McCoy: UD Buries New Jersey Institute Of Technology And Storm Door Company, 89-58

The University of Dayton Flyers extend their Opening Night winning streak to 22 straight by completely outclassing and outgunning New Jersey Institute of Technology by 31 points as true freshman Aiden Derkack makes his collegiate debut with 21 points and 11 rebounds.

Dayton, OH — As part of the full-season ticket package, the 13,407 fans in UD Arena are forced to pay to see teams like New Jersey Institute of Technology in the season’s opener.

You know — NJIT from University Heights in Newark, New Jersey.

You know — Members of the America East Conference.

You know — It’s the same conference occupied by the University of Maryland-Baltimore County and University of Massachusetts-Lowell, two other sacrificial lambs brought in to take a beating and take home a fat check.

It is easy to take opponents like these as soft pillows and the Flyers learned a rugged lesson in a 2021 early-season game — a 59-58 loss to UMass-Lowell.

Fortunately for the Flyers, that wasn’t a season’s opener, so when they whipped, lashed and scarred New Jersey Institute of Technology & Storm Door Company, 89-58, Monday night in UD Arena, it was the Flyers’ 22nd straight opening night victory.

Yes, NJIT resembled a team sponsored by a storm door company — outmanned, outclassed, outhustled, outplayed and they should have stayed out in the parking lot.

Consider:

During its last three seasons, NJIT has finished 337th, 333rd and 336th in three-point shooting among the 361 Division I basketball schools.

Against the Flyers Monday they were 3 for 25 (12%), undoubtedly 361st after this game.

UD beat them into submission and surrender on the backboards, 50-28.

Free throws? The Flyers made their first 14 and finished 18 for 21. NJIT? 15 for 25.

The Highlanders hung close for eight minutes, trailing by only 12-10, mostly because the Flyers were 1 for 7 from the field. They stayed in step by making six straight free throws.

Then the two-team ugliness turned into just one-team ugliness. UD went on a 14-0 breakaway to take a 26-10 lead. A stifling full-court press took its toll on NJIT and the margin just became larger and larger.

And coach Anthony Grant used a productive 10-man rotation and all 10 made contributions in their own ways.

The two that stood out on the statistical sheet for UD were true freshman Aiden Derkack and 7-foot-1 Frenchman Amaël L’Etang.

Both produced a double-double — Derkack with 21 points and 11 rebounds and L’Etang with 20 points and 11 rebounds.

It was Derkack’s collegiate debut but he plays like a fifth-year senior — confident, aggressive, all-around ability and an all-court game that finds him using up every board on the floor as he runs the court and runs the offense and runs the other team until it wants to cry uncle.

The usually raucous UD Arena crowd was noisy at the start, but as the deficit mounted to 25, then 30, early and midway into the second half, the assemblage sounded more like a crowd at a Broadway show. . .polite applause.

That isn’t how Derkack heard it.

“I ain’t gonna lie,” he said. “I walked out for warm-ups and the whole energy felt different than it was (for exhibition games against Notre Dame and Morehead State). Just louder. I walked back to the lockerroom and my ears were still ringing. Dayton has the best crowds in the world.

“Playing in this gym, I didn’t think it was going to be this crazy,” he added. “But I’ve definitely been proven wrong. For my first college game, it was truly an incredible experience.”

If he believes it was boisterous and noisy Monday, wait until Virginia Commonwealth or Saint Louis set foot in the Arena.

He knew somewhat what it’s like by talking with his brother, Jordan, who graduated after last season. Aiden is a carbon copy of Jordan, only taller and a better shooter.

Aiden said he talks to Jordan, “Oh, about seven or eight times a day and he really helps me.”

But what can the Flyers get out of a game like this, other than an easy ‘W’ on their resume?

“More reps. We’re all still learning on how each of us plays,” said Derkack. “We’re still building that connection with each other and that’s very important. And playing a real game against different guys and building our connection is important.”

Asked how his collegiate debut was different from other games, Derkack said it wasn’t.

“I tried to treat this like a typical game, like a middle school game,” he said. “Every game I treat the same. It was obviously our first game, but I played with the same intensity and the way I go about the game the way I always do. Play as hard as I can to make sure we get the win.”

So what is Derkack learning about L’Etang?

“Playing with him is great,” he said. “He is truly a special player and he is going to be great for us this whole year. I still have to learn stuff he does and he still has to learn stuff that I do. I think me and him are going to have a great year.”

While scoring his 20 points, L’Etang was 6 for 12 from the field — 0 for 5 from three-point territory is ignored. And he was 8 for 10 from the foul line.

Derkack was 6 for 9 from the field, 2 for 2 from three and 7 for 7 at the foul line.

And defense certainly played a part. NJIT’s best player is 6-foot sophomore guard David Bolden, the America East Freshman of the Year last season after averaging 11.9 points.

On Monday night in UD Arena, he scored zero — none, zip, nada. He was 0 for 6 from the field, 0 for 4 from three. Only one NJIT player hit double figures, 6-foot-10 sophomore Matheo Coffi. The native of Starsbough, France scored 12.

“We were pretty good (on defense),” said Derkack. “I still think that’s a big area to improve on. Overall, we had a good defensive game. But there’s always room to grow. We have a lot of work to go on it.”

The work continues Saturday night when Northern Illinois comes to UD Arena and the Cardinals figure to be a bit better than New Jersey Institute of Technology & Storm Door Company.