Dayton Flyers vs Massachusetts Minutemen Match Player Stats On Feb 15, 2020

Obi Toppin scored 19 points with seven rebounds and Jalen Crutcher had 17 points and five assists to lead No. 6 Dayton to a 71-63 victory over Massachusetts on Saturday in Amherst, Mass., extending its winning streak to 14 games.

The Flyers (23-2, 12-0 Atlantic 10) shot 52.9 percent (27-for-51), which included a sizzling 53.8 percent on 3-pointers (7-for-13).

The Minutemen struggled shooting the ball, connecting on just 4-of-20 3-pointers (20.0 percent). Freshman center Tre Mitchell paced UMass with 26 points and 10 rebounds, while Samba Diallo had 10 points and six rebounds.

The Minutemen (10-15, 4-8) played one of their best games of the season, with the Flyers the highest ranked team to play in the Mullins Center since No. 2 Saint Joseph's on Feb. 25, 2004. But the Flyers pulled away late in the second half behind a scoring spree by Crutcher.

The Minutemen managed to claw back midway through the second half, when Dibaji Walker hit a jumper to slash the deficit to 46-41. But Crutcher added to his reputation for big second-half performances, scoring 11 straight Dayton points to give the Flyers some cushion.

Crutcher hit back-to-back 3-pointers, a 5-foot floater and ended a personal three-minute scoring surge with a deep 3-pointer from the wing to give the Flyers a 57-43 edge with 7:03 remaining.

Dwayne Cohill and Toppin both added layups to raise the advantage to 63-47 with 4:12 left. UMass managed to battle back behind its defensive pressure, cutting the margin to 65-59 with 39.4 seconds left. Carl Pierre's reverse layup lowered the deficit to 67-63 with 14.5 seconds remaining. Crutcher sealed the win with two free throws with 12.3 left.

The Minutemen closed out the first half with a big run, cutting the deficit to 31-26 at the break. Dayton shot 13-for-28 from the floor (46.4 percent) in the first half, including making three of its four 3-point attempts, to offset a 10-turnover effort.

--Field Level Media