Men’s basketball completes the non-conference schedule against basketball. UC-Cincinnati

DAYTON— The University of Dayton men’s basketball team will complete its tough non-conference schedule with UD’s third game in seven days. The Flyers will play 19th-ranked UC in the Simple Truth Hoops Classic presented by CareSource. Game time at the Heritage Bank Center in downtown Cincinnati is 8:30 p.m. ET.

Dayton, ranked 22nd, is 10-2 this year. UC is 8-1 after Xavier’s 68-65 win on Saturday.

The Flyers had to score eight of the final 11 points of the game in the final 75 seconds of Tuesday’s 66-65 home win over UNLV. Malachi Smith helped further Nate Santos’ Trey and hit a breakaway layup, and then an and-one with eight seconds left to clinch the win. Santos led four Flyers in double figures with 14 points.

The UC game will be broadcast on WHIO Radio, televised on ESPNU 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.
• Santos’ 6-for-6 shooting performance from distance against Lehigh is the best in the country. It is also UD’s second-best mark ever, behind Shawn Haugh’s 8-for-8 in the 1993-94 season.
• 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. He scored 11 points (4-6 FG) in 13 minutes against New Mexico State.
• Cheeks was named A-10 Player of the Week on Dec. 2 after averaging 15.7 points and 7.0 rebounds against North Carolina, Iowa State and UConn in Maui.
• Cheeks ranks fifth in the A-10 in rebounding (7.5).
• Smith is second in the A-10 in assists (5.9) and fourth in 3-pointers. FG% (.480, 12-25).
• Noble Alexander ranks first in the ratio of assistance to sales (4.2).
• Zed key is fifth in FG% (.657 46-70). He also has the most dunks in DI (28).
• As a team, Dayton leads the Atlantic 10 in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.96) and FG% (.495, 328-662) and is second in 3-point contests. FG% (.364, 99-272). UD ranks sixth in the nation in A/T ratio.
• 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. That streak is now 67 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.
• Dayton’s 25-game home winning streak is the fourth-longest in Division I, behind Houston (27), Drake and UConn (26) and tied with Samford.
• 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
• UD’s next game is the A-10 opener against La Salle at home on Tuesday, Dec. 31.
• The Basketball releases on New Year’s Eve at 2 p.m. ET.