Dayton Flyers end seven-game losing streak against top-25 opponents

Dayton (9-4, 5-3) is 2-1 in Quad 1 and 2-1 against Quad 2 but 5-2 against Quad 4. Losing to No. 176 La Salle at home and on the road to No. 315 Fordham, whose only victory came against Dayton, will be hard to overcome in the eyes of the NCAA tournament selection committee. Dayton likely will have to win the Atlantic 10 Conference tournament to earn its first NCAA tournament berth since 2017.

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The victory against No. 22 Saint Louis did end Dayton’s seven-game losing streak against top-25 opponents. Since winning 72-67 at No. 21 Vanderbilt on Dec. 9, 2015, Dayton hasn’t gotten many chances to beat ranked opponents. It played only one ranked team last season on its way to a 29-2 finish. This was the sixth game against a top-25 team in Anthony Grant’s four seasons as head coach.

Here’s a look back at the seven games in that losing streak:

1. Nov. 19, 2016: No. 17 Saint Mary’s 61, Dayton 57

The Flyers rallied from an 18-point deficit in the second half to get as close as two points in the final minutes. Xeyrius Williams came up with a steal in the final seconds on an in-bounds pass but was called for a charge driving to the basket. The Flyers trailed by two points at the time.

2. March 17, 2017: No. 19 Wichita State 64, Dayton 58

Kendall Pollard still had the energy to raise his arm and salute the fans of the Dayton Flyers as he left the court at Bankers Life Fieldhouse. Fellow senior Scoochie Smith, who set a school record by playing his 138th straight game and played all but three minutes in this one, did the same.

The No. 7 seed Flyers exited the court after a to No. 10 seed Wichita State in the first round of the NCAA Tournament with broken hearts but also with some perspective. They’ve seen real loss. They ran onto the court before the game while slapping hands with a cardboard cutout of their late teammate, Steve McElvene.

This defeat will sting for a while. That tragedy will pain them forever. No one will know what they would have done with a full team this season, with McElvene swatting shots and rattling rims. They could have used him against the Shockers, who broke open a close game in the final minutes with a 12-5 run.

Until that point, it was anyone’s game. There were 11 ties and 14 lead changes.

“I tell you we battled,” Dayton coach Archie Miller said. “We battled really hard. We were right there.”

3. Feb. 23, 2018: No. 18 Rhode Island 81, Dayton 56

Rhode Island broke open a close game in the second half and routed Dayton at the Ryan Center, clinching the outright Atlantic 10 regular-season title for the first time.

Confetti rained from the ceiling as the players celebrated with the student section. The No. 18 Rams improved to 23-4 and 15-1 with two games remaining.

Dayton (13-15, 7-9) fell from a tie for sixth place into ninth place.

4. Nov. 22, 2018: No. 4 Virginia 66, Dayton 59

The Flyers hung with Virginia for 40 minutes but didn’t make enough stops in the second half to get over the hump and lost in the semifinals of the Battle 4 Atlantis at Imperial Gym.

Dayton trailed throughout the second half but cut the deficit to four points four times. The last time came at the 1:29 mark on a dunk by Obi Toppin. However, Virginia answered with a 3-pointer by De’Andre Hunter, who led the team with 23 points.

That shot clinched the victory for the Cavaliers, who improved to 3-0 against Dayton. The teams hadn’t played since 1987. Virginia didn’t lead by more than nine points.

5. Nov. 30, 2018: No. 25 Mississippi State 65, Dayton 58

No. 25 Mississippi State outscored the Flyers 21-7 in the final six minutes to win at UD Arena.

Dayton led 51-44 at the 6:19 mark. The game was tied with under three minutes to play. Lamar Peters hit a 3-pointer with 2:17 left to put the Bulldogs ahead for good.

6. Dec. 8, 2018: No. 8 Auburn 82, Dayton 72

The Flyers made a run at the Tigers in the second half, cutting a 19-point deficit to six but lost at Auburn Arena.

The Flyers (5-4) lost their fourth game to a team ranked in the top 50 of the Ken Pomeroy rankings. In each of the games against Virginia, Oklahoma, Mississippi State and Oklahoma, they had the lead or were competitive in the second half.

7. Nov. 27, 2019: No. 4 Kansas 90, Dayton 84 (OT)

The Flyers pushed the nation’s fourth-ranked team for 45 minutes, showing they are every bit as good as they looked in the first two rounds of the Maui Invitational but falling short in overtime in the championship game Wednesday.

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Kansas was too strong in the post in the final minutes and in overtime and pulled out a victory at the Lahaina Civic Center. Despite the result, the game should rank among the greatest in Dayton history. Seeking their first victory against a top-five team since the famous last-second win over DePaul in 1984, the Flyers just couldn’t get enough stops in overtime.