Dayton plays rare New Year’s Eve game in first week of A-10 play

The full 18-game A-10 schedule was announced Wednesday — a little over two months after the schedule pairings were released. Game times and complete TV info will be announced at a later date.

Here’s a quick glance at each game.

Wednesday., Dec. 28, vs. Duquesne: Dayton has swept this series three times in the last four seasons. The teams will play once after playing twice the last seven seasons. This will be the first time Dayton hasn’t played in Pittsburgh since the 2012-13 season.

Saturday, Dec. 31, at Davidson: The Flyers have won five straight games in this series, plus three straight games at Belk Arena, since losing to Davidson in the quarterfinals of the A-10 tournament in 2017.

Wednesday, Jan. 4, vs. Saint Joseph’s: Dayton has won three straight games against the Hawks at UD Arena since Langston Galloway banked in a 3-pointer in the final seconds to beat the Flyers 60-57 loss in 2014.

Tuesday, Jan. 10, at Fordham: Dayton is 33-6 against Fordham. The .846 winning percentage is its best against A-10 programs. This will be the first game at Fordham as a Flyer for Dayton sophomore point guard Malachi Smith, who’s from the Bronx, and the second for another Bronx native, third-year guard Koby Brea.

Friday, Jan. 13, vs. Virginia Commonwealth (ESPN network): Dayton opened A-10 play against VCU last year and lost 53-52 at home on a last-second 3-pointer by Ace Baldwin only to rout VCU 82-52 on the road four weeks later.

Tuesday, Jan. 17, vs. Davidson (CBS Sports Network): The Wildcats are 0-4 at UD Arena since joining the A-10. Their only victory at Dayton came in 1973. Davidson won the A-10 regular-season championship last season but lost the regular-season finale 82-76 at UD Arena.

Saturday, Jan. 21, at George Washington (USA Network): After losing four straight games at the Smith Center in Washington, D.C., from 2011-17, Dayton has won three straight games in the building.

Wednesday, Jan. 25, at Rhode Island (CBS Sports Network): Former Dayton coach Archie Miller, who left the program in 2017 for a job at Indiana after four straight NCAA tournament appearances, will coach against the Flyers for the first time at his new school.

Saturday, Jan. 28, vs. Richmond (CBS Sports Network): The Spiders ended a nine-game losing streak against Dayton by beating it 68-64 in the A-10 tournament semifinals and then beat Davidson in the A-10 championship game a day later. Dayton then became the first team left out of the NCAA tournament field.

Tuesday, Jan. 31, vs. Loyola (CBS Sports Network): The A-10′s 15th and newest program, Loyola, hasn’t played Dayton since 1993.

Saturday, Feb. 4, vs. St. Bonaventure (ESPN network): The Flyers have won seven straight games against the Bonnies.

Tuesday, Feb. 7, at VCU (CBS Sports Network): Dayton’s worst winning percentage against a current A-10 member is in this series. The Flyers are 8-15 (.348) against VCU.

Friday, Feb. 10, vs. Saint Louis (ESPN network): After sweeping Saint Louis two seasons in a row, Dayton split two games in the series last season.

Friday, Feb. 17, at Loyola (ESPN network): Dayton leads the series 33-15. The Flyers have not played at Gentile Arena, which opened in 1996. This will be Dayton’s second game of the season in Chicago. It plays Wyoming at the United Center on Dec. 17.

Wednesday, Feb. 22, at Massachusetts (CBS Sports Network): The Flyers have won six straight games in this series and have won two straight at the Mullins Center in Amherst, Mass., after losing four in a row there.

Saturday, Feb. 25, vs. George Mason (ESPN network): Dayton is 6-1 against George Mason at UD Arena.

Tuesday, Feb. 28, vs. La Salle (NBC Digital): Dayton has won its home finale 10 years in a row. This will be Senior Night, though technically none of the 12 scholarship players are seniors. Toumani Camara is a fourth-year junior. His second season at Georgia didn’t count against his eligibility because of the pandemic.

Friday, March 3, at Saint Louis (ESPN network): The two preseason favorites to win the A-10 championship meet in the regular-season finale at Chaifetz Arena.