Zed Key and Javon Bennett each had 15 points and led a second-half charge that helped host Dayton erase a 13-point deficit and beat No. 6 Marquette 71-63 on Saturday night.
Key had four dunks in the second half for the Flyers (9-2), who shot 55.6 percent from the field following intermission after making just 36 percent of their first-half shots to trail 36-26 at halftime. Enoch Cheeks added 14 points for Dayton, which held the Golden Eagles (9-2) to 35.7 percent shooting overall after the break and owned a 21-10 advantage in second-chance points for the game.
Chase Ross had 19 points and star Kam Jones added 18 for Marquette, which was the highest-ranked team to visit Dayton since Pittsburgh, also ranked No. 6 at the time, lost there in December 2007.
Dayton trailed 39-26 after Jones opened the second half with a 3-pointer. However, that bucket apparently woke up the Flyers, who then used a 7-0 spurt — part of a larger 14-2 run — to get back into the game. Bennett headlined the charge with a pair of triples.
The hosts trailed 53-49 before Malachi Smith (11 assists) and Bennett made layups to tie the game with 7:43 left. A layup and a dunk from Key followed to make it a four-point lead for Dayton, which never trailed again.
Key opened the scoring in the first half with a basket down low, but it was Marquette that controlled the rest of the period. At one point, the Golden Eagles’ stout defense held the Flyers without a point for more than four minutes while the offense put together a 15-2 run to forge an 18-5 lead with 9:34 remaining until the break.
Jones, who spent time on the bench in the first half because of two fouls, scored six points during that run, and after the outburst was over, Ross later hit a pair of free throws after Dayton coach Anthony Grant was issued a technical foul for reacting to a non-call on Amael L’Etang’s dunk.
Dayton’s Nate Santos finished with 12 points and 13 rebounds.
–Field Level Media
