LAHINA, Maui stands as the stage where a captivating clash between the "Birthplace of Aviation" and "First In Flight" crowds is set to unfold on Monday. The University of Dayton men's basketball team is all geared up to square off against the 10th-ranked North Carolina in the first round of the 2024 Maui Invitational. The game time is a late 11:30 p.m. ET, adding an extra element of excitement.

Pre-Tournament Insights

This year, Dayton enters the tournament with a remarkable 5-0 record, while North Carolina has a 2-1 standing. They have a game this weekend against Hawai’i before the tournament begins, with their lone loss coming at the hands of top-ranked Kansas. In their last action on Wednesday, Dayton ran away from New Mexico State with a convincing 74-53 victory. The Flyers led by just one at halftime but exploded in the second half, outscoring the Aggies 45-25.Nate Santos led the way with 23 points, 8 rebounds, and a remarkable 6 out of 10 from beyond the arc. Amaël L’Etang added 11 points on 4 out of 6 field goals in just 13 minutes of action, and Zed Key contributed 10 points.This will be the fourth meeting between the Flyers and Tar Heels. Only one of these matchups took place on either team's homecourt. In 2006, North Carolina won at the Dean Dome with a score of 81-51. However, Dayton emerged victorious in 1967 at the NCAA Final Four at Freedom Hall with a 70-62 win and again in the 2010 NIT championship game at Madison Square Garden with a 79-68 score.Dayton has an impressive 9-3 record on the Valley Isle and won the Maui Invitational Championship in 2003. The tournament is back at the Lahaina Civic Center this year after playing in Honolulu in 2023 following the tragic wildfires that hit the area in August 2023.

Broadcast and Streaming Details

The North Carolina game will be broadcast by WHIO Radio and televised on ESPN2. It can also be streamed on ESPN+. Streaming audio, video, and live stats will be available at DaytonFlyers.com.

Player Highlights

Nate Santos was named First Team Preseason All-Atlantic 10 after being on the third team last season. The 6-7 forward from Geneva, Ill. was the Flyers' second-leading scorer last year with 11.7 points and a team-high 6.3 rebounds. He also ranked second on the team in 3-point FG% with a remarkable.418 (51-122). Santos was fourth in the A-10 in three-point shooting and 10th in rebounding in 2023-24.Posh Alexander was named Second Team Preseason All-Atlantic 10 and to the Preseason All-Defensive Team. A fifth-year transfer, he already has 1,000 career points and 500 career assists. As one of the four recruits from New York City during Anthony Grant's tenure at UD, he led the Big East in steals in each of the last four seasons - three at St. John's and one at Butler. Last year at Butler, he averaged 11.3 points, 4.9 assists, 4.3 rebounds, and 2.2 steals per game, ranking 16th in the nation in steals per game. In his three years at St. John's, he averaged 10.9, 13.8, and 10.2 points a game.Enoch Cheeks was also named to the A-10 Preseason All-Defensive Team. He led the team in steals with 40, was second in blocked shots with 21, and third in rebounding with 4.7 in his first season at UD after transferring from Robert Morris. The Providence, R.I. native was the 2023-24 winner of UD's Steve McElvene Award and was consistently assigned to defend the opponents' top perimeter players. In the 25 games (out of 33) where the Flyer foe's top player was a guard or wing, that player was held under his average 17 times. He started in all 33 games and averaged 8.1 points per game (9.5 in A-10 play).The Dayton roster includes five players with all-conference recognition in their past - junior forward Nate Santos (Atlantic 10), junior Enoch Cheeks (Horizon League), junior Javon Bennett (Northeast Conference), redshirt junior Malachi Smith (Atlantic 10), and fifth-year senior Posh Alexander (Big East).Enoch Cheeks leads the A-10 and is sixth nationally in steals per game with 3.33. Malachi Smith is fifth in assists with 5.6 and fourth in assist-to-turnover ratio with 4.0. As a team, Dayton leads the Atlantic 10 in assist-to-turnover ratio with 1.88.

Arena and Tradition

Dayton ranked 20th in average attendance in NCAA Division I last season, averaging a capacity crowd of 13,407 fans per game in 2023-24. Among schools in the top 25 in attendance, only Kansas, Purdue, Michigan State, and UConn also sold out every game of the season. Dayton has already announced that it has sold out every game for the upcoming 2024-25 season, including both exhibition games. This is the fourth consecutive year UD has sold out every home game, a streak that now stands at 64 games.This is also the 55th anniversary season of UD Arena. The Arena underwent a $76.2 million transformation project and was completed in time for the 2019-20 season.The Flyers are wearing "DJD" on their left shoulder strap as a tribute to Don Donoher. Coach Donoher passed away last April at the age of 92. He was the first man to coach his alma mater in the NCAA tournament after appearing in it as a player. A member of the NABC College Basketball Hall of Fame, he is Dayton's all-time winningest coach with 437 wins and was the 2017 winner of the USBWA's Dean Smith Award.

Up Next

Dayton's second game in Lahaina will be on Tuesday against either No. 4 Auburn or No. 5 Iowa State.