Men’s Basketball Comes Up Short Against Dayton

Saturday, December 9

Dayton, Ohio

11:30 a.m.

Troy University

4-5,0-0Sun Belt

Dayton

7-2,0-0Atlantic 10

Troy

Dayton

Men’s Basketball Comes Up Short Against Dayton

12/9/2023 3:27:00 PM | Basketball (M)

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DAYTON, Ohio – The Troy men's basketball team was unable to slow down Dayton's hot shooting, as it fell 82-70 at the UD Arena on Saturday afternoon.

Troy (4-5) came out of the gate on fire shooting the ball, including back-to-back three-pointers from Theo Seng, helping the Trojans jump out to a 6-0 lead. Dayton (7-2) answered back quickly, and the two teams traded buckets for the first eight minutes.

The Trojans opened the afternoon 4-4 from beyond the arc and held a 17-15 lead with 12:51 remaining in the first half.

The Dayton defense started to come together, and the Flyers went on a 20-5 run to jump ahead by 13, and the Trojans found themselves in a hole they couldn't quite dig themselves out of.

Dayton went into the break with a 45-31 lead. In the first half, the Flyers shot 54.5 percent from the field – including 7-12 from three. Troy shot 39.3 percent from the field and 8-17 from deep.
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The Trojans were able to cut the deficit to 10 a couple of times in the second half, but every time they seemed to get some momentum on their side, Dayton had an answer.

Christyon Eugene led the Trojans in scoring with 16 points. The senior guard has now scored in double figures in all nine games this season. Aamer Muhammad added 12 points on 4-8 shooting. Troy finished the afternoon shooting 40 percent from the field and 39.3 percent from deep.

Kobe Elvis led Dayton with 24 points and DaRon Holmes II had 23 points and 17 rebounds. Dayton shot 52.7 percent from the field and 50 percent from three.

Elite Competition
Homes II – who was named to the preseason Naismith and Wooden National Player of the Year list – was a handful in the paint and on the boards for Troy.

The Trojans lost the rebounding battle for just the second time this season. Troy pulled down 29 boards compared to Dayton's 37.

Dayton also had 34 points inside the paint compared to the Trojans 22.

Thoughts from Coach
Head coach Scott Cross gave his thoughts following the game:

"We are just we're tough enough defensively. Credit to Dayton, they are really good offensively. Top 30 in the country in their offensive efficiency. We didn't go at the ball screens very well. We're going to have to get back to work and be tougher and more aggressive defending those. We allowed them to shoot too high of a percentage from the three-point line. They are a top-10 team in the country from three-point range. That was obviously a point of emphasis, but we didn't do a good enough job… Offensively I thought we played well enough to win the basketball game, just need to get tougher and get a little bit better."

Up Next
The Trojans return home for a Tuesday night showdown against SUNO at Trojan Arena on Dec. 12. The game will be broadcast on ESPN+ and on the Troy Sports Radio Network. Tip-off is set for 6 p.m. CT.

Game 9 Notes
• After scoring 16 points on Saturday, Christyon Eugene has now scored in double figures in all nine games this season.
• Christyon Eugene tied his career high in assists with six. It's his second consecutive game with six assists and the fourth time he's done it this season.
• Aamer Muhammad followed up his 21-point performance last Friday with 12 points against Dayton. He is 7-11 from 3-point range in his last two games.
• Theo Seng finished the day with 11 points, the second-best mark of his career. His high is 14 against Reinhardt.
• Troy was 11-14 from the free-throw line (78.6 percent), which is the best free-throw shooting percentage of the season for the Trojans when taking at least ten free throws.