The play happened right in front of Dayton coach Anthony Grant, who was holding a bottle of water in his hand. Grant dropped his head in frustration as Shulga recorded the steal and then flipped the bottle onto the court. This was not the type of bottle flip kids record for clicks on YouTube. There was no joy in the flip — just disgust.
VCU guard Zeb Jackson quickly picked the bottle up and tossed it back to the sideline. The bottle didn’t interfere with play. The officials either didn’t see it or didn’t care. It had no bearing on the outcome. But Grant’s reaction at that moment showed just how quickly the momentum had shifted and how damaging that turnover was.
On the in-bounds pass after the Shulga layup, Javon Bennett caught the pass from Cheeks, but his momentum carried him toward the baseline. Instead of carrying the ball out of bounds, he threw a desperation pass toward the Dayton side of the court. VCU’s Jack Clark intercepted the ball and threw it to Jackson, who was fouled by Bennett on a shot attempt with 2 minutes, 37 seconds remaining. VCU took a 61-59 lead on two free throws.
Those plays, plus turnovers on the next two possessions, led to a 73-68 loss for Dayton at UD Arena.
“The beautiful thing about this game is we have another game coming up on Wednesday,” Grant told Larry Hansgen on Monday on WHIO’s Flyer Insider. “I know sometimes when you win, everybody is, ‘You’ll never win again.’ Sometimes when you lose, people think you’ll never win again. The truth of the matter is we have to prepare. We’ve got another game that will be a great opportunity in a tough environment. Fordham’s playing really well.”
Credit: David Jablonski
Dayton (16-8, 6-5) plays Fordham (11-12, 3-7) at 7 p.m. Wednesday at Rose Hill Gym in the Bronx, N.Y. Here are 10 things to know about the game:
1. Series history: Dayton leads the series 36-6. The Flyers have won four straight games against Fordham since a 55-54 loss at Rose Hill Gym in 2021. Prior to that loss, Dayton had won 16 straight games in the series since a loss at Fordham in 2006.
Dayton beat Fordham 78-70 at UD Arena last season and won 82-58 two years ago in its last trip to Fordham. DaRon Holmes II scored 61 points combined in those two games for Dayton.
2. State of the program: After a 25-win season in coach Keith Urgo’s first season, Fordham finished 13-20 and 6-12 in the Atlantic 10 Conference last season. This is Fordham’s 30th season in the A-10, and it has never won the regular-season championship or the conference tournament. It last appeared in the NCAA tournament in 1992.
3. Season summary: Fordham started 0-6 in A-10 play but has since won three of its last four games, beating Duquesne, La Salle and Rhode Island.
This will be Fordham’s first game since an 80-79 victory at home against Rhode Island last Wednesday. Fordham erased a 79-75 deficit in the final 20 seconds and won that game on a basket by forward Matt Zona with 2.3 seconds remaining.
4. Standings update: George Mason (19-5, 10-1) has a one-game lead over VCU (19-5, 9-2) with seven games remaining. Saint Louis (14-0, 7-4) sits alone in third place. Dayton shares fourth place with UMass (11-13, 6-5). Fordham is in 14th place, a half game ahead of last-place Richmond (8-16, 3-8).
5. UD homecoming: Dayton guards Malachi Smith and Posh Alexander are both from the Bronx.
• Smith will play at Rose Hill for the first time in his college career. He missed the 2023 game because of an injury.
• Alexander scored 23 points against Fordham in 2021 early in his sophomore season at St. John’s.
6. Weekly honor: L’Etang won the A-10 Rookie of the Week Award on Monday for the third time. In games against Davidson and VCU last week, he averaged 8.5 points and 8.0 rebounds.
7. Top returner: Japhet Medor, a 6-foot guard who’s a graduate student at Fordham, ranked third in scoring (9.8) last season and ranks second (12.9) this season.
8. Top newcomer: Jackie Johnson III, a 5-11 senior guard, leads Fordham in scoring (18.7). He started his career at Duquesne and then played two seasons at UNLV.
9. Strengths and weaknesses: Fordham ranks third in A-10 play in free-throw percentage (76.5). Dayton ranks fourth (76.4).
• Fordham ranks 12th out of 15 teams in A-10 play in effective field-goal percentage (48.8). Dayton ranks seventh (50.4).
10. Odds & Ends: KenPom.com gives Dayton an 73% chance of winning and predicts a 79-72 score. Dayton fell from No. No. 75 to No. 77 in the Pomeroy ratings after losing to VCU. Fordham is No. 206.
• Dayton ranks 76th in the NCAA Evaluation Tool. It is the third highest-ranked A-10 team behind No. 36 VCU and No. 63 George Mason. Fordham is No. 214.
This is a Quadrant 3 game for both teams. Dayton is 2-2 in Quad 1 games, 2-5 in Quad 2, 5-1 in Quad 3 and 6-0 in Quad 4. Fordham is 0-2 in Quad 1, 0-4 in Quad 2, 4-3 in Quad 3 and 6-3 in Quad 4.
WEDNESDAY’S GAME
Dayton at Fordham, 7 p.m., ESPN+, 95.7, 1290
Credit: David Jablonski
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