Dayton Flyers basketball: A brief history of neutral court games

For years, Dayton has found non-conference games by agreeing to play on neutral courts. Many teams that don’t want to play the Flyers at UD Arena will agree to one game at an NBA arena, or a similar facility.

“I think anymore you’ve got to be a little bit creative in scheduling,” UD Vice President and Director of Athletics Neil Sullivan said in 2023 when talking about the start of a series with the Cincinnati Bearcats at the Heritage Bank Center in Cincinnati, “and we put enough feelers out and have enough conversations with neutral site games. It’s tough to get a home and home with them, which is just a reality. So you’ve got to do the next best thing.”

Cincinnati and Dayton did agree to a home-and-home series earlier this year. The same thing happened with Dayton and Northwestern, which played a game at the United Center in Chicago in the 2016-17 and then scheduled a home-and-home series for the 2023-24 and 2024-25 seasons.

In recent years, Dayton has had more success getting teams to agree to come to UD Arena, though this quote from one opposing coach or AD in 2019, still leads to some neutral-site games: “Your place is a deathtrap,” Sullivan was told.

Here’s a look back at eight games Dayton has played on neutral courts in the 13 seasons I’ve covered the team, not including postseason games or games played in November tournaments.

Dec. 20, 2024: Cincinnati 66, Dayton 59

Where: Heritage Bank Center, Cincinnati.

What I wrote: The Dayton Flyers have escaped many deep holes over the last two seasons: 17 points against Virginia Commonwealth last March; 17 against Nevada in the NCAA tournament; 13 against Northwestern in November; and 13 points last Saturday against Marquette.

On Friday against No. 19 Cincinnati, the No. 22 Flyers finally found a hole that was too deep. They trailed by 18-points with under eight minutes to play and cut the deficit to four points on a 3-pointer by Malachi Smith with 2 minutes, 1 second remaining. They then nearly made it a one possession game, but a reverse layup attempt by Nate Santos rolled off the rim with 1:22 left.

That’s where the comeback stalled in a 66-59 loss in the second annual Hoops Classic at the Heritage Bank Center, where a crowd of 15,107 watched UC avenge an 82-68 loss to Dayton in 2023. The Flyers looked to be on their way to their most lopsided loss of the last two seasons but salvaged some pride with the late rally.

Dec. 16, 2023: Dayton 82, Cincinnati 68

Where: Heritage Bank Center, Cincinnati.

The Dayton Flyers wore Chapel Blue hoodies with the phrase “Dayton Against the World” printed on the front as they boarded a bus to Cincinnati outside the Cronin Center on Saturday.

Dayton has had a fair degree of success in the world at large over the years, but not so much in the Queen City. The Flyers have lost all 13 games they have played against Xavier in the Cintas Center. They’re 1-7 at Fifth Third Arena, the home court of the Cincinnati Bearcats. They began the weekend with three victories in 14 chances at the Heritage Bank Center.

Did any of the Flyers, all of whom were born in this century, know much about that history? Maybe the local walk-ons: Brady Uhl, for example, with his family’s long history at UD.

Dayton’s star player, DaRon Holmes II, only knew this was an important game for a number of reasons.

“We already know Dayton-Xavier is a big rivalry,” Holmes said, “so I know Cincinnati is probably the same way. Even though I’ve never played Cincinnati before, you could just feel it before the game, leading up to it, how much this game meant.”

Dec. 17, 2022: Dayton 66, Wyoming 49

Where: United Center, Chicago.

What I wrote: Former Dayton Flyers guards Johnny Davis and Sedric Toney sat courtside, just feet away from coach Anthony Grant and the players on Saturday at the United Center.

They weren’t the only former Flyers in the building. Elijah Weaver, who played for Dayton the last two seasons and now plays at Chicago State, hugged Grant as he left the court.

Dayton has always had a strong connection to the Windy City and had strong fan showings — not only from former Flyers but from the Flyer Faithful — in 2016 when it lost to Northwestern at the United Center and in 2019 when it lost to Colorado in overtime.

This time, the Flyers rewarded the fans who traveled to Chicago or who journeyed from their Chicago homes to the game. They never trailed after falling behind 2-0 and controlled the action most of the game in a 66-49 victory against Wyoming.

“Moving forward, this was definitely a game that was necessary for us,” Dayton guard Koby Brea said.

Credit: ©Scott Cunningham

Credit: ©Scott Cunningham

Dec. 12, 2020: Dayton 85, Mississippi State 82 (OT)

Where: State Farm Arena, Atlanta, Ga.

