Purdue (6-2) struggled early against a tough Dayton defense that forced them work deep in the shot clock and turned them over four times in the first four minutes of the game. The Flyers scored off three of those turnovers to go up 9-5. Purdue settled down on offense and forced Dayton into turnovers and bad shots on the other end; Dayton shot 1-7 and had three turnovers in the last 4:14. Purdue held the lead briefly at the end of the quarter before the Flyers ended a scoreless run and went back up 14-13.
Purdue played a zone defense in the second quarter and the Flyers struggled as they were outscored 15-7.