“These guys have had a really busy first semester here,” Dayton coach Anthony Grant said Thursday. “We’ve got a lot of young guys going through this for the first time. First time in finals, first time in the middle of the season, first time going through this process, I know it’s mentally taxing. We got back on the court yesterday for the first time, and I thought they were pretty good. We’ll do it again today and try to get some preparation in for our game this weekend.”
Dayton played Ole Miss after exams last season and won 65-62 at UD Arena. In Grant’s first four seasons, the Flyers are 3-1 in the first game after exams. The only loss came in the 2018-19 season when they fell 72-67 to Tulsa on a neutral court in Connecticut.
Grant praised the program’s longtime academic coordinator Beth Flach, as well as Jenifer Gerard, a learning specialist in the Office of Academic Services for Student-Athletes, for the job they do with the athletes.
“They do a great job in terms of making sure the guys know what’s expected of them,” Grant said, “and what they have to do and then giving them support and the resources they need to make sure they’re doing as well as they can.”
Meanwhile, on the court, Dayton hopes to continue to build on the turnaround that has seen it win six of seven games since a 1-3 start. Dayton is 7-0 against Ole Miss. The only programs it has played more without losing are: Morehead State and Portland. Dayton is 8-0 against both.
Ole Miss returns two players who started against Dayton last season: Luis Rodriguez and Jarkell Joiner. Four other returners — Matthew Murrell, Sammy Hunter, Robert Allen and Austin Crowley — saw action against Dayton last season.
“From just what I’ve seen on film, they’re very similar to the team that we played last year in terms of how they want to play,” Grant said. “They’re a really good defensive team with explosive offensive players. They got a lot of new pieces.”
Joiner leads the team with 15 points per game this season. Three transfers rank behind Joiner. Jaemyn Brakefield, who was a freshman last season at Duke, averages 8.6 points. Nysier Brooks, a sixth-year player who played three seasons at Cincinnati, sat out a season and then played last season for the Miami Hurricanes, averages 8.3 points. Tye Fagan, a teammate of Dayton’s Toumani Camara at Georgia the last two seasons, averages 7.2 points.
Ole Miss is 6-0 at home this season and has won eight games in a row on its home court, counting the last two games of the 2020-21 season.
Ole Miss has had an up-and-down season that hit a high point with a 67-63 victory at home against No. 18 Memphis on Dec. 4 and then a low point in the next game with a 71-48 loss to Western Kentucky on Dec. 11.
“We’re going to go back to square one on Monday,” coach Kermit Davis told the Clarion Ledger after the loss. “That’s all we can do and that’s all I know how. That’s the only thing I know. We’re not going to wipe it clean. We’re going to watch every second of it.”
SATURDAY’S GAME
Dayton at Ole Miss, 6:30 p.m., SEC Network, 1290, 95.7
About the Author
