That goal is winning an A-10 regular-season championship. Dayton (17-9, 9-4) trails first-place Virginia Commonwealth (18-7, 9-3) by a half game and has a half-game lead over third-place Saint Louis (16-9, 8-4) and Fordham (20-5, 8-4).
Since the A-10 moved from a 16-game to an 18-game schedule in the 2014-15 season, Dayton has won two outright championships (2017 and 2020) and shared another (2016). VCU tied with Dayton in 2016 and won the championship outright in 2019. Saint Louis has not topped the regular-season standings since winning back-to-back titles in 2013 and 2014.
Davidson (2015 and 2022), Rhode Island (2018) and St. Bonaventure (2021) are the other teams that have won the regular-season crown in the last 10 years.
Dayton likely will have to win its last five regular-season games to catch VCU and even then will need the Rams to lose somewhere along the way.
Here’s a glance at Dayton’s remaining games:
Friday, 7 p.m.: Dayton at Loyola Chicago (8-16, 2-10)
The Flyers blew a six-point lead in the final minute against Loyola on Jan. 31 and then won 85-81 in overtime. The Ramblers beat George Mason 69-61 in their next game on their home court, Gentile Arena, but then lost 83-71 at home to Saint Joseph’s. They lost 74-71 at Richmond on Saturday and play at UMass on Tuesday. Loyola has been in last place all season and has lost eight A-10 games by double digits.
Feb. 22, 7 p.m.: Dayton at UMass (13-12, 4-9)
Coach Frank Martin’s first season at UMass started strong. The team was 7-1 on Dec. 5. In the last two months, though, they have one two-game winning streak. They take a four-game losing streak into the game vs. Loyola.
Injuries have hurt the Minutemen. Leading scorer Noah Fernandez (13.4 points per game) has missed the last nine games. Top freshman R.J. Luis (10.6) has missed four of the last nine games.
Feb. 25, 6 p.m.: George Mason (14-12, 6-7) at Dayton
The Patriots, who were picked to finish fifth in the preseason poll, are tied for 10th but are just a game out of sixth place and one game back in the win column of fifth-place Duquesne (17-8, 7-5).
George Mason has one of the league’s top players in senior forward Josh Oduro. He ranks fourth on KenPom.com’s All-A-10 team behind Dayton forward DaRon Holmes II and Toumani Camara, who top the list, and Richmond guard Tyler Burton. Saint Louis guard Yuri Collins rounds out the list.
Feb. 28, 7 p.m.: La Salle (12-13, 6-6) at Dayton
The Explorers lost five games in a row to fall to 2-6 in the conference but have since won four straight games against George Washington, Saint Joseph’s, St. Bonaventure and UMass. This will be Senior Night for Dayton, though it has no senior scholarship players for the second straight season.
March 3, 7 p.m.: Dayton at Saint Louis (16-9, 8-4)
Dayton beat Saint Louis 70-56 on Friday to move past the Billikens in the standings. The Flyers are 2-3 at Chaifetz Arena in Dayton coach Anthony Grant’s tenure and 5-0 at UD Arena.
Saint Louis plays four of its last six games at home. Its toughest remaining game is at VCU on Feb. 28.
VCU also has six games remaining, starting with a game Wednesday at Rhode Island. It has home games against Fordham, Richmond and Saint Louis and road games against Saint Joseph’s and George Washington.
FRIDAY’S GAME
Dayton at Loyola Chicago, 7 p.m., ESPN2, 1290, 95.7
Credit: David Jablonski
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