Iowa 84, Dayton 75: Freshman Aaron White had a career-high 25 points and 11 rebounds as the Hawkeyes pulled away from the visiting Flyers in the first round of the NIT.
 
Zach McCabe scored 16 of his 20 points in the first half and Melsahn Basabe added 15 for No. 7 seed Iowa (18-16), which hosted despite being the lower seed because of a conflict with the NCAA tournament’s “First Four” being held at the University of Dayton Arena.
 
The Hawkeyes will face LSU or Oregon in the second round.
 
Despite lackluster transition defense from No. 2 seed Dayton (20-13) that led to a number of easy first-half scoring opportunities, Iowa did not start pulling away until early in the second half when White drilled a 3-pointer. That launched a 16-3 run, turning Iowa's two-point lead into a 69-54 advantage with 8:45 remaining.
 
The Flyers got no closer than nine points the rest of the way.
 
Kevin Dillard matched a career high with 23 points for Dayton, which allowed Iowa to shoot 56.9 percent from the field – the highest mark allowed by the Flyers this season.
 
Game Notebook: Dayton fell to 0-7 this season when allowing at least 80 points, while Iowa improved to 8-1 when it eclipses that mark. … The Hawkeyes scored 48 points in the paint. … Iowa won its first postseason game since defeating Iowa State in the NIT in 2003; the Flyers lost for just the third time in their last 10 NIT games.