DAYTON – The No. 18 University of Dayton men's basketball team remains undefeated at UD Arena after an 81-53 win over Grambling State. The Flyers improved to 10-2 on the season while the Tigers fell to 6-7.
 
The Flyers were led by Ibi Watson with 30 points on 8-of-12 shooting. Rodney Chatman also scored in double figures with 17 points on 7-of-11 shooting.
 
GAME BREAKDOWN
1st Half: Dayton 40, Grambling State 22
• The game remained close through the first minutes of play, with Dayton leading by two points, until Ibi Watson hit a three-pointer to extend the Flyers lead to five points at the 15:46 mark.
• Dayton then forced Grambling State into a timeout after going on a 6-0 run in just over three minutes.
• At a media timeout with 7:18 left in the half, the Flyers had only allowed the Tigers to score four points since the 15:46 mark.
• Watson led the Flyers in the half with 17 points on 5-of-7 shooting and three rebounds.
• Rodney Chatman also scored in double figures during the half with 12 points on 5-of-8 shooting.
• Dayton defense did not allow Grambling state to score from beyond the arc during the half on their 11 attempts.
• The Flyers shot 52% from the field during the half, whereas the Tigers shot 32% from the field.
• Dayton held the lead for 18:02 of the half, with the largest lead being 19 points at the two-minute mark.
 
2nd Half: Dayton 81, Grambling State 53
• Both Dayton and Grambling State started the second half by scoring eight points in just over four and a half minutes of play.
• The Tigers worked to cut the Flyers lead by going on a 9-4 run, bringing Dayton's lead down to 10 points. 
• The Flyers responded with a 15-6 run which extended Dayton's lead to 21 points.
• Dayton closed out the game by going on a 12-4 run to secure the win.
• Watson led the Flyers during the half with 13 points.
• The Flyers shot 57% from the field during the half while the Tigers shot 48% from the field.
• Grambling State was only able to convert 2-of-8 from beyond the arc (25%).
• Dayton outrebounded Grambling State 16-11.
• The Flyers' largest lead was 30 points with under a minute to play.
 
 INSIDE THE NUMBERS
• Ibi Watson set a new career-high with 30 points; He shot 10-of-10 from the free throw line. 
• Watson started for the first time in his career, filling in for Jalen Crutcher, who was held out of action after taking a hard fall in Saturday's Colorado game.
• He was the first Flyer to score 30 points since Josh Cunningham had 32 against Rhode Island on Jan. 20, 2018.
• Rodney Chatman recorded a new season-high with 17 points.
• The Flyers won the battle for rebounds 39-30, largely due to Trey Landers' nine rebounds.
• Eight different Flyers scored during the game. 
• Dayton lead the game for 38:02 with the game being tied for 1:28.
• The Flyers shot 54% from the field, whereas the Tigers shot only 39%.
• Grambling State shot 2-of-19 (10.5%) from beyond the arc during the game.
• Dayton had 19 assists compared to Grambling State's nine.
• Chatman and Trey Landers each had six assists.
• Landers was the game's high rebounder with nine boards.
 
UP NEXT 
• The Flyers will take a short break for the Christmas holiday before closing out the non-conference schedule against North Florida on Monday, Dec. 30 at 7:00 p.m. ET.
• Dayton will then begin Atlantic 10 play with a two-game trip to La Salle (Jan. 2) and St. Joe's (Jan. 5).