Strong free-throw shooting carries Dayton Flyers past Fordham

Seven things to know about UD’s 16th victory

Dayton Flyers senior Kendall Pollard punctuates many dunks and layups, especially ones on which is fouled, with a scream. Sometimes he flexes for the cameras. He always knows where they are.

Pollard let loose one of his trademark screams with 3:35 to play Tuesday when he dunked against 6-foot-10 (16- sophomore Proko Slanina. Fouled on the play, Pollard missed the free throw, but he made a season-high 9 of 13 free throws on the night. That's one reason Dayton beat Fordham 75-66 at Rose Hill Gym.

PHOTOS: 16 pics for 16 wins

Dayton (16-5, 7-2) outscored Fordham 23-5 at the foul line. The Flyers shot 85.2 percent at the line. They have topped 80 percent in three of the last four games. In the six games prior to that stretch, they topped 70 percent only once. They’re shooting 68.5 percent for the season.

“Fouls were a big deal,” Dayton coach Archie Miller said. “We made 23 of 27. That’s one of the big reasons we won the game.”

Here are seven other things to know about Dayton’s victory:

1. Fordham was hot early: Dayton's previous four opponents made 10 of 75 3-pointers (13.3 percent). Fordham made 9 of 17 3-pointers in the first half, including three in the final two minutes to erase a 39-30 deficit.

Slanin, who averages 5.6 points per game, scored eight in the first half. Christian Sengfelder had 16 of his 21 points in the half.

“It’s incredibly hard to score on Dayton,” Fordham coach Jeff Neubauer said. “Coming into the game, they had the ninth-best defense in the country. Just getting a basket is really hard. We had a lot of guys find baskets. That’s usually how Dayton goes on their runs. They simply don’t let a team score for four or five minutes.”

2. Dayton made defensive adjustments: There was not much Dayton could do on a number of Fordham's shots in the first half. The Rams made them fall with hands in their faces.

Dayton did a much better job in the second half, though Fordham made 4 of 5 shots from the field in the first four minutes. Fordham made 2 of 8 3-pointers in the second half. It didn’t make a 3-pointer in the last 14 minutes.

“The second half was all about talking about defending the 3 and closing out,” Miller said. “What happened was (Antwoine) Anderson and a couple of their guys started to get in the paint. We got spread. Give them credit. They put us in some tough spots. Sometimes on the road it’s not easy. I watched this team beat VCU a week ago. We’re going to take it. I’m proud of our guys. We’re going to take a hard look at ourselves over the next 48 hours after we get ready to approach the Duquesne game. We’ve got to get things tightened up on defense.”

3. Pollard played his best game: Pollard scored 25 points, one off his career high, on 8-of-11 shooting. He hit the 1,000-point milestone in the second half and now ranks 45th in UD history with 1,006 points.

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Pollard was the recipient of a number of good passes from but also got to the basket himself for some big shots.

“They kept denying the guards when I tried to pass it,” Pollard said. “When it’s one-on-one, somebody’s in trouble.”

4. Scoochie Smith stepped up: Fordham did a good job denying the Dayton point guard shots. He made 2 of 4 field goals. But in the final minutes, Smith made a number of big plays in his final game in his hometown.

“That’s what he does,” Miller said. “The last four or five minutes, regardless of the circumstances, he’s usually there for us. I thought he did a great job delivering the ball on target for easy baskets, and-ones, you name it. That’s why he is who he is. It’s hard. He went 35 minutes dealing with pressure the whole game, and we asked him to defend.”

Charles Cooke added 14 points and five assists. Ryan Mikesell scored all four of his points at the foul line. Darrell Davis made 3 of 6 3-pointers, scoring nine points.

5. Bench minutes dwindling: Dayton played what was largely a seven-man rotation in the second half. Sam Miller played all five of his minutes in the first half and scored two points. John Crosby played four of his five minutes in the first half. He had two turnovers and one assist.

Xeyrius Williams continues to come off the bench and produce. He had seven points and six rebounds.

6. Dayton's future watched from the stands: Jordan Pierce, one of four recruits in the 2017 class, traveled from his home in Scotch Plains, N.J., to Rose Hill Gym. Getting a taste of Dayton basketball and the fan support that comes with it made him more excited for his future.

“I can’t wait,” said Pierce, a 7-foot senior at Union Catholic High School. “I know we’re in Fordham’s gym, but all I saw was bright red.”

7. This was one of the best games of the season: Dayton stretched its winning streak against Fordham to 13 games. This was the closest game in the series since UD won 72-70 in overtime at Rose Hill in 2012.

“My message to the team after the game was they were just part of a great college basketball game,” Neubauer said. “Every one of us in our locker room is a competitor, and we all detest losing. With that being said, our guys did fight and claw. Dayton made more plays than us down the stretch. But I am proud of the way our guys competed and made it such a great game.”


SATURDAY’S GAME

Duquesne at Dayton, 12:30 p.m., NBC Sports Network, FM 95.7, AM 1290 WHIO

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