Men’s basketball says “aloha” to the Maui Invitational with Wednesday’s game vs. UConn

LAHAINA, Maui – The University of Dayton men’s basketball team will play three consecutive games against teams ranked in the AP Top 12 for the first time in 74 years when the Flyers play UConn in their final game of the 2024 Maui Invitational.

UD lost by a total of seven points to 12th-seeded North Carolina (92-90) on Monday and fifth-seeded Iowa State (89-84) on Tuesday and will face No. 2 UConn in the tournament’s seventh-place game .

The only other time Dayton has played three top-12 teams in a row was in the 1951 NIT against No. 12 Arizona, No. 9 St. John’s and No. 11 Brigham Young.

The game was tied 81-81 with 1:20 left, but Iowa State made eight straight free throws to stave off Dayton’s surprise attempt. Malachi Smith led the Flyers with a career-high 22 points and nine assists. Enoch cheeks 16 points added, Zed key had 15 and Nate Santos 12.

UD has a 5-2 record this year, while UConn has a 4-2 record.

UD’s record at Valley Isle is now 9-5. The Flyers won the 2003 Maui Invitational Championship. The tournament returns to the Lahaina Civic Center following the 2023 tournament in Honolulu following the tragic wildfires that devastated the area in August 2023.

The UConn game will be broadcast on WHIO Radio, televised on ESPN2 and streamed on ESPN+. Audio, video and live stats will be streamed on DaytonFlyers.com.

#TRENDING
• Nate Santos was named First Team Preseason All-Atlantic 10 after being named to the Third Team following last season. The 6-7 forward from Geneva, Illinois, was the Flyers’ second-leading scorer (11.7) and rebounder (6.3) last year. He was also second on the team in 3-pointers made. FG% (.418, 51-122). Santos was fourth in the A-10 in three-point shooting and 10th in rebounding in 2023-24.
• Noble Alexander was named Second Team Preseason All-Atlantic 10 and Preseason All-Defensive Team. Alexander is a fifth-year transfer player who already has 1,000 career points and 500 career assists. The fourth recruit from New York City Anthony GrantDuring his tenure at UD, he led the Big East in steals each of the last four seasons (three at St. John’s and one at Butler). Last year at Butler, Alexander averaged 11.3 points, 4.9 assists, 4.3 rebounds and 2.2 steals per game. He ranked 16th nationally in steals per game. In his three years at St. John’s, he averaged 10.9, 13.8 and 10.2 points per game.
• Enoch cheeks was also named to the A-10 Preseason All-Defensive Team. In his first season at UD after transferring from Robert Morris, he led the team in steals (40), was second in blocked shots (21) and third in rebounds (4.7). The Providence, R.I. native was the winner of UD’s 2023-24 Steve McElvene Award. Cheeks was always named the opposition’s best defensive player. In the 25 games (out of 33) in which the Flyer opponent’s top player was a guard or wing, that player performed below his average 17 times. He started in all 33 games and averaged 8.1 points per game (9.5 in A-10 play).
• Dayton’s roster features five players with a history of all-conference recognition – junior forwards Nate Santos (Atlantic 10), junior Enoch cheeks (Horizon League). Junior- Javon Bennett (Northeast Conference), redshirt junior Malachi Smith (Atlantic 10) and fifth graders Noble Alexander (Great East).
• Amaël L’Etang was named A-10 Rookie of the Week on November 25th.
• Enoch cheeks is third in the A-10 in steals per game (2.5).
• Malachi Smith is fourth in assists (5.6) and fifth in assist-to-turnover ratio (3.3).
• As a team, Dayton leads the Atlantic 10 in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.83).
• UD ranked 20th in average attendance in NCAA Division I last season and averaged 13,407 fans per game in the 2023-24 season. Of the schools in the top 25, only Kansas, Purdue, Michigan State and UConn sold out every game of the season.
• Dayton has already announced that every game of the upcoming 2024-25 season is sold out, including the two exhibition games already played. This is the fourth consecutive year that every UD home game has been sold out. This streak is now 64 games.
• This is also UD Arena’s 55th anniversary season. The arena underwent a $76.2 million renovation project, which was completed in time for the 2019–20 season.
• The Flyers wear “DJD” on their left shoulder strap in memory of Don Donoher. Coach Donoher died last April at the age of 92. He became the first man to coach his alma mater in the NCAA Tournament after appearing there as a player. A member of the NABC College Basketball Hall of Fame, he is Dayton’s all-time winningest coach (437 wins). He was the winner of USBWA’s 2017 Dean Smith Award.

NEXT
• Dayton’s next game is Tuesday, Dec. 3, at home at UD Arena against Western Michigan.
• Game time is 7:00 p.m. ET.