What I wrote: The Dayton Flyers beat Mississippi State for the first time, won their first road game of the 2020-21 season, won their first double-overtime game in almost two years, survived despite giving up their second last-second heartbreaking shot of the season and won in part because of a freshman’s first career 3-pointer.

Dayton prevailed 85-82 on Saturday in the Holiday Hoopsgiving event at State Farm Arena in Atlanta. An empty arena — no fans were allowed because of the COVID-19 pandemic — saw Dayton pull ahead with an 8-0 run in the second overtime.

Dayton tied the game at 78-78 on a 3-pointer by Ibi Watson with 2:49 to play in the second overtime. Jordy Tshimanga made 1 of 2 free throws with 1:25 left to break the tie. Then Watson, who scored 21 points, hit a tough jump shot in traffic with 35 seconds remaining.

Jalen Crutcher, who led Dayton with 23 points and played all 50 minutes, made 4 of 6 free throws in the final 15 seconds.

Dec. 21, 2019: Colorado 78, Dayton 76 (OT)

Where: United Center, Chicago, Ill.

What I wrote: There’s a thin line between good and great in college basketball. There’s little doubt the No. 13 Dayton Flyers are very good. They are a couple of plays away from being great — a couple of plays away from being undefeated.

Dayton players left the court at the United Center on Saturday with their hands on their heads or their heads bowed in disappointment following a 78-76 overtime loss to Colorado. Seconds earlier, D’Shawn Schwartz made a game-winning 3-pointer at the buzzer, slapping hands with fans in the front row before his teammates surrounded him in a celebratory mob.

“The way the game ended, it’s tough to take,” Dayton coach Anthony Grant said. “But we’ll go back and look at some things that we can learn from this game in terms of what we need to do to make sure we don’t have this feeling again. This is a team I think still has a lot of room to grow, a lot of room to improve, and what we have got to be able to do is mature in some areas as a team to be able to reach the potential that we think we can reach.”

Dec. 8, 2019: Dayton 78, Saint Mary’s 69

Where: Talking Stick Resort Arena, Phoenix, Ariz.

What I wrote: The Dayton Flyers slapped hands with fans in the court-side seats and pointed to other fans in the stands at Talking Stick Resort Arena as they left the court following a 78-68 victory over Saint Mary’s on Sunday.

Facing its first big test as a ranked team, No. 19 Dayton (7-1) dominated from the opening minutes and withstood a run by the Gaels in the second half to improve to 7-1. It is the most important victory of the season so far for the Flyers and gives them a strong victory for their NCAA tournament resume.

“They’re a really good team,” Dayton forward Obi Toppin said. “We knew coming in here if we beat them it’s good for us. We knew they’re a really good shooting team, and we had that under control in the first half, and it was a high energy booster for us. We just had to finish it off in the second half.”

Dec. 16, 2018: Tulsa 72, Dayton 67

Where: Mohegan Sun Arena, Uncasville, Conn.

What I wrote: The Toppin family took over one section of the stands at Mohegan Sun Arena on Sunday. Dayton forward Obi Toppin’s mom, Roni, wore a shirt that read, “I’m Obi’s mom.” An aunt wore her version of that shirt.

Obi’s dad, Obadiah Toppin, even got some court time, participating in a shooting contest during a timeout in the first half. The Toppins traveled about two hours to the game from Ossining, N.Y.

The family witnessed in person what fans of the Dayton Flyers have seen all season: a team with potential, a team that can compete with the best teams in college basketball and also a team with weaknesses and inconsistencies that continue to hold it back and make it the definition of average almost a third of the way through the regular season.

After a 72-67 loss to Tulsa in the Basketball Hall of Fame Holiday Showcase, Dayton sits at 5-5. It has lost to five good teams. It would like to think of itself as a good team and still has three non-conference games and 18 Atlantic 10 games to prove it is. With the losses mounting — five in the last six games — fans are doubting whether the team will ever live up to the potential it showed in close losses to three-top 25 teams.

Dec. 17, 2016: Northwestern 67, Dayton 64

Where: United Center, Chicago, Ill.

What I wrote: Dayton Flyers coach Archie Miller put the blame on himself Saturday after a 67-64 loss to Northwestern at the United Center in Chicago.

“Clearly, we weren’t ready to go out of the gate,” Miller said, “and that sort of starts with me. We’ll get back to the drawing board.”

Dayton (7-3) had not trailed by more than two points in the five-game winning streak that preceded this loss. It reverted to the form it showed earlier this season in losses to Saint Mary’s and Nebraska, falling behind by double digits, fighting like crazy to rally and then coming up short at the end.