Dayton headed to NIT for fourth time in eight seasons

Dayton and Florida Atlantic have played once. The Flyers beat the Owls 81-56 on Dec. 15, 2012, at UD Arena.

Florida Atlantic reached the Final Four two years ago with coach Dusty May, who led the program to a 35-4 record. The Owls finished 25-9 last season. Then May left for Michigan. The new head coach, John Jakus, came to Florida Atlantic from Baylor, where he was the associate head coach the last two seasons.

Florida Atlantic finished fifth in the American Athletic Conference this season. Wayne grad Demond Parker is the director of player development for Florida Atlantic.

Dayton is the No. 1 seed in its region but will play on the road. The First Four takes place at UD Arena on Tuesday and Wednesday, and there will be seven boys basketball state championship games at UD Arena on Friday and Saturday.

Dayton would play No. 4 seed Middle Tennessee State or Chattanooga in the second round on Saturday or Sunday.

The other games in Dayton’s region are: North Alabama at No. 3 seed Bradley; and Samford at No. 2 seed George Mason.

The first three rounds of the NIT will take place at campus sites. The semifinals and championship game will be played at Butler’s Hinkle Fieldhouse in Indianapolis on April 1 and 3.

Dayton was one of six Atlantic 10 Conference teams to receive a NIT bid along with George Mason, Loyola Chicago, Saint Louis, St. Bonaventure and Saint Joseph’s.

Dayton’s NCAA tournament hopes ended Friday with a 73-68 overtime loss to Saint Joseph’s in the quarterfinals of the A-10 tournament at Capital One Arena in Washington, D.C.

Virginia Commonwealth claimed the A-10′s automatic NCAA tournament berth with a 68-63 victory against George Mason on Sunday. For the second time in three seasons, only the A-10 tournament champion will play in the NCAA tournament. VCU earned a No. 11 seed and will play No. 6 BYU in Denver.

Dayton played in the NCAA tournament last season for the first time in coach Anthony Grant’s tenure, but it would have made an appearance in 2020 if the tournament had not been canceled.

This will be the fourth NIT appearance in coach Anthony Grant’s eight seasons. Two years ago, on the same day it lost to VCU in the A-10 championship and before the NIT bracket was announced, Dayton announced it would decline any postseason opportunities because of health concerns on the roster.

Dayton last played in the NIT in 2022, winning 74-55 at Toledo in the first round and losing 70-68 in overtime at Vanderbilt in the second round.

In 2021, Dayton lost 71-60 to Memphis in the first round at UNT Coliseum in Denton, Texas. The entire tournament, which was reduced from 32 teams to 16 teams, was played in Texas that year.

Dayton also played in the NIT in 2019, losing 78-73 at Colorado in the first round.

Prior to that, Dayton had not played in the NIT since 2012 when it lost 84-75 at Iowa in the first round in Archie Miller’s first season. That was the fourth NIT appearance in five seasons.

Miller’s predecessor Brian Gregory made three NIT appearances and two NCAA appearances in eight seasons.

This will be Dayton’s 28th NIT appearance. It ranks second behind Saint John’s (30) in appearances. It has a 42-25 record and won the championship in 1962, 1968 and 2010. It finished as runner-up in 1951, 1952, 1955, 1956 and 1958.

Xavier was the last Ohio school to win the NIT in 2022. George Washington was the last A-10 program to win the NIT in 2016. A different program has won the last 11 NITs.