Field Level Media
Dec 30, 2019
Obi Toppin scored a game-high 31 points, and No. 20-ranked Dayton cruised past visiting North Florida 77-59 on Monday.
The Flyers (11-2) exerted their advantage on the interior, scoring 28 of their 42 first-half points in the paint. Dayton built a double-digit lead early, weathering six first-half 3-pointers from the Ospreys by holding them to just 5-of-13 shooting otherwise.
Dayton extended the lead to 24 points in the second half behind a dominant performance from Toppin. He scored 14 points in the first 10 minutes after intermission, and 20 total in the second half on 10-of-13 shooting from the floor.
Toppin also pulled down a game-high eight rebounds.
While Toppin heated up from the floor, North Florida went cold at the free throw line. The Ospreys shot 5 of 14 from the stripe, all in the second half.
Despite its struggles at the foul line, North Florida (7-8) was more effective from behind the 3-point arc. The Ospreys made 12 of 28 from long range, paced by Carter Hendricksen's 3-of-5 shooting.
Hendricksen scored 12 and grabbed seven rebounds. Wajid Aminu added 10 points with six rebounds, and Ivan Gandia-Rosa scored 10 points with four assists.
Dayton forced North Florida into 21 turnovers -- 12 of them on steals. The Flyers turned takeaways into points, scoring 21 off turnovers.
Rodney Chatman stole the ball four times to go with his nine assists. Trey Landers scored 15 points and made two steals.
Ryan Mikesell scored nine points and grabbed seven rebounds for Dayton. Jalen Crutcher added 11 points and hit 2-of-4 from 3-point range on a night the Flyers struggled from deep as a team. They finished 4-of-15 from behind the arc.
Dayton made 27 of 47 of its 2-point field-goal attempts -- below its season-long, nation-leading average of 63.4 percent, but well ahead of North Florida's 40.9 percent from that range.
--Field Level Media