And UD obliged, missing all but one of 17 first-half 3-pointers and finishing only a slightly better 3 of 25 from beyond the arc overall.
McElvene had four points and four rebounds, but again fouled out, this time in just 12 minutes. Aggressive to a fault, he could have maxed out in personals much sooner.
Miller played 19 minutes and responded with a career-high nine points but just one rebound. Charles Cooke hit a couple 3’s and tallied a game-high 21 points for the Flyers (11-2).
“When you’re 1 for 17 in the first half, the guys were a little taken back,” Flyers coach Archie Miller said. “Charles wasn’t out there and I think he felt good about himself coming out at halftime.
“I give this team some credit. Sometimes it’s not the smoothest or it’s not the prettiest, but usually at the end of the day we’re still fighting and competing and playing to win.”
Here’s three other things you need to know from UD’s 66-58 victory:
1. It was the Atlantic-10 opener for both teams, or, crunch time in coach-speak. Rather than favoring a few, Miller went with essentially a 10-deep lineup.
Nine Flyers played double-digit minutes and Dyshawn Pierre the most (34). It was his second game back after serving a fall semester suspension. Miller vowed Pierre will play extra minutes “as long as he can take it” as he plays game-shape catchup.
Freshman backup center Sam Miller (17 minutes) played five minutes in the previous defeat of Arkansas and freshman Ryan Mikesell (8) of St. Henry High School was a “DNP” vs. Arkansas.
2. Duquesne should be much improved on the return visit to UD Arena on Feb. 9. The Dukes (10-4) were without 3-point bomber Micah Mason (43 of 101; .426 percent) as he recovers from an ankle sprain at Duquesne's previous loss at Georgia Tech.
Derrick Colter (17.8) and Mason (16.1) are the Dukes’ high-scoring backcourt.
“Both of them are good players and we know we’re going to see them again,” said Flyer Kyle Davis.
Miller is certain of that.
“Unfortunately for Duquesne they were a little light-handed,” he said. “Micah Mason is one of the best guards not only in the conference, so we got lucky there. The next time we see them, hopefully, he’ll be on the floor because those guys, he and Colter, are really good for them.”
3. A familiar face to all Dayton fans was anchored on the baseline. Dave Harper, the longtime associate athletic director at UD, was hired as Duquesne's AD last October. The former Bellbrook resident and Wright State graduate began his collegiate coaching career as an assistant football coach at nearby Robert Morris University in Pittsburgh.
Harper left UD in 2003-05 to be an assistant AD at Michigan, then returned to UD for the next 10 years.
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