DAYTON, Ohio – Southeast Missouri (0-1) dropped its season-opener to Dayton (1-0), 84-53, Friday night at UD Arena.
 
Southeast, which met preseason Atlantic 10 favorite Dayton for the first time, never led in the game and slipped into a big hole early.
 
The Redhawks struggled offensively, shooting just 25.9 percent (7-of-27) from the field and turned the ball over 12 times in the first half.
 
Both teams went scoreless for the opening 2:39 of the game before Scoochie Smith scored the first basket on a layup.
 
Smith later had back-to-back steals and added four more points before Darrell Davis buried a 3-pointer and followed that up with a layup to put UD ahead, 11-0, with 14:07 left to play. Southeast went 0-of-7 from the field and committed seven turnovers during that stretch.
 
Six minutes and nine seconds in, Marcus Wallace scored Southeast's first point of the season on a free throw at the 13:51 mark.
 
A layup and jumper by Tony Anderson and jumper by Isiah Jones later cut UD's lead to 16-7 with 11:48 remaining, but that was as close as Southeast would get.
 
The Flyers then put together a 17-4 run to expand their lead to 33-11.
 
Wallace's 3-pointer was the last basket for Southeast, which went scoreless for the final 4:51 of the first half before going into the locker room down, 46-16.
 
Southeast had just three turnovers and played much better in the second half.
 
"The one thing we talked about and worked on before the game was not turning the ball over," said Redhawks head coach Rick Ray. "I was pleased that we only had three turnovers in the second half."
 
The Redhawks began the final period with an 11-2 run as Joel Angus III, Antonius Cleveland, Jones, J.T. Jones and Wallace each scored. Wallace's jumper cut UD's lead to 48-27 with 15:16 left to play.
 
UD answered by scoring 18 of the next 25 points and went ahead, 66-34, on a 3-pointer by Ryan Mikesell with a little over 10 minutes remaining.
 
The Flyers built their largest lead to 36 before nailing down their first win.
 
Mikesell came off the bench to drop in a game-high 21 points in 26 minutes. He shot 7-of-9 from the field and hit five of UD's eight 3-pointers. Mikesell had eight rebounds, four assists and a block, as well.
 
Darrell Davis followed with 15 points and eight rebounds, while Kendall Pollard added a game-high 10 rebounds and three blocks to go along with eight points.
 
UD shot 51.9 percent (27-of-52) from the field and outrebounded Southeast, 52-36. In addition, the Flyers bench held a hefty 49-19 advantage.
 
Wallace led all Southeast scorers with 12 points and seven rebounds. Walk-on Kyle Gullett dropped in nine points in 21 minutes off the bench. He knocked down three 3-pointers, all in the second half.
 
Angus and Anderson made their first career starts at Southeast. Angus had six points and three boards, while Anderson pitched in four points and pulled down six rebounds.
 
Meanwhile, freshman Eric McGill logged a game-high 30 minutes.
 
Southeast shot 31.3 percent (20-of-64) from the field, 20 percent (5-of-25) from 3-point range and 34.8 percent (8-of-23) at the free throw line on the night.
 
The Redhawks fell to 9-16 all-time in season-opening games since moving to the NCAA Division I level in 1991-92.
 
Southeast plays its second game in three days when it visits Missouri Valley Conference foe Evansville Sunday. Sunday's matchup, scheduled for 2 p.m., CT, will air on ESPN3, WatchESPN.