Malachi Smith delivers late as No. 22 Dayton tops UNLV 66-65
Dayton's Amael L'Etang (29) reacts during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game against UNLV, Tuesday, Dec. 17, 2024, in Dayton, Ohio. Credit: AP/Jeff Dean
DAYTON, Ohio — Malachi Smith scored five of his 11 points in the final 37 seconds, including a decisive three-point play, and No. 22 Dayton beat UNLV 66-65 on Tuesday night.
Nate Santos had 14 points for the Flyers (10-2), who moved into the AP Top 25 poll this week for the first time this season. They extended their homecourt winning streak to 25 games — the fifth-longest in Division I.
Houston has the nation's longest streak at 27 games.
Zed Key scored 11 of his 13 points in the second half and freshman Amael L’Etang finished with 10 for Dayton.
Dedan Thomas Jr. led UNLV (5-5) with 16 points. Jaden Henley added 15 and Julian Rishwain had 12 points on four 3-pointers.
Takeaways
Rishwain gave UNLV a spark in the second half. He was scoreless until making his first field goal in five attempts with 7:53 remaining. His third consecutive 3 during a four-minute span gave the Rebels their first lead of the second half at 55-53.
Key moment
Santos made a 3-pointer from the corner with 1:15 left to pull Dayton to 62-61 and UNLV did not hit the rim at the other end late in the shot clock, leading to a transition layup by Smith with 37 seconds to go.
Dayton's Zed Key (23) celebrates with teammate Malachi Smith (11) during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game against UNLV, Tuesday, Dec. 17, 2024, in Dayton, Ohio. Credit: AP/Jeff Dean
Rishwain made his fourth 3-pointer with 23 seconds left for a 65-63 lead, but Smith converted a three-point play to give Dayton a one-point lead with eight seconds left. Thomas' baseline jumper at the buzzer was short.
Key stat
A game that featured seven ties and eight lead changes ended with each team making 13 free throws and grabbing 30 rebounds. Dayton was 24 of 51 from the field, while UNLV made 22 of 53.
Up next
UNLV returns home to play UC Riverside on Saturday.
Dayton plays No. 19 Cincinnati on Friday in the Simple Truth Hoops Classic at the Heritage Bank Center.
