“I would say so,” Caputo said. “We did play at South Carolina, and they’re having a hell of a year. They have a lot of older guys, a lot of fifth-year guys. But I think (Dayton) is the best team we’ve played. DaRon (Holmes II) is probably the best player we’ve played against.”
Caputo made that pick after an 83-61 loss to No. 21 Dayton and likely before he knew South Carolina won 63-59 at No. 5 Tennessee on the same night, but the Flyers have impressed coaches all season — and Caputo was the latest.
Dayton (17-3, 7-1) bounced back from a 69-64 loss at Richmond on Saturday with its fourth victory by 20 or more points this season. They Flyers won their 10th straight home and extended their winning streak against George Washington at UD Arena to 10 games as well. Not since Carl Elliott’s wild buzzer-beater to beat the Flyers 62-59 at UD Arena in 2005 have the Revolutionaries (the former Colonials) won in Dayton.
With the victory, Dayton stayed in second place in the Atlantic 10 Conference. It trails Richmond (15-5, 7-1), which plays at Fordham on Wednesday, by a half game with 10 games to play. UD climbed from No. 19 to No. 17 in the NCAA Evaluation Tool.
George Washington’s hopes Tuesday evaporated fast after it took a 3-0 lead. The Flyers answered with a 7-0 run and didn’t trail the rest of the night. They pushed the lead to 24-9 with a 12-0 run, led 38-24 at halftime and extended their advantage to 23 points in the first six minutes of the second half.
It was the type of performance Dayton wanted after its first loss since November.
“It felt better,” Holmes said. “That was a tough game on the road. We fell short, so we bounced back pretty well today. We did what we needed to do.”
Holmes scored 25 points and grabbed 12 rebounds. Earlier in the day, he was one of 20 players named to the late-season watch list for the John R. Wooden Award, one of the national player of the year honors. One game earlier, he had nine points and eight rebounds and played a season-low 25 minutes because of foul trouble.
“That’s just basketball,” Dayton coach Anthony Grant said. “I think at any level you’re going to see guys that maybe don’t play to the level that everybody expects them to play at on a daily basis. DaRon is no different. I’ve said this ad nauseam. He’s 21 years old. He’s still learning. He’s still growing. And I thought he did a great job today of responding to the loss and the adversity. He did a great job of keeping his head and focus on the things he can control. You can’t go into the past. You can’t look into the future. You’ve got to be where your feet are. And he did a great job of doing that tonight.”
Holmes did not make a two-point shot for the first time in his college career Saturday and attempted only three shots inside the paint while making 2 of 9 3-pointers. He went the other way in this game, making 9 of 13 two-point attempts without attempting a 3-pointer.
“It wasn’t that I wasn’t trying to shoot any 3s,” Holmes said. “It was just that I know that me going inside helps all my teammates a lot. Whether it’s me scoring or creating for them, that’s what our team needs. So that’s a big part of my game. I can’t forget that part. I was trying to make sure I locked in for this game. Going forward, the 3-ball is still a part of my game, but the biggest part is me being able to help my team inside.”
George Washington often sent a double teams at Holmes when he started back down a defender in the paint. He finished with four assists by passing out of it at times to open shooters. The Flyers made 12 of 24 3-pointers. Koby Brea, who leads the nation in 3-point accuracy (58 of 119, 48.7%), made 5 of 9 and scored 17 points. Nate Santos scored all 17 of his points in the first half, making 3 of 4 3-pointers.
Caputo said deciding whether to double teams Holmes is a hard decision.
“We have a very good defensive center who had a hard time with him,” Caputo said. “He’s a good passer. He’s obviously used to being doubled. It’s not like these reads are now. I’m sure they’re spending a lot of time on getting it out of there when he is doubled. He’s got great size. he’s a good passer. They’ve put a lot of shooting around them. So you’re damned if you do damned if you don’t. You try to mix up as best you can. I thought for a little bit of the game that was actually not so bad for us. But on the offensive end, we couldn’t get anything going so we couldn’t keep the game closer.”»
Dayton held George Washington to 32.3% shooting (21 of 65) from the field and 17.2% shooting (5 of 29) from 3-point range. George Washington’s effective field-goal percentage (36.1%) was its worst of the season.
Guard James Bishop IV, averaging 17.9 points entering the game, scored 10 points on 2-of-12 shooting. He missed all six of his 3-point attempts. Last season, George Washington beat Dayton 76-69 in Washington, D.C., thanks in part to 27 points by Bishop.
The Revolutionaries (14-7, 3-5) lost their fourth straight game, scoring a season-low 61 points.
”I thought (defense) was really the whole key,” Grant said. “A lot of times, you get caught up in records and things like that. That’s a very dangerous basketball team, I’m just telling you. Bishop is one of the elite guards with the way he can score and not only create for himself but for everybody else. The freshman (Darren Buchanan Jr.), he’s probably the leading candidate for freshman of the year.”
FRIDAY’S GAME
St. Bonaventure at Dayton, 7 p.m., ESPN2, 1290, 95.7
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