In other words, nothing foreshadowed what Davis did Friday in a 106-79 victory against Virginia Commonwealth at UD Arena. He scored 11 points in the first four minutes and finished with a career-high 21 points in 28 minutes. He's now averaging 8.5 points in 24.1 minutes per game.
âAfter the first couple, I felt like I was hot, so I wanted to keep shooting and be aggressive,â Davis said.
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âA lot of credit goes to that young fella,â senior guard Darrell Davis said. âThe last game he didnât play a lot of minutes, and Iâm sure fans were wondering why, but he came out tonight with a spark.â
Darrell Davis said he didnât know why Jordan wasnât playing as many minutes, but coach Anthony Grant provided an answer after the game.
âHe needed to be more aggressive, needed to do the things he has shown early,â Grant said, âand I thought tonight he came out really aggressive on both sides. He did a really good job being locked in to what he had to, and itâs great to see it pay dividends for him.â
Missing player: Dayton redshirt freshman forward Kostas Antetokounmpo didn't play Friday because of an illness. He was at the arena but not on the bench.
âSome type of virus,â Grant said. âI think itâs going around. Weâve got a couple different people in the office who have had it. Hopefully, heâll be back soon.â
Back on bench: Freshman Jordan Pierce was back on the bench. He didn't travel with the team to Richmond, staying behind because of a disciplinary issue.
Moving up: Darrell Davis tied his career high with 28 points. He has 831 points in his career. On Friday, he passed Norman Plummer (804), Allen Elijah (806), David Morris (812), Nate Green (818) and Kyle Davis (820) on Dayton's all-time scoring list.
Hot shooter: Xeyrius Williams struggled from long range for most of the season. In his first nine appearances, he made 12 of 44 3-pointers (27.3 percent).
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In the last three games, though, Williams has made six 3-pointers in a row. He made 3 of 3 against UMass, didnât attempt a shot Tuesday in an 87-81 victory at Richmond and made 3 of 3 against VCU. He had nine points in 14 minutes.
Looking ahead: Dayton plays St. Joseph's at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday in Philadelphia. Dayton has lost eight straight games at Hagan Arena.
Like Dayton, St. Josephâs (7-8, 2-2) has victories against two of the best teams in the Atlantic 10: VCU (11-7, 3-2) and St. Bonaventure (12-4, 2-2). It also has losses to George Washington (8-9, 1-3) and George Mason (8-9, 2-2).
George Mason beat St. Josephâs 81-79 on Wednesday on a long 3-pointer by Otis Livingston II at the buzzer.
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