Amherst, Mass. – The University of Dayton men's basketball team cruised to a 72-48 road win over Massachusetts on Tuesday night. Dayton improves to 19-9 (11-4 A-10) with the win, while UMass slides to 10-18 (3-12 A-10) on the year. UD is third in Atlantic 10 behind VCU and Davidson.
The Flyers used an impressive shooting display in the first half to jump out to a big early lead, which proved too much for the Minutemen to overcome. Dayton shot 14-17 (82.4%) in the opening half, which ranks second all-time in program history for shooting percentage in a single half.
Obi Toppin also set the single-season dunk record in the game. Toppin had six dunks to bring his season total to 72, which surpasses Chris Wright's old record of 66 in a year.
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GAME SUMMARY
First Half: Dayton 40, Massachusetts 18
- Neither team was able to gain separation early, as Massachusetts held an 8-7 lead heading into the first media break.
- Dayton made nine of its first 10 shots of the game on its way to a 28-14 lead
- Obi Toppin set the Dayton single-season record for dunks with his 67th slam of the year at the 4:15 mark to put the Flyers up 30-14.
- Toppin's record-setting dunk was the began a string of dunks on four consecutive possessions, as he went on a personal 8-0 scoring run.
- Jordan Davis scored the next four points for Dayton to push the Flyer lead to 40-14, but UMass added the last four points of the half to make the score 40-18 heading into halftime.
- Dayton's 82.4% shooting percentage on 14-17 shooting was the second-highest all-time in program history for field goal percentage in a half (vs. Southern University, 19-22, 86.4%)
Final: Dayton 72, Massachusetts 48
- Josh Cunningham and Jordan Davis started the half strong for the Flyers with a pair of buckets to push the lead back up to 26 to open the half.
- A Cunningham layup at the 14:00 minute mark gave Dayton a 61-32 lead, its largest of the game.
- Two free throws from Obi Toppin with 1:23 to play closed out scoring for the game.
- UMass never cut the deficit under 20 points in the second half.
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BY THE NUMBERS
- Dayton's 82.4% shooting percentage on 14-17 shooting was the second-highest all-time in program history for field goal percentage in a half (vs. Southern University, 19-22, 86.4%)
- The win was Dayton's first at Massachusetts since Feb. 8, 2004.
- Obi Toppin entered the game tied with Chris Wright for most dunks in a single season with 66 slams. Toppin added six dunks against UMass to surpass Wright and hold the record on his own.
- Toppin led four Dayton Flyers in double figures with 19 points. Josh Cunningham (18 points), Jordan Davis and Jalen Crutcher also surpassed the double-digit threshold.
- Cunningham had a personal streak of 18 consecutive made field goals over his last three games on a contested shot on the block late in the half.
- Trey Landers grabbed a team-high 10 rebounds, his seventh game of the season with 10+ boards.
- This is just the third time UD has reached six A-10 road wins in a season.
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UP NEXT
- Dayton's next two games will both be at home, beginning with Rhode Island on Friday, Mar. 1 at 7:00 p.m. ET. The game will be seen on ESPN2 and heard on WHIO Radio.
- The Flyers will then take on La Salle at UD Arena on Wednesday, Mar. 6 at 7 p.m. ET. The La Salle game is Senior Night.
- Dayton finishes the regular season on Saturday, March 8 at Duquesne.
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