TERRE HAUTE, Ind.  – The Indiana State Basketball non-conference schedule for the 2020-21 campaign continues to take shape as the Sycamores have announced a non-conference matchup with the Dayton Flyers who spent all of last season nationally-ranked and much of it in the nation's Top 5.
 
The game will take place on December 2 at the University of Dayton Arena with game time, television and ticket information to be announced at a later date.
 
The two teams opened the 2019-20 campaign as the Flyers embarked on a historic season. The game also debuted the renovated University of Dayton Arena and the Sycamores came within an eyelash of spoiling the Flyers' celebration in front of a sell-out crowd. ISU dropped the game 86-81 but set the tone for improvement over the course of the season which saw the Sycamores earned the No. 3 seed at Arch Madness.
 
"First I'd like to commend the peaceful protests of the people of our community," head coach Greg Lansing said. "I'd also like to thank local law enforcement for their heartfelt support and professionalism during these tough times. We have been trying to prepare for our upcoming season. We hope to get our guys back soon to start our journey. We are not done with our schedule but certainly have challenging and exciting games for our fans like usual. We will play at Purdue on Nov 13th and have just signed a contract to play at Dayton again on Dec 2nd. Two of the country's best venues to help us prepare for the Valley season. We need more home games but we will play on December 19 against Ball State and on Dec 22nd versus SEMO. We couldn't be more excited."
 
The Flyers were 29-2 in 2019-20, setting the school record for most wins even though UD did not get a chance to play any post-season games. Dayton ended the year ranked third in the nation and will carry a 20-game win streak into 2020-21, the longest active streak in Division I.  UD won its third Atlantic 10 regular season championship in the last five years, but this season went undefeated (18-0) for the first time.
 
Tyreke Key led the way last year against Dayton with 21 points as he went 12-of-14 from the free throw line – the first Sycamores to record double digit free throws made since he did it in a road win at Valparaiso in 2019.
 
Indiana State held a 39-34 edge on the glass, including an 11-9 cushion in second chance points despite freshmen Jake LaRavia and Tre Williams making their Sycamore debut inside against projected NBA lottery draft pick Obi Toppin.
 
ISU hit 47.4 percent of their shots in the game (27-of-57) and were 21-of-27 from the charity stripe.
 
Key hit a huge shot with 23.1 seconds remaining, a 3-pointer from the left wing which rattled home to get the Sycamores within 81-79. After Dayton hit 1-of-2 from the line, Jordan Barnes drove the lane line and scored with 13.9 seconds left and Indiana State was down just 82-81. After a foul, Dayton hit both free throws this time to regain an 84-81 lead with 13.9 seconds to go.
 
Barnes had two great looks at a 3-pointer, including one after he grabbed his own offensive rebound but neither would fall. Dayton tacked on a pair of free throws to produce the final margin of five points.
 
The matchup on December 2 will be just the second ever between the two programs. ISU would later return to the state of Ohio and the city of Dayton later in non-conference play last season to defeat Wright State in overtime. The Raiders were the Horizon League preseason pick and the Sycamores won the game despite losing the services of Key late in regulation due to a gash over his eye.
 
The Sycamores have previously announced a non-conference matchup on November 13 inside Mackey Arena against the Purdue Boilermakers. Indiana State opens the season at North Dakota State on November 10 and will participate in the Gulf Coast Showcase near Ft. Myers, Fla., from November 23-25.
 
More non-conference games will be announced in the coming weeks, including the addition of home contests which will be played in the newly renovated Hulman Center this winter.