DAYTON – The No. 13/11 University of Dayton men's basketball team secured a 79-65 victory over VCU, the Atlantic 10 Conference defending champions. This was
Anthony Grant's 50th win as Dayton's head coach.
Dayton improved to 4-0 in conference and 15-2 overall while remaining undefeated at UD Arena. VCU fell to 2-2 in conference and 12-5 overall.
The Flyers were led by
Obi Toppin with 24 points on 9-of-16 shooting, nine rebounds and three assists. Three additional Flyers scored in double-digits --
Jalen Crutcher (20 points),
Trey Landers (16) and
Ibi Watson (13).
GAME BREAKDOWN
1st Half: Dayton 38, VCU 33
• VCU started the game by taking an early four-point lead.
• The Flyers were able to fight back and took their go-ahead for the first time in the game at the 16:10 mark when
Jalen Crutcher hit a three-pointer to move the score to 7-6.
• The game remained close with both teams exchanging the lead up until the 5:12 mark; VCU took a five-point lead.
• With 1:18 left in the half,
Obi Toppin made a second-chance jumper giving Dayton a one-point lead; Dayton did not trail again and went on a 4-0 run to finish the half.
• Crutcher led the Flyers with 14 points on four-of-five shooting during the half.
•
Trey Landers and Toppin both pulled in five rebounds during the half.
• Dayton finished the half shooting 12-of-24 (50%) from the field while holding VCU to 14-of-31 (45%).
• The Flyers led for 7:53 of the half, with the game being tied for 1:54.
2nd Half: Dayton 79, VCU 65
• VCU went on a 6-0 run to start the half, before the Flyers tied it up at 41-41.
• Dayton went on a 22-0 run from 17:35 to 10:51 left in the game; It was highlighted by a Toppin slam that forced a VCU timeout after the Flyers took a 63-41 lead.
• VCU went on a 14-5 run to cut Dayton's lead to 13 points with 3:58 left to play.
• The Flyers were led by Landers during the half with 14 points; Toppin scored 13 in the half.
• Dayton assisted 13-of-14 made field goals in the second half.
• The Flyers held VCU from scoring beyond the arc; VCU went 0-10.
• Dayton outrebounded VCU 20-14 during the half.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
• Dayton shot an overall 50% from the field during the game while holding VCU to 43%.
• The Flyers outrebounded VCU 37-31 largely due to Toppin and Landers bringing in nine rebounds each.
• Six different Flyers scored throughout the game; Four scored in double-digits.
• VCU's pressure defense allowed UD to have just three assists in the first half. Dayton assisted on its first five buckets of the second half.
• Dayton held VCU to 3-of-20 (15%) from beyond the arc.
• The Flyers held the lead for 27:06 of the game with the game being tied for only 2:23.
• Dayton shot 20-of-25 (80%) from the free-throw line.
• Crutcher moved into 56th on UD's career scoring list with 930 points, moving ahead of three UD Hall of Famers -- George Janky, Dan Sadlier and Tom Hatton. Just ahead is another Hall of Famer, Bucky Bockhorn who scored 941 career points.
UP NEXT
• Dayton will travel to St. Louis to take on the Billikens Friday, January 17 at 7 p.m. ET
• Flyers will return home to play St. Bonaventure on Wednesday, January 22 at 7 p.m. ET.
