Nearly 24,000 Fans Pack UD Arena and the Nutter Center as Dayton and Wright State Both Win by 31

Monday night in the Miami Valley felt less like the start of a basketball season and more like a regional holiday. Two arenas a short drive apart filled up at the same time, and by the end of the night the people inside them had watched the same thing happen twice: a home team taking its opponent apart by exactly 31 points.

At UD Arena, 13,407 fans watched Dayton roll past NJIT 89-58. Up the road at the Nutter Center, Wright State announced a crowd of 10,500 for a 102-71 win over Air Force. Add them together and you get 23,907 people at a college basketball game in the greater Dayton area on a Monday in early November. That is not a typo, and it is not normal anywhere else.

Two buildings, one night

The crowds are the story, so start there. Dayton's number is the familiar one. The 13,407 inside UD Arena came through a full-season ticket package that fills the building before the schedule even matters, which is how a nonconference opener against an America East program still draws a full house. Hal McCoy of Press Pros noted, with some amusement, that those fans pay for the privilege of watching openers like this one. They showed up anyway, and they were loud.

The Raiders' number is the one that should make people sit up. The 10,500 at the Nutter Center was the program's biggest sellout there since 1999, according to Wright State, and the Dayton Daily News called it the largest crowd for a Wright State game in that building this century. The school had announced in October that the game, the second annual Stars, Stripes and Flight Classic, was sold out. The night also brought the unveiling of a brand new court at the Nutter Center and the introduction of a new mascot, Rowdy Viking, at the end of pregame introductions.

For the reigning Horizon League champions, whose NCAA Tournament trip ended in an 82-73 loss to Virginia in March, a building that full is a statement about where the program stands at home. Head coach Clint Sargent sounded like someone who understood exactly what the setting meant for a roster still learning itself. "You never know how your team's going to react to being in front of people for the first time, and obviously couldn't ask for much of a better start," Sargent said, per the Dayton Daily News (opens in a new tab).

Wright State: Pangonis can't miss

The Raiders gave that crowd something to scream about almost immediately. Dominic Pangonis hit a 3-pointer for the game's first points and then simply refused to miss. Wright State led 13-2 by the 16:00 mark with Pangonis scoring nine of the 13, and the junior guard made all eight of his first-half shots on the way to 27 points by the break. Wright State went 9 of 13 from three in that half and never trailed.

Air Force did push back once, using an 8-0 run to get within 31-17, but Pangonis answered with two quick 3-pointers. The Raiders then closed the half on a 14-3 run, capped by a Pangonis fast-break layup with one second left, for a 60-31 lead. Air Force got no closer than 24 after halftime, and the second half turned into a 20-minute victory lap in front of the biggest home crowd this group has played for.

Pangonis finished with 30 points on 9 of 10 shooting, 6 of 7 from three and 6 of 7 at the line, with four assists and no turnovers in 32 minutes. The only shot he missed all night came after the outcome was long settled. Sargent's praise was about the work behind it. "He deserves it all because I think he works extremely hard," Sargent said, calling Pangonis one of the team's most consistent workers.

Andrea Holden, the Hamilton grad, posted a career-high 20 points and a game-high 11 rebounds. Kellen Pickett, the Horizon League Preseason Player of the Year, added 15 points, five rebounds and three blocks, and freshman Noah Lewis gave the Raiders 13 points, seven rebounds and six blocks off the bench. That made four Raiders in double figures. There were local touches all over the box score, too. Beavercreek's Isaiah Williams scored the first points of his college career with 6:52 left, and Centerville's Ethan Greenberg hit a three in the first half for Air Force.

The 102 points matter as well. Wright State shot 59 percent from the floor, blocked 12 shots to Air Force's one and won the paint 52-26. The Raiders reached triple digits only three times all of last season, per the Dayton Daily News. Pangonis, for his part, was already looking for the flaws. "I feel like we started with our defense, though. I think we let up too many points, honestly," he said.

Dayton: The freshman gets the room

Down the road at UD Arena, the Flyers' opener took a few minutes to find its shape. Amaël L'Etang made four straight free throws and threw down a dunk off an Aiden Derkack feed as Dayton jumped out 8-0, but NJIT answered with a 7-0 run to turn it into a one-possession game midway through the first half.

Then Dayton ran away. A 14-0 burst pushed the lead to 26-10, and the Flyers carried a 24-point cushion into halftime. NJIT never threatened again, and the second half was mostly a showcase for a roster that head coach Anthony Grant worked through a 10-man rotation.

Derkack was the headliner. The true freshman finished with 21 points and 11 rebounds in his Dayton debut, going 6 of 9 from the floor, 2 of 2 from three and 7 of 7 at the line in 28 minutes. According to the school's official recap (opens in a new tab), Derkack is the first true freshman to post a double-double in a Flyer debut since UD Hall of Famer Chris Wright in 2007, and the 21 points tied for the fourth most by a true freshman in a debut.

Asked about the atmosphere, Derkack did not bother with false modesty about the building. "Dayton has the best crowds in the world," Derkack told Press Pros. "Playing in this gym, I didn't think it was going to be this crazy."

L'Etang, the 7-foot-1 junior, matched him with 20 points and 11 rebounds for the ninth double-double of his Dayton career. It was the first Dayton season opener since 2018 with two players recording double-doubles. Tristian Ford added 13 points with three 3-pointers, four assists and no turnovers, and Zaide Lowery had three steals and a team-best plus-24.

The numbers underneath were just as lopsided. Dayton outrebounded NJIT 50-28, won the paint 44-24 and assisted on 19 of its 31 made field goals. NJIT shot 34.5 percent from the floor and 12 percent from three. The final points belonged to freshman Julian Washington, whose corner three was the first basket of a college career. It was Dayton's 22nd straight opening-night win, per Press Pros. The full box score (opens in a new tab) is on the school's site.

Why the number matters

The 31-point symmetry is a fun coincidence. The attendance is not. Dayton has turned UD Arena into one of the most dependable home environments in college basketball, and a full house for a Monday opener is simply what happens there now. Wright State filling the Nutter Center is newer, and maybe more telling, because it suggests the appetite in this region is bigger than one program.

The two openers tipped at the same time, so nobody was splitting the evening between them. Nearly 24,000 people picked one building or the other on a school night and stayed for blowouts. On Monday, Dayton and Wright State ran the same play: win big, and give the people who showed up a reason to come back.

What's next

Neither program has to wait long to do it again. Wright State stays home to host Florida Atlantic on Friday, Nov. 6, at 7:30 p.m. at the Nutter Center. Dayton hosts Northern Illinois at UD Arena on Saturday, Nov. 7, at 7 p.m.

If opening night was a preview, the hardest ticket in town this winter might be either one.

Sources: University of Dayton Athletics, Wright State Athletics, Dayton Daily News, WDTN, WHIO, Press Pros Magazine, Dayton 24/7 Now. More Dayton and Wright State coverage on Undrafted.

Photos: University of Dayton Athletics; Joseph Craven/Wright State Athletics.