By The Dayton Flyers official men’s basketball social media accounts debuted a feature called “Win Cam” on Monday, Nov. 2. Coaches and players walked by a stationary camera, which recorded their reactions after an 89-58 victory against the New Jersey Institute of Technology.
Numerous players flashed the “W” sign with their hands as they passed the camera midway up the tunnel at UD Arena. Travis Perry gave two thumbs-up. Evan Dickey screamed in celebration as he passed.
Freshmen Julian Washington and Aiden Derkack were so jubilant after their first career victory, they didn’t notice the camera as they sprinted past, while Amaël L'Etang, the last player to leave the court, saw it at the last second and came back to flash the “W.”
The Win Cam could make another appearance on Saturday, Nov. 7, as Dayton (1-0) plays Northern Illinois (0-1) at 7 p.m. The game will air on ESPN+.
Here are five things to know about the game:
1: Series history: Dayton leads the series 3-0.
The Flyers beat Northern Illinois 101-60 at the UD Fieldhouse on Feb. 15, 1967. Don May led the Flyers with 20 points. Northern Illinois was considered a small college program then but moved to the top level, now known as Division I, the following season.
Dayton won the second matchup 60-43 on Dec. 1, 2012, at UD Arena. Devin Oliver and Josh Benson each scored 12 points for the Flyers.
In the most recent meeting, on Dec. 4, 2021, at UD Arena, Elijah Weaver scored 16 points in a 79-41 Dayton victory.
Northern Illinois spent the last 29 seasons in the Mid-American Conference. Dayton has won 16 straight games against the MAC.
Northern Illinois is now a new member of the Horizon League. Dayton has won 10 straight games against the Horizon League since a 59-42 loss to Detroit in 2001.
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2: State of the program: Northern Illinois finished 9-21 overall and 4-14 in the MAC last season. It was the last of five seasons for coach Rashon Burns. The Huskies have suffered six straight losing seasons.
The Huskies last made the NCAA tournament in 1996. They also made appearances in 1982 and 1991. They are 0-3 in the tournament.
Northern Illinois was picked to finish 10th out of 12 teams in the Horizon League preseason poll.
NIU’s new coach is Matt Majkrzak, who spent the last seven seasons as the head coach at Division II Northern Michigan.
3: Scouting report: Four players followed Majkrzak from Northern Michigan to Northern Illinois, and two freshmen who signed with Northern Michigan changed their minds and picked NIU when Majkrzak got the new job.
The top Northern Michigan transfer is Cal Klesmit, a 6-2 senior guard. He averaged 12.2 points last season.
Northern Illinois did not return any players from its 2025-26 roster. All 16 of its players are newcomers. It also had a roster full of newcomers last season.
One of the top transfers from a Division I school is 6-1 sophomore point guard Uzziah Buntyn, who averaged 12.1 points per game at South Dakota last season.
Majkrzak runs a complicated offensive system. In a preseason interview with the Blue Ribbon College Basketball Yearbook, he said his plays are not simple.
They're pretty layered,” he said. “On the one-to-100 scale, we would be 100 on the complexity scale for our offense. If (KenPom.com) has a complexity algorithm, we would win that award. We might not win anything else, but we'll win that.
"We need smart players. Smart players with feel, because a lot of this is read-based. Most of our sets aren't 'Do X, do Y, do Z: It's, 'If X, then Y.' So you need players with feel who are intelligent. I feel we can cover up a lot of other flaws if they are intelligent and have feel.”
4: Opening game: Northern Illinois lost 89-87 to Grambling on Monday in the Field of 68 Opening Day Marathon in Rock Hill, S.C. The game started at 2 a.m.
"I think the experience will be worth it," Majkrzak said in a press release. "I would do it again because I think it was the right thing to do for our program. I think it was the right thing to do for this team. But I unfortunately know that I won't remember anything other than the loss.
Trevor Polite, a 6-6 sophomore guard/forward who played at Northern Michigan, led the Huskies with 15 points.
Nino Carter-Smith, a 6-1 senior guard who spent the last three seasons at Division II Lake Superior State, scored 13 points.
David Douglass Jr., a 6-5 senior guard who played at Fresno State last season, scored 12.
The Huskies lost despite shooting 45.2% (14 of 31) from 3-point range and committing only eight turnovers.
Klesmit and Buntyn did not play in the opener.
5: Odds & Ends: KenPom.com gives Dayton a 97% chance of winning and predicts an 85-64 score. Northern Illinois ranks 297th in the Pomeroy ratings. Dayton is No. 66.
On Monday, Dayton had two players record double-doubles in a season opener for the first time since 2018. Derkack had 21 points and 11 rebounds. L’Etang had 20 points and 11 rebounds.
https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/dayton-basketball-flyers-play-horizon-020200983.html
