LAHAINA, Maui – After dropping its first two Maui Invitational games in the final minutes to No. 12 North Carolina and No. 5 Iowa State, the University of Dayton men's basketball made certain things would be different against second-ranked UConn, outscoring the Huskies 23-10 in the final five-and-a-half minutes to win going away, 85-67.

Enoch Cheeks led the Flyers with 20 points.  Nate Santos scored 18 points, Posh Alexander added 16 (with six assists) and Zed Key had 15 (with nine rebounds).

Dayton is now 6-2 on the season, with both losses coming in Maui to two Top 12 teams by a total of nine points.  UConn is now 4-3.

GAME RECAP
1st Half – Dayton 41, UConn 34
•    Zed Key scored Dayton's first five points as the Flyers led 8-5 at the first media timeout (14:46).
•    A pair of Javon Bennett free throws gave UD a 12-9 lead at the second break (11:57).
•    Driving buckets by Enoch Cheeks and Nate Santos, followed by a three-pointer by Posh Alexander put Dayton up 19-14 at the 7:58 mark.
•    The Flyers went five-and-a-half minutes without a field goal, but that was in part because UD's possessions were being interrupted by UConn fouls.  Dayton made eight straight freebies in that span.
•    The Huskies took a 27-25 lead, but Santos hit the last of those free throws to tie it up.
•    UConn hit a three to lead again, but Bennett buried a trey to tie it up, and Smith hit another one to give UD a 33-30 lead with 3:11 left.  
•    Dayton took at 41-34 lead into the locker room thanks to Alexander scoring UD's last six points of the half.
•    It was the first time this season UConn trailed at halftime.
2nd Half – Dayton 85, UConn 67
•    The Huskies needed just three-minutes-and-14 seconds to battle back and tie the game at 43, but a layup by Smith gave UD a lead it would keep for the final 15:42 of the game.
•    The game remained tight, swinging between Flyer leads as much as seven points and as little as two until the 6:58 mark, when Alexander found Key for an alley-oop dunk that made the score 60-55.
•    The Dayton advantage was at least two possessions the rest of the way.
•    With UD leading 62-57, the lead pushed out to double digits when Isaac Jack was undercut going for a rebound.  The foul was upgraded to a flagrant one, giving UD two free throws and the ball.
•    Key subbed in for Jack and sank the free throws, Alexander beat his man to the rim and drew another foul, making both, and then on a UConn miss, Bennett grabbed the rebound, pushed it up the floor and then hit Cheeks for a transition three-pointer to make the score 69-57 and forcing UConn to call a timeout with 4:19 to go.
•    Counting that three-pointer, Cheeks would score 10 of his 20 points in just over the next three minutes.
•    A pair of Santos free throws would give Dayton a 20-point lead with 21 seconds left, and a UConn bucket with 12 ticks left on the clock would make the final score 85-67.

BY THE NUMBERS
•    20 – Enoch Cheeks' 20 points included 8-12 FG shooting and 3-5 from beyond the arc.
•    18 – Nate Santos' 18 points saw him make five of nine from the field and six-of-seven from the line.
•    16 – Posh Alexander's stat line was more than just his 16 points.  He also had six assists (against zero turnovers) and five rebounds.  He was 5-7 from the field and 5-5 at the line.
•    15 – Nine of Zed Key's 15 points came at the line.  He made nine of 10 free throws in the game, and 14 of 15 in the tournament.
•    +16 – Dayton outrebounded UConn 41-25.  Key had nine, Cheeks seven and Alexander three.  Nine of the 10 Flyers who saw action in the game grabbed at least one rebound.
•    +23 – Even though he had a pedestrian stat line (5 points, 3 rebounds, 2 assists, team-high two steals), Javon Bennett led UD in +/- with a +23 score.
•    50% -- Dayton shot .500 for the game (25-50), including .471 (8-17) from three.
•    90% -- The Flyers shot .900 (27-30) from the line.
•    2 – This was UD's fifth win in 25 games against teams ranked No. 1 or 2 in the latest AP poll.  It was the first since Dayton's 97-82 win over second-ranked Notre Dame at UD Arena on March 4, 1974.
•    18 – This was also the Flyers' largest margin of victory over a top-five team, their largest against any ranked team away from home, and the largest against any ranked team since Dayton beat sixth-ranked Pitt 80-55 on Dec. 29, 2007, at the Arena.

UP NEXT
•    UD will begin a five-game homestand on Tuesday, hosting Western Michigan.
•    Game time is 7 p.m. ET.