“It’ll be a great thing for the guys, especially the new guys, to get a feel for this type of atmosphere with these type of opponents,” Grant said Monday. “We’re excited about going out and playing.”
Dayton played in the Battle 4 Atlantis in the Bahamas last season for the second time. It is scheduled to play in the Maui Invitational for the fifth time next season, though that event was moved to Honolulu this year because of the Lahaina wildfire and it’s too early to tell if it will return to Maui in 2024.
This is Dayton’s third appearance in the Charleston Classic. Here’s a breakdown of the field:
Favorite: Houston ranks sixth in the Associated Press top-25 poll. It reached the Final Four in 2021, the Elite Eight in 2022 and the Sweet 16 last season. The Cougars rank second in the Ken Pomeroy ratings. They have won their first three games against Louisiana Monroe, Texas A&M Corpus Christi and Stetson by 116 points.
Biggest underdog: At No. 140, Towson is the lowest-ranked team in the field in Ken Pomeroy ratings. It has won 46 games over the last two seasons. It opened the season with a 75-57 loss at Colorado and has since beaten Coppin State and Robert Morris.
Most momentum: Houston (3-0), Utah (2-0) and North Texas (2-0) all enter the tournament without a loss. Towson (2-1) has won two games in a row since losing 75-57 at Colorado in its opener.
Lost momentum: Dayton (1-1), Wake Forest (1-1) and St. John’s (1-1) all lost early-season tests in their second games. Dayton fell 71-66 at Northwestern on Friday. Wake Forest lost 80-77 at Georgia on Friday. St. John’s lost 89-73 at home to Michigan on Monday.
Worst start: LSU (1-1) lost 68-66 to Nicholls State, a 20½-point underdog, on a 3-pointer by Jalen White with 1.2 seconds remaining Friday. Nicholls State ranks 271st in the Pomeroy ratings.
“It’s my responsibility to have our team locked in and ready to compete and take great pride and putting that LSU jersey on and I failed miserably,” LSU coach Matt McMahon said after the game.
Best players: Dayton forward DaRon Holmes II, who averaged 18.0 points and 7.5 rebounds in the first two games, ranked 15th on a list published by The Almanac of the top 100 players in college basketball.
Six other players in the event made that list: Houston guards L.J. Cryer (16th) and Jamal Shead (22nd); St John’s center Joel Soriano (59th); St. John’s guard Jordan Dingle (61st); Houston forward J’Wan Roberts (62nd); and Utah center Brandon Carlson (65th).
Best freshmen: Three players in the tournament ranked in the top 100 in the class of 2023, according to 247Sports.com: St. John’s guard Simeon Wilcher (49th); Houston center Joseph Tugler (69th); and Wake Forest guard Parker Friedrichsen (93rd).
Winningest coaches: Rick Pitino, in his first season at St. John’s, is the winningest active coach in Division I basketball with a record of 835-294 in 36 seasons.
• Kelvin Sampson, in his 10th season at Houston, is 659-301 in 31 seasons.
• Anthony Grant, in his seventh season at Dayton, is 318-175 in 16 seasons.
• Pat Skerry is 195-186 in 13 seasons at Towson.
• Craig Smith, in his third season at Utah, is 183-114 in 10 seasons.
• Steve Forbes, in his fourth season at Wake Forest, is 181-84 in nine seasons.
• Matt McMahon, in his second season at LSU, is 169-87 in nine seasons.
• Ross Hodge is 2-0 in his first season at North Texas.
Credit: AP
Credit: AP
Dayton connection: Moulaye Sissoko, who spent three seasons at Dayton, is averaging 5.0 points and 7.0 rebounds in his second season at North Texas. Sissoko started the last four games during the team’s run to the NIT championship last season, averaging 8.3 points in the last three games.
“It’ll be great to see Mou,” Grant said. “I’m proud of what he’s done. He’s done a really good job helping their team.”
A-10 connection: St. John’s sophomore guard R.J. Luis Jr. averaged 11.5 points last season at Massachusetts. He is sidelined by a broken right hand early this season.
• Houston forward Hunter Dean played the last three seasons at George Washington. He has 11 points in four games against Dayton.
• Towson fifth-year forward/center Chase Paar played his first two seasons at George Washington. He started against Dayton as a freshman in the final game of the 2019-20 season at UD Arena.
Tournament history: No team in Charleston Classic this season has won the event. Six of the eight teams — everyone except Utah and North Texas — has played in the tournament at least once.
Dayton and Towson are both making their third appearances. Dayton went 2-1 in 2012 and finished fourth. It finished 1-2 in 2015 and placed fifth. Towson finished seventh in 2015 and 2019 with one victory each time.
LSU, Wake Forest and St. John’s will make their second appearances. LSU was fifth in 2011 with a 2-1 mark. Wake Forest finished third in 2016 with a 2-1 record. St. John’s placed fourth in 2012 with one victory.
Dayton’s history against the field: Dayton is 2-0 against LSU. The teams last played in 1995.
* Dayton is 1-0 against North Texas with a 71-58 victory on Dec. 17, 2019.
* Dayton is 5-5 against St. John’s. The last matchup took place in 1974.
* Dayton is 2-2 against Wake Forest with the last game taking place in 2011.
* Dayton is 1-1 against Utah. The games took place in 1955 and 1958.
* Dayton is 4-1 against Towson. The last game took place in 2009.
• Dayton is 3-4 against Houston. The teams last played in 1975.
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