OXFORD, Miss. – The University of Dayton men's basketball team fell at Ole Miss Saturday by a score of 76-58. The Flyers are now 7-4 on the season while the Rebels improve to 8-3.
The Flyers were led by freshman
Malachi Smith
who had a career high in points (16) and assists (11). Smith was joined by sophomore
Toumani Camara with 15 points and freshman
DaRon Holmes II with 14 points.
GAME BREAKDOWN
1st Half: Ole Miss 34, Dayton 24
- Ole Miss opened the game up 9-2 as the Flyers had just two points and two turnovers in the first four minutes.
- The lead expanded to 19-6 as the Rebels made eight of their first 11 attempts from the field.
- The Flyers answered back with an 8-0 run that featured four straight points by redshirt freshman RJ Blakney.
- Ole Miss was held scores for a 4:27 stretch as the Flyers trailed 19-14 with 6:52 remaining.
- The Rebel lead was reduced to three (23-20) off a triple from Blakney and a dunk from DaRon Holmes II.
- The Ole Miss lead expanded back up to 12 with 1:08 left in the half.
- Blakney led the Flyers with seven points in the half while Smith had five assists.
- Ole Miss had 25 field goal attempts in the half while the Flyers had 18.
2nd Half: Ole Miss 76, Dayton 68
- Toumani Camara opened the half strong for the Flyers with four points as Dayton trailed 37-29 after three minutes of play.
- Back-to-back layups by Dayton capped off a 9-2 run and forced a Rebel timeout with 16:12 remaining.
- Dayton went on a stretch making six of eight from the field, but a similar run by the Rebels kept the deficit at seven with 11:29 left.
- With 7:19 left, Ole Miss led 58-49.
- UD used a 10-2 run to trim the lead to seven with 1:26 left.
- The Rebels used a series of stops to then seal the game.
- Smith, Camara and Holmes II all hit double figures in the half while the trio accounted for 75% of the teams 44 points.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
- Three Flyers hit double digits -- Malachi Smith (16), Toumani Camara (15), and DaRon Holmes II (14).
- With his career-high 11 assists, this is Smith's first collegiate double-double. The 11 assist also accounted for 65% of the teams assist in the contest.
- The 11 assists were also the most assist by a Flyer in a game since January 9th 2019 when Jalen Crutcher had 11 against George Washington.
- Both teams struggled from beyond the arch as Dayton went 4-18 (22%) and Ole Miss went 4-19 (21%).
- Camara led Dayton in the rebounding category with nine.
- The Flyers bench was outscored 26 to 11.
- Ole Miss benefited from 25 points off Flyer turnovers.
UP NEXT
• The Flyers finish up non-conference play vs. Southern at home on Tuesday, Dec, 21 at 7 p.m. ET.
• Dayton begins the Atlantic 10 season on Dec. 30 at Rhode Island.
