What it means: Dayton (2-1) lost for the second straight season to Cincinnati (3-0). The teams split two matchups at the Heritage Bank Center in 2023 and 2024. They play again at UD Arena in 2026.
Stars of the game: Cincinnati guard Day Day Thomas led all scored with 20 points. He made 12 of 12 free throws.
Amaël L’Etang led Dayton with 14 points on 4-of-11 shooting. He also had eight rebounds.
Key stat: Dayton shot 7.7% (2 of 26) from 3-point range, while Cincinnati shot 47.4% (9 of 19).
Key moment: Dayton trailed by as many as 16 points in the first half and trailed 48-38 in the second half when it started an 8-0 run, cutting Cincinnati’s lead to 48-46 on a dunk by De’Shayne Montgomery with 9:32 to play.
Cincinnati answered with a 12-2 run and had a comfortable cushion the rest of the way.
Looking ahead: Dayton plays Bethune Cookman (1-2) at 7:30 p.m. Saturday at UD Arena.
HALFTIME RECAP
Dayton trailed Cincinnati by as many as 16 points in the first half but trimmed the deficit to 33-26 at halftime.
Here’s a quick recap of the first half:
Key players: L’Etang led Dayton with seven points on 2-of-7 shooting.
Shon Abaev led Cincinnati with eight points on 3-of-3 shooting.
Key stat: Cincinnati made 5 of 10 3-pointers. Dayton made 1 of 13.
Sloppy play: Cincinnati committed 14 turnovers to Dayton’s eight.
Big lead: Cincinnati led 27-11 with 8 minutes, 56 seconds to play in the half. Dayton outscored the Bearcats 15-6 the rest of the way.
Key play: Dayton made four free throws on one possession with 30 seconds to play. Jordan Derkack was fouled and made both. Cincinnati’s Baba Miller also received a technical foul on the play, and Javon Bennett made both technical free throws.
About the Author
