DAYTON, Ohio — Senior Jordan Sibert had a career-high 24 points and the Flyers defeated Georgia Tech and their former coach Brian Gregory 75-61 on Tuesday night.
Dyshawn Pierre made all four of 3-point attempts and scored 19 points for the Flyers (9-2), who have won seven out of their last eight games.
Sibert scored 15 points and Pierre nine in the first half as the Flyers took a 39-33 lead at the break. After Georgia Tech scored the first five points of the second half, Dayton responded with a 12-0 run that included consecutive 3-pointers from Sibert. That put Dayton up by 13 points and its lead never dipped under double figures thereafter.
"To play against a team the caliber of Georgia Tech, and play like that is a great way to go into few days' break for the holiday," Dayton coach Archie Miller said.
Marcus Georges-Hunt scored 13 points, Tadric Jackson 12 and Charles Mitchell had 10 points and 10 rebounds for the Yellow Jackets (8-3).
Gregory was the Flyers coach for eight years before he was succeeded by Miller, who is in his fourth season at Dayton. Gregory received a sustained ovation from the Dayton crowd.
"We had a great crowd tonight," Miller said. "Probably the best we've had since I've been here. It was an emotional night for a lot of people to be sure, but it was a great atmosphere."
It was Gregory's first game at the University of Dayton Arena since departing for Georgia Tech. He was 172-94 at Dayton, ranking third all-time at the school.
Gregory's Yellow Jackets started two 6-foot-8 players and one at 6-9, a decided advantage against the Flyers, who don't have a player over 6-6 since 6-9 Jalen Robinson and 6-9 Devon Scott were dismissed from the team last week.
The Yellow Jackets took advantage of their height with a 39-27 rebounding edge. That included 15 rebounds off the offensive glass, but the Flyers only gave up six second-chance points as they packed their defense inside and made Georgia Tech shoot over them.
The Flyers made up for the rebounding deficit with superior shooting, hitting 50 percent of their shots for their six-point halftime lead. Though they cooled off in the second half, they still finished 10 of 18 from the 3-point arc for 55.6 percent. The Flyers also did a good job protecting their possessions, turning the ball over only six times.
"We have a very smart team, and we know how we have to play from this point forward," Miller said. "We have to take the approach of it's not who we play, it's how we play."
Georgia Tech did most of its damage inside with 36 points in the paint but made only 4 of 20 3-point attempts and finished 39.7 percent overall from the floor. The committed 14 turnovers that the Flyers turned into 18 points.
Over the past eight seasons, Dayton is 27-10 against the Power 5 conferences. The Flyers, out of the Atlantic 10, have now won eight straight over Atlantic Coast Conference teams. They improved to 6-0 at home and have won 12 straight at UD Arena.
