Dayton fans have not had a chance to scream about the National Invitation Tournament at UD Arena — though many would rather save their vocal chords for NCAA tournament games — since a first-round game at Illinois State in 2010.
Dayton has played its last 11 NIT games on the road in eight different states. That streak continues at 11:30 a.m. Saturday with a second-round game against Chattanooga (25-9) at McKenzie Arena in Tennessee.
Three years ago, Dayton lost to another Tennessee school, Vanderbilt, on the road in the second round when a victory would have led to a quarterfinal game against Xavier at UD Arena. It’s a similar situation this year. If No. 1 seed Dayton beats Chattanooga, it will play No. 2 seed George Mason (27-8) or Bradley (27-8) at UD Arena on Tuesday or Wednesday.
Dayton coach Anthony Grant wouldn’t look ahead at the possibility of playing another home game.
“One game at a time,” he said after the game Wednesday. “We’re promised one game. That’s all we have. We’re excited about this win, and we’ll get them hopefully back tonight safely and get prepared for our next game.”
Credit: HANDOUT
Credit: HANDOUT
Here are 10 things to know about Dayton’s 34th game:
1. Series history: Dayton leads the series 8-3. The teams last played on Dec. 12, 2015, at UD Arena. Chattanooga won 61-59.
Greg Pryor hit two free throws with 5 seconds to go. Scoochie Smith missed a shot in heavy traffic under the basket in the final seconds. The Mocs ended Dayton’s 26-game home winning streak.
Prior to that game, the teams had not played since 1978. Every game in the series has taken place at UD Arena, except the first one. On Dec. 17, 1949, Dayton won 87-39 at Chattanooga.
2. State of the program: Chattanooga has posted winning records six years in a row. It last made the NCAA tournament in 2022.
This is the third season for coach Dan Earl, who took over the program when Lamont Parris left for South Carolina.
3. Season summary: Chattanooga opened the season with three straight losses to Southern California, Saint Mary’s and Austin Peay. It then won eight of its last 10 non-conference games. It beat Bryant, which is No. 148 in the NCAA Evaluation Tool, for its best non-conference victory.
Chattanooga won the Southern Conference regular-season championship for the first time since 2022 with a 15-3 record. It won its last 11 regular-season games.
In the SoCon tournament, Chattanooga lost 80-77 in overtime to Furman, which it beat twice in the regular season.
4. NIT history: This is Chattanooga’s fifth NIT appearance and first since 1987. It reached the quarterfinals in 1985.
Dayton improved to 42-25 record in 28 NIT appearances with its victory Wednesday.
5. First round: Chattanooga won 109-103 in triple overtime Tuesday at Middle Tennessee State. That was its first postseason victory, outside a conference tournament, since it reached the Sweet 16 of the NCAA tournament in 1997.
The game featured 11 ties and 10 lead changes.
“Wow, that was a great college basketball game,” Earl said. “It was really fun to see a hard-fought game by both teams, and credit to Middle (Tennessee State). Coach (Nicholas) McDevitt does a great job. Those guys played extremely hard and were tough to follow. I thought we fought tremendously hard. Our defense was atrocious in the first half. But we kind of made some adjustments and just played harder. It was better the last four minutes of the first half and then at the end of the second half. Overall, extremely proud of these guys and that effort.”
6. Players to watch: Honor Huff, a 5-foot-10 fourth-year guard, leads the team in scoring (14.9 points per game). He shoots 42.1% from 3-point range. He played his freshman season at the Virginia Military Institute and has played the last two seasons with the Mocs.
• Bash Wieland, a 6-6 fifth-year guard from Lakota East, ranks second in scoring (14.5). He played the last four seasons at Bellarmine.
• Trey Bonham, a 6-0 fifth-year guard, ranks third in scoring (13.8). He played two seasons at VMI and one at Florida before transferring to Chattanooga last season.
7. Around the A-10: Three of the six A-10 teams that received NIT bids were eliminated in the first round.
• St. Bonaventure (22-12) fell 75-56 at home to Kent State on Tuesday.
• Saint Louis (19-15) lost 103-78 at Arkansas State on Tuesday.
• Saint Joseph’s lost 69-65 at home to UAB on Wednesday.
In addition to Dayton, two A-10 teams remain.
• George Mason beat Samford 86-69 on Wednesday and plays a home game against Bradley at 2 p.m. Saturday.
• Loyola Chicago won 73-70 at San Jose State on Wednesday and plays at San Francisco at 7 p.m. Sunday.
8. Connections: Former Dayton guard Rodney Chatman, a starter on the 29-2 team in 2019-20, played his first two seasons at Chattanooga (2016-18).
• Former Dayton guard Jalen Crutcher signed with Chattanooga in high school but decommitted when Chattanooga coach Matt McCall left to take a job at Massachusetts. Crutcher then became Grant’s first Dayton recruit in the spring of 2017.
9. Strengths and weaknesses: Chattanooga ranks 10th in the country in 2-point field-goal percentage (57.8%). Dayton is No. 125 (52.4%) in the same category.
• Opponents are shooting 35% from 3-point range against Chattanooga. That ranks 251st in the country. Dayton ranks 99th (32.5%).
10. Odds and ends: Dayton has a 54% chance of winning, according to KenPom.com, which predicts a 77-76 score. Dayton is No. 73 in the Pomeroy ratings. Chattanooga is No. 104.
• Dayton ranks 67th in the NET. Chattanooga is No. 115.
SATURDAY’S GAME
Dayton at Chattanooga, 11:30 a.m., ESPN2, 95.7, 1290
About the Author
