WHAT TO KNOW ABOUT TODAY’S GAME
The freshman point guard played nine minutes in the opener, then 25, 31 and 17 minutes. He earned a starting job in the fourth game of the season. He averaged 6.3 points and 2.5 assists in the four games.
Now
Smith is running the team: He has played 32, 34, 34 and 26 minutes in the last four games and only saw his minutes fall Wednesday because Dayton was winning big. He was named MVP of the ESPN Events Invitational after a 63-61 victory against Belmont on Sunday. In the last four games, he’s averaging 12.3 points and 6.0 assists.
Then
The defense was making stars of its opponents: In the first four games, the opponents found a star to lead them each time. Zion Griffin made 5 of 8 3-pointers and led Illinois-chicago with 17 points. That remains his best performance of the season.
Lowell’s Justin Faison made 5 of 11 3-pointers and scored 21 points. In six games since playing Dayton, he hasn’t scored more than 10 points.
Lipscomb big man Ahsan
Asadullah bullied Dayton in the paint and scored 21 points on 8-of-11 shooting. He scored 12 points in the team’s next game.
Austin Peay’s star was Elijah Hutchins-everett, who had 25 points and made 13 of 16 free throws. He has scored a total of 16 points in the team’s last two games.
Now
The defense is limiting the opponents’ top players: Miami’s top scorer, Isaiah Wong, had 10 points against Dayton. Kansas star Ochai Agbaji, the nation’s leading scorer entering the Dayton game, scored 21 points against the Flyers. It was his second lowest total of the season.
Belmont center Nick Muszynski had success (23 points on 10-of-16 shooting), but produced his second lowest offensive rating of the season, according to Kenpom. com. No one from Alabama State scored more than 10 points against Dayton.
In summary, Dayton has made rapid progress to put the opening four-game stretch in the past.
“These guys put a lot of work in,” Dayton coach Anthony Grant said. “It’s important to them. Nobody was happy obviously with the way we started the season. We had a difficult start, but I thought we figured some things out and we’re still figuring some things out. We’re eight games into it right now. We’ve still got a ways to go as a group. These guys are 100 percent committed to trying to become the best version of themselves. We are pleased with the progress, but I think we haven’t come close to the ceiling. I think this team’s got a really high ceiling.”
■ Who: Dayton (5-3) vs. Northern Illinois (2-5).
■ Where: UD Arena.
■ When: 2 p.m. today
■ Tv/radio: Bally Sports Ohio, ESPN+/95.7 and 1290 WHIO.
■ Series: Dayton leads 2-0. The Flyers beat the Huskies 101-60 on Feb. 15, 1967, at the UD Fieldhouse and 60-43 on Dec. 1, 2012, at UD Arena. This is Dayton’s first game against a Mid-american Conference team since it beat Ball State 78-77, Ohio 79-65 and Akron 73-60 in November 2017.
■ Last game: On Wednesday, Dayton beat Alabama State 93-54, and NIU beat Eastern Illinois 69-62.
■ Coaches: Anthony Grant is 83-44 in five season at Dayton. Rashon Burno is 2-5 in his first season at Northern Illinois. Burno spent the last six seasons on Bobby Hurley’s staff at Arizona State. He was also an assistant coach for three seasons on Billy Donovan’s staff at Florida and was on the bench when the Gators beat Dayton in the Elite Eight in 2014. Dayton assistant coach Darren Hertz was also on Donovan’s staff then.
Toumani Camara Elijah Weaver Daron Holmes II Malachi Smith R.J. Blakney 6-8 6-6 6-10 6-0 6-6
So. R-JR. Fr. Fr. R-FR.
F G F G G 11.3 10.1 9.4 9.3 5.4
Trendon Hankerson 6-2 Sr. G Keshawn Williams 6-3 So. G
Kaleb Thornton 6-0 Jr. G
Zool Kueth 6-7 Sr. F
Adong Makuoi 6-9 Sr. C
■ About Dayton: Kenpom.com gives Dayton a 93 percent chance of winning this game and predicts a 70-54 score . ... Weaver did not play Wednesday because of a disciplinary issue. Kobe Elvis started in his place and scored 15 points. He’s averaging 7.7 points.
... Dayton made 18 of 79 3-pointers (22.8 percent) in its first four games and 33 of 75 (44 percent) in its last four games . ... Dayton ranks 102nd in the Ken Pomeroy ratings. NIU is 323rd. It’s the second-lowest ranked UD opponent behind No. 338 Alabama State.
■ About NIU: The Huskies opened the season with a 71-64 victory at Washington but then lost five games in a row to Indiana, Missouri, Boston, Little Rock and Marquette before beating Eastern Illinois in their home opener . ... NIU finished 3-16 last season. It was the worst season in school history. It was picked to finish last out of 12 teams in the MAC this season . ... NIU has played in the NCAA three times, most recently in 1996. ... Williams scored a career-high 24 points Wednesday.
■ Looking ahead: Dayton plays Southern Methodist (6-3) at 8 p.m. Wednesday in Dallas, Texas.
— David Jablonski, staff writer
11.7 12.6 6.7 5.1 4.6