Enoch Cheeks scored eight of his 20 points in a critical stretch late in the second half Wednesday as Dayton defeated two-time defending champion and second-seeded UConn 85-67 by a 0-3 score at the Maui Invitational in the seventh-place game in Lahaina , Hawaii.

The Flyers (6-2) went on a 7-0 run, which they achieved when Javon Bennett found the open cheeks in transition for a 3-pointer that extended Dayton’s lead to 69-57 with 4:27 left .

Alex Karaban scored two of his game-high 21 points on the Huskies’ ensuing possession, but Dayton came right back when Posh fed Alexander Cheeks a lob pass.

Cheeks was fouled as he brought home the alley-oop and then completed the three-point play. After a Samson Johnson dunk on the other end, Nate Santos knocked down a three-pointer and Cheeks completed his game-winning breakaway by sinking a jump shot off one of Alexander’s six assists.

The sequence blew up the game and gave the Flyers a win while they dropped two points against No. 12 North Carolina and five points against No. 5 Iowa State in their last two games at the Maui Invitational.

UConn (4-3) entered the event on a 17-game winning streak, but fell by two points in overtime to Memphis and one point to Colorado. The three losses in Maui equal the total number of losses the Huskies suffered in the 2023-24 season.

Four players scored in double figures to give the Dayton offense a boost. Santos finished with 18 points, Alexander scored 16 off the bench and Zed Key added 15. Dayton shot 8 of 17 from 3-point range and an outstanding 27 of 30 from the free throw line.

UConn shot just 8-for-29 from 3-point range and 7-for-11 at the free throw line. Fifteen of Karaban’s 21 goals came in the first half. Johnson finished the game with 12 points on 6 of 7 shooting from the floor, while Ball and Hassan Diarra added 10 points each.

–Field level media