Dayton Flyers Top 10: Worst school records

Shawn Haughn’s name is in there for making 8 of 8 3-pointers in 1994. Don May ranks among the all-time leaders in double-doubles (he’s tied for 15th with Bill Walton for 72). Hank Finkel is not far behind with 69. Dayton earns a mention for being the ninth-winningest program of the 1960s (207-77, .729).

DAYTON TOP 10: Freshman seasons; A-10 wins; conference games; best records

On the other hand, Dayton’s name pops up for some dubious reasons. Here’s a look at some of those records and other marks in the UD media guide that will go down in school history for the wrong reasons.

1. Worst 3-point accuracy (game): Dayton shot 0-of-24 from 3-point range against Auburn on Nov. 28, 2008, in Chicago. That's tied for the NCAA record for most 3-point attempts in a game without a single made 3-pointer.

South Carolina State missed all 24 of its 3-pointers in 2004 against Florida A&M. South Alabama did the same against Florida State in 2011.

Unlike South Carolina State, which lost 65-53, and South Alabama, which lost 80-39, Dayton won its record-breaking game, 60-59 in overtime.

Dayton players blamed the basketball for their poor shooting.

"It was real hard," forward Chris Wright told the Dayton Daily News after the game. "Sometimes when you'd catch it, it'd jam your fingers. But both teams had to use it."

"It did have a lot of air in it," Marcus Johnson said. "If someone threw you a hard pass and it hit your hand wrong, it could break your fingers. But we just had an off night."

2. Most losses (season): The Flyers finished 4-26 in 1992-93. That was their last season in the Midwestern Collegiate Conference before they moved to the Great Midwest Conference and the second-to-last season for coach Jim O'Brien.

Three losses in the Great Alaska Shootout got things started. Dayton was 0-5 when it beat Louisiana Tech 70-60 on Dec. 12. But it didn’t win again until Jan. 28 against Loyola.

In the final game of the season, the Flyers rallied from a 24-point deficit, taking the lead in the final minute against MCC regular-season co-champion Evansville in the MCC quarterfinals only to lose 69-66.

"This has been a very difficult year for us," O’Brien said after the game. "You go through adversity a lot. Some years are worse than others. I'm sure a lot of people in this room have gone through a lot more adversity than you can find on a basketball court."

3. Consecutive overtime games: Dayton played four straight overtime games in 1988, tying Jacksonville (1982) and Illinois State (1985) for a NCAA record that still stands. It's not a negative record on the surface, but Dayton lost three of those games. Jacksonville and Illinois State went 3-1 in their overtime streaks.

UD’s streak started with a 76-74 loss at Cincinnati. Then there was a 72-65 victory at UD Arena against Chicago State. An 83-79 loss at Detroit and a 79-75 loss at home to Miami followed.

Dayton finished 13-18 in 1987-88. It was the second of three straight losing seasons for Don Donoher, who was 12-17 in his final season (1988-89).

4. Points scored against the Flyers (individual): Dayton gave up 65 points to Evansville's Scott Haffner on Feb. 18, 1989. That's tied for the seventh-highest total in D-I history.

Haffner made 23 of 29 shots from the field, including 11 of 13 3-pointers. He made 11 of 11 free throws. He left the game with 1:30 remaining, preventing him from breaking what was then the NCAA record of 69 points, set by LSU’s Pete Maravich in 1970. The record now belongs to Kevin Bradshaw, who scored 72 points in 1991 for U.S. International against Loyola Marymount.

Haffner still owns the record for most points scored against the Flyers — and by a wide margin. Notre Dame’s Austin Carr (1971) and Xavier’s David West (2003) each scored 47.

5. Longest losing streak: The modern school record belongs to the 1993-94 Flyers, who lost 11 straight games from Dec. 30, 1993, to Feb. 13, 1994. It's the only Dayton team since 1950 to lose 11 straight games in one season.

Dayton’s losing streak ended with an 82-77 overtime victory at home against Saint Louis. That was the game in which Haughn made 8 of 8 3-pointers and scored 30 points.

The Flyers finished 6-21 in 1993-94. It was the final season for O’Brien. After the 11th straight loss, the Dayton Daily News reported, “The Jim O’Brien era is about to end.” His firing was officially announced March 2.

"I'm not happy with the decision that the university has made to fire me," O'Brien said then. "I believe it is a mistake."

6. Points scored against the Flyers (team): Oklahoma beat Dayton 151-99 on Dec. 24, 1987. Stacey King scored 31 points for the No. 12 Sooners.

Oklahoma set a NCAA record for most total points scored in a season (4,012 points in 39 games). It still stands. It averaged 102.9 points.

7. Most lopsided defeat: Cincinnati beat Dayton 116-53 on Feb. 12, 1995, in Cincinnati. Freshman Danny Fortson scored 26 points for the Bearcats.

"I can't stand getting beat that bad," Dayton’s Andy Meyer said after the game. "It just makes me sick."

8. Fewest points scored by Flyers (since 1950): Dayton lost 68-34 to Cincinnati on Nov. 27, 2010, in Cincinnati. It was the most-lopsided loss of the Brian Gregory era. Dayton made 12 of 60 shots from the field (20 percent).

Dayton entered the game with a 5-0 record and finished 22-14.

“This team hasn’t formed an identity of just what it’s really going to be good at,” Gregory said after the game. “It hasn’t shown what it will hang its hat on when other things aren’t there.”

9. Most turnovers (season): The 1995-96 team committed a school-record 549 turnovers and averaged 18.9 per game. That team, in Oliver Purnell's second season, overcame the turnover problem to finish 15-14, breaking a three-year streak of losing records.

10. Worst 3-point percentage: The NCAA instituted in the 1986-87 season. Since then, only one Dayton team has shot below 30 percent for the season. The 1997-98 team shot 29.1 percent.