This wasn’t the first time he had visited UD since his eight-year tenure — he lost to his successor, Archie Miller, in his third season at Georgia Tech on Dec. 23, 2014 — but it was the first time he saw the Flyers play since being promoted to general manager of the Phoenix Suns last spring.
Former Dayton assistant coach Anthony Solomon, now a scout for the Suns, joined Gregory at the arena.
Current Dayton coach Anthony Grant talked to Gregory before the game.
“It was great to see him in the building,” Grant said. “We’re obviously appreciative of everything that he did during his tenure here, and I know this place means a lot to him.”
Dayton wore black uniforms during its run to the NIT championship in Gregory’s second-to-last season, and they debuted new “Stealth Black” uniforms with him in attendance Friday. A 78-51 victory against Loyola Chicago ensured the uniforms will live to see another game.
“We’re 1-0 in them,” Dayton guard Javon Bennett said. “We can bring them back.”
Dayton broke open a one-point game with a 10-2 run to start the second half and then put away Loyola with a 26-6 run in the final nine-plus minutes.
“We were slacking a little bit in the first half,” Dayton guard De’Shayne Montgomery said, “and we just picked it up in the second half and played how we usually play.”
Here are three takeaways from Dayton’s 18th game:
Credit: David Jablonski
1: This was, by far, Dayton’s most dominant performance in Atlantic 10 Conference play: The Flyers (14-4, 5-0), moved into a tie for first place in the Atlantic 10 Conference with George Mason (17-1, 5-0) with 13 games to play.
Dayton won its first four A-10 games by a total of 22 points with seven points being the largest margin of victory. This 27-point victory was the most lopsided result in the series since a 75-37 Dayton victory in 1956. The teams have played 45 times since then, including seven times in the last four seasons.
The rout came 13 days after Bennett’s basket with 1.9 seconds to play lifted Dayton to a 70-68 victory against Loyola in Chicago. There was no such drama this time, though Loyola trailed by only one point at halftime, 31-30, despite playing without six players, including three of its top four scorers.
Loyola (5-14, 1-5) lost its fifth straight game. It played George Mason close before losing 82-74 on Tuesday but lost its previous game 101-66 at George Washington.
Grant praised Loyola coach Drew Valentine for “piecing guys together.”
“We went through something like that a few years ago,” Grant said. “You’re missing key pieces, and you almost have to reinvent your identity based on who you have available.”
Credit: David Jablonski
Credit: David Jablonski
2: Dayton shot the 3-pointer well after a slow start: The Flyers made 3 of 11 3-pointers in the first half and 7 of 12 in the second half. They shot 43.5% (10 of 23) after shooting 40% (8 of 20) in a 71-65 victory at Duquesne.
“Our guys in the second half did a really good job of staying disciplined on the defensive end,” Grant said, “and then our defense created offense for us, which allowed us to make it more our style of play than it was in the first half. We were able to be a little bit more intentional on the offensive end with the way we attacked them. I thought we did a really good job of putting pressure on the rim, and then because of that and building a lead, we were able to get some extra-pass 3s that opened the game up for us. So overall I’m really pleased with the way we were able to finish.”
Dayton shot 30% or worse from 3-point range in its first three A-10 games against Fordham, Loyola and George Washington. Its season percentage stands at 32.9. That’s 0.8 below the national average.
Montgomery made 3 of 8 3s and led Dayton with 21 points. Bennett made 3 of 6 and scored 19.
Freshman forward Damon Friery, who made his first career 3 at Duquesne, made 2 of 3 in three-plus minutes of action.
3: One of Dayton’s injured players returned: While Malcolm Thomas missed his fifth straight game and Jordan Derkack missed his second straight game, sophomore forward Amaël L’Etang returned to action after missing four games with a knee injury
L’Etang had two rebounds and three blocks in 14 minutes. He missed his only field-goal attempt and his only free-throw attempt.
“This was probably the most basketball he’s played in the last month,” Grant said, “so it’s good to have him back. He worked really hard with the training staff and the medical staff to try to put himself in a position where he could be available. So I think it was just good for him to get out there and get a feel for competition again.”
NEXT GAME
Who: Dayton at La. Salle (5-13, 1-4)
When: 6:30 p.m., Wednesday
TV: ESPN+
Radio: 95.7-FM, 1290-AM
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