Davidson buries Dayton with outside shooting

DAVIDSON, N.C. — Davidson had answer after answer from outside the 3-point arc, making it rude treatment for 22nd-ranked Dayton.

Freshman forward Peyton Aldridge scored 22 points, and Davidson’s long-range shooting sparked the offense in a 77-60 victory Tuesday night at Belk Arena.

“We got into such a rhythm on offense,” Davidson coach Bob McKillop said. “The rhythm and flow was awesome. We had 40 minutes of (strong play). We expect to play that way.”

Guard Tyler Kalinoski poured in 21 points and forward Oskar Michelsen had 11 points as the Wildcats added a memorable performance to their first season in the Atlantic 10. They made 12 3-point shots on 23 attempts.

It marked the end to an eight-game winning streak for Dayton (15-3, 5-1 A-10), which dropped out of a share of first place. The Flyers were denied their first 6-0 start in league play since 2003-04.

“A really, really well-played game by Davidson,” Dayton coach Archie Miller said. “We were concerned about the pace of the game, and the 3-point line concerns you with them. We weren’t sharp enough to beat them in here tonight.”

Forward Kendall Pollard, who racked up 10 points in the first four minutes of the second half, and guard Jordan Sibert finished with 23 points apiece for Dayton, which played with a regular-season national ranking for the first time since December 2013.

Sibert scored 18 points in the first half, but he didn’t score in the second half until hitting two free throws with 7:16 remaining. Miller said the Flyers didn’t have enough movement, which was partly responsible for 16 turnovers after averaging only 10.5 per game in their first five league games.

This was Davidson’s first win against a nationally ranked foe since topping Kansas on Dec. 19, 2011, in Kansas City, Mo. This season, the Wildcats had fallen to their first three nationally ranked opponents (North Carolina, Virginia and Virginia Commonwealth).

The Wildcats (13-4, 4-2) pulled the upset without injured guard Jack Gibbs, who averages 15.8 points per game and has the third-most 3-pointers on the team.

But with five players hitting at least one 3 — and Aldridge making four — it didn’t seem to matter.

“Any game in the A-10 is very big,” Kalinoski said. “To come out and attack. We weren’t on our heels at all this game. It kind of re-affirmed our confidence. Our coaches kept telling us to attack.”

Aldridge matched his second-highest scoring outing of the season.

“It’s just knocking down shots,” he said. “My teammates did a great job of helping me get open.”

The Flyers were playing their fifth game in 13 days and they lacked energy at times.

“Early on, I knew they were sharp and the ball was going in,” Miller said. “They make you work. They make you tired chasing them around. They moved the ball faster than we could recover. … For the first time in a long time, our defense couldn’t help us.”

Davidson’s lead grew to 59-45 on guard Brian Sullivan’s 3-pointer, barely beating the shot clock. Aldridge scored in the lane to make it 61-45 with 10:54 left.

“This was an all-around outstanding performance,” McKillop said. “I think our guys put together as good of a performance as we have had all year. … One of the signature aspects of the game here was that the crowd was such a big factor.”

Davidson, which made 5 of 6 attempts from 3-point range in the opening nine minutes, led by as many as 13 points in the opening half before settling for a 45-33 halftime lead.

Davidson had three 3-pointers from three different players on consecutive possessions to claim a 13-10 edge. Then before the first five minutes elapsed, another Davidson player — guard Brian Sullivan — was fouled on a 3-point attempt and drained three free throws.

Aldridge’s 3 pushed the Wildcats to a 23-13 lead at the 12:51 mark, resulting in a Dayton timeout.

Four Davidson players hit 3-pointers in the first half.

The Flyers hung around because Sibert scored 13 of the team’s first 16 points.

Pollard, with five points at the time, sat out the final 8:56 of the half after picking up his second foul.

NOTES: Davidson