Dayton rallies from 13 points down to beat No. 6 Marquette 71-63
Dayton forward Nate Santos (2), guard Hamad Mousa (10), forward Amael L'Etang (29) and guard Malachi Smith (11) celebrate after an NCAA college basketball game win over Marquette in Dayton, Ohio, Saturday, Dec. 14, 2024. Credit: AP/Paul Vernon
DAYTON, Ohio — Javon Bennett and Zed Key each scored 15 points as Dayton erased a 13-point deficit in the second and beat No. 6 Marquette 71-63 on Saturday night.
Down by double-digits at the half, Bennett tied the game with a layup and Key scored from the paint to give Dayton its first lead, 55-53, with 7:02 left.
The Flyers outscored Marquette by 18 in the second half, shooting 55.6%. A 5-0 run in the last 1:15 sealed it for Dayton (9-2).
Nate Santos had 12 points and 13 rebounds for the Flyers.
Chase Ross paced Marquette with 19 points and Kam Jones had 18 as the Golden Eagles (9-2) lost for the second time in three games.
The Flyers outrebounded Marquette 38-31 and capitalized on 21 second-chance points, compared with Marquette's 10.
Takeaways
Marquette: Jones hit a 3-pointer to put Marquette up by 13 at the start of the second half. But the Golden Eagles missed shots and couldn't hold the lead as the Flyers surged. The Golden Eagles shot just 35.7% in the second half.
Marquette guard Stevie Mitchell, left, and guard Kam Jones (1) walk off the court after an NCAA college basketball game against Dayton in Dayton, Ohio, Saturday, Dec. 14, 2024. Credit: AP/Paul Vernon
Dayton: After going 2 for 13 from the field in the first 10 minutes with three turnovers, the Flyers didn't look particularly good throughout the first half. But, they began clicking in the second half and took advantage of Marquette mistakes.
Key moment
A layup by Marquette's David Joplin cut the Dayton lead to 66-63 with 1:41, but Marquette couldn't score again as the Flyers wrapped it up.
Key stat
Dayton scored 46 points from in the paint, with Marquette getting only 26.
Up next
Marquette hosts Butler on Wednesday, while Dayton hosts UNLV on Tuesday.
