DAYTON– The University of Dayton men's basketball team opened up the 2015-16 regular season Friday night with an 84-53 win over the Southeast Missouri State Redhawks in front of 13,216 Flyers fans at UD Arena.
GAME BREAKDOWN• Dayton jumped out to a 16-1 lead early in the first half.
• Southeast Missouri State responded with a 6-0 run to cut the lead to nine, but that would be the last time the Redhawks would be within 10 points of the Flyers.
• Dayton led at halftime, 46-16.
• A big reason for Dayton's hot start was its ability to force turnovers early in the game. In the first half alone, the Flyers forced 13 Redhawk turnovers, including 4 steals by
Scoochie Smith.
• Dayton's defense was able to hold Southeast Missouri State to a low shooting percentage all game long. For the game, the Redhawks shot just 20-64 (31%) from the floor and 5-25 (20%) on three-pointers.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS• Eleven Flyers reached the scoring column, including six players who are new to Dayton's rotation in 2015-16.
• Freshman
Ryan Mikesell scored a game-high 21 points.
• Mikesell was 5-7 on three-point field goals.
•
Darrell Davis was the only other Flyer to reach double-figures in scoring with 15 points.
•
Kendall Pollard was the game's leading rebounder, grabbing 10 boards
•
Scoochie Smith pitched in with five assists, also a game-high.
• The win marked Dayton's 11th consecutive victory in home openers and its 23rd straight overall at UD Arena.
•
Archie Miller is a perfect 5-0 on opening day.
KEY STAT• 21 – Freshman
Ryan Mikesell scored 21 points on Friday night, including five three-pointers. That marks the third highest point total by a freshman in his debut in Dayton basketball history. Marcus Johnson 23 points in his debut in 2006 and Chris Wright's 22 points in 2007 are the only two marks to top Mikesell's performance on Friday night.
UP NEXTThe Flyers host Alabama Tuesday, Nov. 17 at 1 p.m. at UD Arena. The Alabama game is part of ESPN's Tip-Off Marathon.
