Ole Miss Gears Up for a Hardwood Matchup Against Dayton

By Adam Brown
Sports Editor
adam.brown@hottytoddy.com

The Ole Miss men’s basketball team welcomes in the Dayton Flyers into town on Saturday. Tipoff is set for 5:30 p.m. and can be seen on SEC Network.

Ole Miss (7-3) is coming off of a 62-52 victory over Middle Tennessee on Wednesday night. The Rebels were led on the floor by Nysier Brooks and Daeshun Ruffin each with 12 points.

Ole Miss held the Blue Raiders to 34.9 percent shooting overall and an opponent season-low 11.1 three-point percentage.

Dayton rolls into Oxford with an 7-4 overall record after ouncing back from a tough start that included a three-game losing streak vs. UMass-Lowell (59-58), Lipscomb (78-59) and Austin Peay (87-81). 

The Flyers got a much-needed spark by sweeping the ESPN Events Invitational in Orlando — highlighted by a stunning 74-73 upset over No. 4 Kansas, 74-73, that caught the attention of the nation back on Nov. 26. Since that tournament, Dayton has won three of their last four, its lone loss coming at SMU on Dec. 8 (77-69). 

On the year, Dayton is outscoring opponents by an average of 7.0 points per game and winning the battle on the glass by an average of 6.7 boards.

Leading the way for the Flyers is USC transfer Elijah Weaver, who is averaging 11.0 points, 2.2 assists, 1.6 rebounds and is shooting 53 percent overall, 41.7 percent from beyond the arc and 86.2 percent from the free throw line. Also averaging double-digit scoring on the season is DaRon Holmes II at 10.1 points, 5.4 rebounds and 2.2 blocks per game.

Saturday will be the eighth all-time meeting between the two programs on the hardwood. Dayton currently owns a dominant hold over the all-time series record against Ole Miss, with the Flyers enjoying a 7-0 advantage since first playing the Rebels back in 1980.