Dayton Flyers notes: With inside game shut down, Davis comes up big from outside

Jordan Davis takes advantage of George Washington’s defensive strategy

The Dayton Flyers expect more Atlantic 10 teams to concentrate on shutting down their inside game, daring them to shoot from the outside. That’s what George Washington did Wednesday. It almost worked.

Josh Cunningham and Obi Toppin, who combined for 41 points on 19-of-28 shooting in Dayton’s previous game against Richmond, were held to 10 points on 2-of-6 shooting at the Charles E. Smith Center.

» FIVE TAKEAWAYS: ‘Character-building win’ for Dayton

Dayton (10-5) rallied from a 33-11 deficit by making a season-high 10 of 23 3-pointers (43.5) and topping 40 percent for the fourth time. Jordan Davis made 7 of 11 and scored a career-high 25 points.

“It’s disappointing,” GW coach Maurice Joseph said. “Down the stretch, we gave up open looks, and they weren’t all open looks. Give the kid credit. He made seven 3s. Percentage wise, he hasn’t been shooting the ball very well. We thought overall they didn’t shoot the ball well as a team, so we were trying to pack it in, go under ball screens and force them to make jump shots, and to his credit, he made jump shots.”

Key moment: Dayton's Trey Landers played a key role in Dayton's victory with 12 points and seven rebounds but also was whistled for a technical foul in the second half after protesting a call. The Colonials hit 1 of 2 free throws to cut into Dayton's 62-58 lead at the 6:42 mark.

» TWENTY PHOTOS: Top shots from Wednesday night

Landers said he apologized to his teammates and coaches after the game.

“I was hot at that moment because the calls weren’t going our way,” Landers said. “I’m going up for a layup and clearly got grabbed, but I have to do a better job of not getting too out of whack.”

Alumni update: The Flyers took advantage of a scheduling coincidence and watched former teammate Kostas Antetokounmpo play a NBA G League game. Dayton flew to Washington on Tuesday afternoon, and Antetokounmpo and the Texas Legends played the Capital City Go-Go on Tuesday night at the Entertainment and Sports Arena on the southeast side of the city.

Antetokounmpo, who left the program in March after playing one season and was the last pick in the 2018 NBA Draft, had nine points and six rebounds in 24 minutes in a 114-105 loss. He’s averaging 9.1 points and 5.9 rebounds in 24 games. He has started 14 games.

» FIRST LOOK: What Dayton’s roster will look like in 2019-20

Ticket news: Dayton has sold out its three February home games vs. Duquesne (2 p.m., Feb 2), VCU (4 p.m., Feb. 16) and Saint Louis (4 p.m., Feb. 23). With those three games sold out, Dayton has sold out six games this season, bringing the total number of UD Arena sellouts to 124 since 1969.

There are fewer than 100 tickets left for the March 1 game vs. Rhode Island.

Looking ahead: Dayton plays Massachusetts (7-8, 0-2) at 3:30 p.m. Sunday at UD Arena (TV: NBC Sports Network).

The Minutemen lost 69-60 at home to La Salle (3-11, 1-1) in their A-10 opener and 65-62 at Saint Louis (11-4, 2-0) on Wednesday.

About the Author