Trey Green’s 3-point display leads No. 21 Saint Louis over Dayton
Trey Green had 23 points and shot 7-for-10 on 3-point attempts, helping No. 21 Saint Louis roll to a 102-71 victory over visiting Dayton in Atlantic 10 play Wednesday.
Ishan Sharma added 18 points on six made 3-pointers off the bench for the Billikens (21-1, 9-0 A-10), who extended their best start to a season in program history. Quentin Jones scored 18 and Dion Brown chipped in 13 points for Saint Louis, which made 17 of its 28 (60.7%) 3-point attempts in the blowout win.
De'Shayne Montgomery led Dayton (14-8, 5-4) with 23 points, while Amael L'Etang scored 12. Reserve Malcolm Thomas finished with 11 points for the Flyers, who dropped their fourth straight game after a 5-0 start in conference play.
Facing a 17-point halftime deficit, Dayton opened the second half on a 12-5 run, pulling within 10 on Bryce Heard's mid-range jumper with 16:22 left.
From there, Saint Louis opened the lead back up as Green and Sharma drilled consecutive triples to stamp a 12-0 run, giving the Billikens a 63-41 edge.
Saint Louis continued the onslaught, as Green's seventh 3-pointer pushed the advantage to 75-50 with 9:39 remaining.
Sharma gave the Billikens their largest lead of the game with the team's 17th 3-pointer, putting Saint Louis ahead 97-62.
Robbie Avila opened the game with a triple before Green's 3-pointer gave Saint Louis an 8-0 lead. Jaiun Simon's layup cut Dayton's deficit to 15-9, but another Green trey began a 7-0 spurt to give the Billikens a 22-9 edge.
After Sharma drilled a 3-pointer to put the Billikens ahead by 17, Dayton's mini 4-0 run trimmed the deficit to 32-18.
With four minutes remaining in the opening half, Jones hit Saint Louis' seventh 3-pointer, extending the lead to 42-18. Dayton finished the first half on a 9-2 run, trimming the margin to 17 at halftime. Saint Louis shot 63% (17-for-27) from the field in the first half and was led by Green's 14 points. Javon Bennett and Montgomery paced Dayton with seven first-half points apiece.