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DAYTON – The University of Dayton men’s basketball team hits the road for its second true road contest of the non-conference season, heading to Milwaukee to take on Marquette on Wednesday night at 7:30 p.m. ET at Fiserv Forum.
The Flyers (3-1), won their most recent game against Bethune-Cookman, topping the Wildcats at home 91-82, while the Golden Eagles (3-2) dropped their most last game at home to Maryland, 89-82, despite a 31-point performance from senior Chase Ross.
Senior Javon Bennett knocked down four threes and was 7-for-7 from the charity stripe for a season-high 25 points against Bethune-Cookman, while sophomore Amaël L’Etang registered his first double-double of the season with a new career-high in points (18), and a season-high in rebounds (10).
A new-look starting five boosted Dayton to a nine-point victory over Bethune-Cookman on Saturday night, as all five starters hit double figures in scoring to lead the way.
The starting lineup against Bethune-Cookman was:
Javon Bennett (Sr. – G), De’Shayne Montgomery (Jr. – G), Jordan Derkack (Sr. – G), Keonte Jones (Sr. – F), and Amaël L’Etang (So. – F).
In addition to Bennett’s 25 and L’Etang’s 18, Montgomery had a season-high 16 points for the Flyers, boosting his season average to 14.0 points per game. Jones added 11 points and Derkack had 10, a new high in his debut as a starter.
UD shot a season-high .540 from the floor overall and .579 from three in the game, it’s best showing from downtown this season and best since shooting .636 (14-of-22) against Lehigh last season.
The Flyers (3-1) won their 29th consecutive non-conference game in UD Arena with the victory.
Dayton and Marquette have played 46 times in the storied histories of these two programs, dating back to the 1966 season. UD won the first meeting, 95-76 in the UD Fieldhouse, but saw the Golden Eagles take control over the series over the next 30 years.
MU holds the all-time edge in the series, 21-15, but the Flyers have won six of the last seven meetings, including a thriller last season in UD Arena.
Dayton took down No. 6-ranked Marquette with a second-half explosion, outscoring the Golden Eagles 45-27 after the break. MU hit a three to start the second half, and UD responded with a 12-0 run over the next four minutes. The Flyers took the lead with 7:02 remaining and never looked back.
