Dayton Flyers benefit from blowout victory by Saint Mary’s

Saint Mary's, which Dayton beat 78-68 on Dec. 8, routed Arizona State 96-56 on the same court at Talking Stick Resort Arena in Phoenix, Ariz., where they lost to the Flyers. That victory helped the Gaels (11-2) climb from No. 64 to No. 36 in the NCAA Evaluation Tool ranking and from No. 45 to No. 26 in the Ken Pomeroy ratings.

With Saint Mary’s entering the top 50 of the NET, Dayton now has a Quadrant 1 victory. That’s important for its NCAA tournament resume. It’s only other game so far this season in that category came against Kansas, which ranks No. 1in the NET, in the Maui Invitational, and it lost 90-84 in overtime.

This is the second year the NCAA has used the NET and the new quadrant system. Here’s a quick glance at the four quadrants

Quadrant 1: Home game vs. teams ranked 1-30, neutral court game vs. teams ranked 1-50 or away game vs. teams ranked 1-75.

Quadrant 2: Home 31-75; neutral 51-100; away 76-135.

Quadrant 3: Home 76-160; neutral 101-200; away 135-240.

Quadrant 4: Home 161-353; neutral 201-353; away 241-35.

» DAYTON RISING: Highest ranking since 1967 | Top 10 in first NET ranking | UD’s history in AP poll

Dayton (9-1), ranked 13th in the Associated Press poll, gets another Quad 1 chance when it No. 28 plays Colorado at 6:30 p.m. Saturday at the United Center in Chicago. Colorado (8-2) has one more game before playing Dayton. It faces Prairie View A&M on Thursday.

Saint Mary’s improved position led to Dayton moving from No. 10 to No. 9 in the NET and from No. 14 to No. 13 in the Pomeroy ratings. It’s the highest Dayton has ever been in either.