AUBURN, Ala. – The University of Dayton men's basketball team fell to No. 8 Auburn on Friday evening by a score of 82-72.

Jalen Crutcher made a 3-pointer to cut the Auburn lead to 37-29 with 3:35 in the first half, but the Tigers finished the half on a 14-3 run to take a 19-point advantage into the break. Dayton went on a 10-0 run that cut the lead back down to six with 13:31 to play, but that is as close as the Flyers would get to catching the Tigers.

GAME BREAKDOWN
1st Half: Auburn 51, Dayton 32
• Dayton had five turnovers in the first four minutes of the game, compared to just one committed by Auburn, allowing the Tigers to jump out to a 10-2 lead at the first media timeout with 15:43 to play.
• A 3-pointer from Jalen Crutcher made the score 37-29 with 3:35 left in the opening half, but Auburn finished the half on a 14-3 run in the final 2:29 to take a 19-point lead into halftime.
 
2nd Half: Auburn 82, Dayton 72
• Jalen Crutcher scored the first five points of the second half to give the Flyers some momentum out of the half.                     
• Ryan Mikesell made a 3-pointer with 14:01 to play to cut the lead back to single digits for the first time since the 2:29 mark of the first half. Trey Landers threw down a dunk on the next possession to cap off the Dayton 10-0 run and make the score 58-52.
• After the 10-0 run from the Flyers, Auburn used four 3-pointers to go on a 16-4 run of its own to push the lead back up to 18 points, which proved to be too much for Dayton to come back from.
• An Obi Toppin 3-pointer brought the lead back down to single digits at 80-72 with 1:41 to play, but an Austin Wiley dunk on the very next possession extended the lead back out to 10 and the Flyers were unable to bring the deficit back within double digits for the remainder of the game.
            
 
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
• Dayton outshot Auburn 48.2% (27-for-56) to 45.9% (28-for-61) and outrebounded the Tigers 37 to 27, but the Flyers turned the ball over 23 times, including 16 in the first half, which proved to be the difference.
• Three of Dayton's four losses have now come against opponents ranked in the top 25, including No. 4 Virginia, No. 8 Auburn and No. 22 Mississippi State. All were by 10 or less.
• Ryan Mikesell was the leading scorer for the Flyers with 15 points, while Josh Cunningham (14), Jalen Crutcher (11) and Obi Toppin (10) also scored in double figures.
• Trey Landers pulled down a team-high 11 rebounds for Dayton.

UP NEXT
•  After exams next week, Dayton plays Tulsa in the Basketball Hall of Fame Holiday Classic at Mohegan Sun on Sunday, Dec. 16.
•  UD's next home game is against Western Michigan on Wednesday, Dec. 19.