a 30-28 lead.

Big plays: Dayton trailed 33-32 entering the last two minutes. It ended the half on a 5-0 run.

UNCW had a chance to play for the last shot but the turned the ball over. Bennett then scored on a layup at the buzzer.