Fast Start Pushes Dayton Past Ball State 77-69

After a big victory over Northwestern last week, the Dayton Flyers hosted MAC member Ball State on Wednesday night and came away with a 77-69 victory before another sellout crowd of 13,407 at UD Arena. Enoch Cheeks led the way with 23 points and 12 rebounds while Malachi Smith had 17 points and 10 assists.  Dayton remains undefeated at 3-0 while the Cardinals fall to 1-2.
Dayton and BSU last played in 2017 when the Flyers escaped with a dramatic 78-77 win at UD Arena in Anthony Grant's first game as head coach of his alma mater.  Xeyrius Williams threw a half-court inbounds pass to Josh Cunningham that led to a catch-and-dink at the rim with one second left to win the game.  Dayton won the only other meeting in 2010 with a 59-35 thrashing in a game that saw just one player from either team (Chris Wright) score in double figures.  BSU came into Wednesday's game at 1-1 after losing to Georgia State and beating non-DI Franklin College 87-60.  The Cards finished 15-16 a year ago including 7-11 in the MAC, so on paper the Flyers were clear favorites once again.
UD jumped out to a 10-0 lead and controlled much of the first half, not allowing a BSU field goal for the first 12 minutes. Dayton put on a dunking clinic and extended the cushion to 37-17 with less than four minutes remaining in the half.  Zed Key and Cheeks were instrumental in the Flyer offense as Nate Santos was bottled up and unable to get his points.  Turnovers and transition offense were a clear advantage for UD as B...