# 2003–04 Dayton Flyers men's basketball team

The 2003–04 Dayton Flyers men's basketball team represented the University of Dayton during the 2003–04 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Flyers, led by first year head coach Brian Gregory, played their home games at the University of Dayton Arena and were members of the Atlantic 10 Conference. They finished the season 24–9, 12–4 in A-10 play, finishing first in the A-10's West division. Dayton opened the season winning the Maui Invitational. The Flyers advanced to the finals of the Atlantic 10 tournament where they were defeated by rival Xavier. Dayton received an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament, the program's first consecutive NCAA appearances since the 1960s. The Flyers lost to DePaul in the first round.

## Previous season

The 2002-03 Dayton Flyers finished the season with an overall record of 24–6, with a record of 13–2 in the Atlantic 10 regular season. The Flyers defeated Temple to win the Atlantic 10 tournament title. They received a bid to play in the NCAA tournament where they fell to Tulsa in the first round.

## Offseason
### Departures

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Notes |
| D.J. Stelly | 2 | G | 6'4" | 193 | Senior | Aurora, CO | Graduated |
| Nate Green | 5 | F | 6'6" | 245 | Senior | Laurel, MD | Graduated |
| Brooks Hall | 33 | G/F | 6'6" | 205 | Senior | Troy, OH | Graduated |

## Incoming recruits

College recruiting information :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight | Commit date |
| Jon Kingston F | Columbus, OH | Grandview Heights | 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) | 238 lb (108 kg) | Aug 18, 2003 |
| Star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: N/A ||||||
| Chris Spears G | Centerville, OH | Centerville High School | 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) | 170 lb (77 kg) | Jul 8, 2003 |
| Star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: N/A ||||||
| Nick Stafford F | Worcester, MA | Worcester Academy | 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) | 190 lb (86 kg) | Dec 1, 2003 |
| Star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: N/A ||||||
| Overall recruiting rankings: ||||||
| Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight. In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale. Sources: "2003 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. Retrieved February 3, 2016. ||||||

## Schedule

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Non-conference regular season ||||||
| 11/21/2003* | | at Pepperdine | W 90–77 | 1–0 | Firestone Fieldhouse (1,899) Malibu, CA |
| 11/24/2003* | | vs. Central Michigan Maui Invitational First Round | W 82–63 | 2–0 | Lahaina Civic Center (2,500) Lahaina, HI |
| 11/25/2003* | | vs. San Diego State Maui Invitational Semifinals | W 76–71 | 3–0 | Lahaina Civic Center (2,500) Lahaina, HI |
| 11/26/2003* | | vs. Hawaii Maui Invitational Championship Game | W 82–72 | 4–0 | Lahaina Civic Center (2,500) Lahaina, HI |
| 12/3/2003* | | Miami | W 67-61 | 5–0 | UD Arena (12,798) Dayton, OH |
| 12/6/2003* | | Wagner | W 67-65 | 6–0 | UD Arena (12,682) Dayton, OH |
| 12/9/2003* | No. 25 | Louisiana-Lafayette | W 66–59 | 7–0 | UD Arena (12,055) Dayton, OH |
| 12/13/2003* | No. 25 | IUPUI | W 61–59 | 8–0 | UD Arena (12,277) Dayton, OH |
| 12/20/2003* | No. 24 | Prairie View A&M | W 78–65 | 9–0 | UD Arena (12,136) Dayton, OH |
| 12/23/2003* | No. 23 | at No. 14 Cincinnati | L 53-82 | 9–1 | Myrl H. Shoemaker Center (13,176) Cincinnati, OH |
| 12/29/2003* | | Wofford | W 81–64 | 10-1 | UD Arena (13,177) Dayton, OH |
| 12/31/2003* | | Saint Louis | L 49–60 | 10-2 | UD Arena (12,353) Dayton, OH |
| 1/03/2004* | | at Wyoming | L 59-61 | 10-3 | Arena-Auditorium (7,544) Laramie, WY |
| Atlantic 10 regular season ||||||
| 01/07/2004 | | St. Bonaventure | W 76–72 | 11–3 (1–0) | UD Arena (12,899) Dayton, OH |
| 01/10/2004 | | Temple | W 60–56 | 12–3 (2–0) | UD Arena (13,409) Dayton, OH |
| 01/14/2004 | | at Richmond | W 55-50 | 13–3 (3–0) | Robins Center (5,282) Richmond, VA |
| 01/17/2004 | | at Fordham | W 75–56 | 14–3 (4–0) | Rose Hill Gym (2,251) Bronx, New York |
| 01/21/2004 | | at George Washington | W 74-66 | 15–3 (5–0) | UD Arena (12,558) Dayton, OH |
| 01/24/2004 | | at La Salle | W 77–75 | 16–3 (6–0) | Tom Gola Arena (3,715) Philadelphia, PA |
| 01/31/2004 | | Xavier Blackburn/McCafferty Trophy | W 74-67 | 17–3 (7–0) | UD Arena (13,409) Dayton, OH |
| 02/04/2004 | | at Richmond | W 62-57 | 18–3 (8–0) | UD Arena (12,794) Dayton, OH |
| 02/08/2004 | | at Massachusetts | W 66-59 | 19–3 (9–0) | Mullins Center (4,076) Amherst, MA |
| 02/11/2004 | | at No. 3 Saint Joseph's | L 67–81 | 19–4 (9–1) | Alumni Memorial Fieldhouse (3,200) Philadelphia, PA |
| 02/15/2004 | | Duquesne | W 70–58 | 20–4 (10–1) | UD Arena (13,260) Dayton, OH |
| 02/18/2004 | | at George Washington | L 64-66 | 20–5 (10–2) | Charles E. Smith Athletic Center (5,033) Washington, D.C. |
| 02/21/2004 | | at Xavier Blackburn/McCafferty Trophy | L 60-67 | 20–6 (10–3) | Cintas Center (10,250) Cincinnati, OH |
| 02/28/2004 | | La Salle | W 72-58 | 21–6 (11–3) | UD Arena (13,409) Dayton, OH |
| 03/03/2004 | | Rhode Island | L 63-65 | 21–7 (11–4) | UD Arena (12,665) Dayton, OH |
| 03/06/2004 | | Duquesne | W 73-69 | 22-7 (12-4) | UD Arena (5,406) Dayton, OH |
| Atlantic 10 tournament ||||||
| 03/11/2004 | | Duquesne Quarterfinals | W 69-56 | 23–7 | UD Arena (N/A) Dayton, OH |
| 03/12/2004 | | Richmond Semifinals | W 58-56 | 24-7 | UD Arena (11,566) Dayton, OH |
| 03/13/2004 | | Xavier Championship Game | L 49-58 | 24-8 | UD Arena (13,133) Dayton, OH |
| NCAA tournament ||||||
| 03/18/2004* | (10) | vs. (7) DePaul First Round | L 69-76 $^{2OT}$ | 24-9 | HSBC Arena (18,698) Buffalo, NY |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Eastern Time. ||||||