Dayton basketball: Five things to know about Saturday’s game against Arizona

SALT LAKE CITY, Utah — Fans watching the Dayton Flyers on TV on Thursday got a surprise when a graphic showing the starters appeared on the screen with five unfamiliar faces. Somehow photos of Arizona’s starters were paired with the names of the Dayton starters.

Explore» PHOTOS: Dayton, Arizona appear at press conferences

Most UD fans wouldn’t recognize the Arizona players by names. They had no idea who they were looking at. They’ll have a better idea Saturday when No. 2 seed Arizona (26-8) plays No. 7 seed Dayton (25-7) in the second round of the NCAA tournament.

The early start — 10:45 a.m. in Utah, 9:45 a.m. in Tuscon, Ariz. and 12:45 p.m. in Ohio — was one of the storylines discussed Friday when both teams appeared at press conferences at the Delta Center before practicing on the court.

Arizona coach Tommy Lloyd doesn’t think it will make a big difference for either team. The only change is that neither team will get a morning shootaround or walk-through practice Saturday.

“You just have to kind of load up a little bit more the day ahead,” Lloyd said. “But this time of year you’re playing a team you haven’t played all year. You’re playing a team you’re really not familiar with, and that works both ways. So it’s a short prep. You kind of have to rely on what you do and what you do best at the end of the day. That’s generally going to be the answer to your problems when facing an opponent on a quick turnaround that you’re not familiar with.”

Credit: David Jablonski

Credit: David Jablonski

Here are five things to know about the game:

1. Strengths: Dayton ranks third in the country in 3-point shooting percentage (40.2). Arizona ranks 22nd (37.1).

Dayton shot 42.1% (8 of 19) on Thursday in a 63-60 victory against No. 10 seed Nevada. Arizona shot 37.1% (13 of 35).

Koby Brea made 5 of 8 3-pointers for Dayton in the first round.

“He’s a coin-toss guy, which is crazy,” Lloyd said. “He’s a 50 percent 3-point shooter. Flip a coin, he’s going to make or miss it. That’s exceptional shooting.”

2. Series history: This will be the fourth matchup between Dayton and Arizona. The Wildcats lead 2-1.

• Dayton beat Arizona 74-68 on March 13, 1951, in the second round of the NIT at Madison Square Garden.

• Arizona beat Dayton 84-68 on Nov. 29, 1991, at Blaisdell Arena in Honolulu, Hawaii.

• Arizona beat Dayton 76-59 on Nov. 21, 2000, in the semifinals of the Maui Invitational.

Lloyd coached against Dayton once before when he was an assistnat at Gonzaga in November 2013 and the Flyers beat the Zags in the first round of the Maui Invitational.

“What you admire about the program is the consistency, and the support there must be tremendous,” Lloyd said. “I don’t know a lot about the job. When you look at a place that draws fans like they do and consistently wins over multiple coaches, that’s impressive. Coach (Anthony) Grant has done a great job. They’re a very well-structured program. They’ve got a plan. They play off their good players, and they do a really good job. They force you to make a lot of decisions on defense.

“When you’re on offense, they do a good job too. They have multiple things they can do, whether it’s press, zone, switch coverages in man. So all in all, they make you reach deep into your bag.”

3. Rankings: Arizona ranks fourth in the NCAA Evaluation Tool and fifth in the Ken Pomeroy ratings. It’s No. 9 in the Associated Press top-25 poll.

Dayton played one ranked team this year and lost 69-55 to then No. 6 Houston, which is now No. 2. Dayton last beat a top-10 team in November 2021 when it upset No. 4 Kansas in the ESPN Events Invitational.

“We feel like we’ve been tested throughout the non-conference, throughout the conference, as a matter of fact,” Grant said. “I think we’ve played high-level competition. Our guys, I think, are experienced in terms of they’ve gone through stuff together, the prosperity, the adversity, the hard-fought wins, tough losses. So I think this time of year, everybody has been through a lot. This tournament is the goal, what you play the whole year for to try to achieve. I think our guys are excited and ready for the challenge.”

4. Players to watch: Arizona guard Caleb Love made the AP All-America third team. A 6-foot-4 senior guard, he averages 18.1 points per game. He played the last three seasons at North Carolina. He had 18 points against Long Beach State but struggled from long range, making 3 of 12.

DaRon Holmes II, a second-team AP All-American who led Dayton with 18 points Thursday, will be a focus for Arizona.

“We know he’s a freak athlete,” Arizona guard Keshad Johnson said. “We know he’s very skilled on offense and everything. We’ve got to try to make it tough on him. We know he’ll make tough plays. That’s the price to pay when you’re going up against great individuals.

So we’ve got to just stick to our game plan, whether it’s trying to contest every shot, keep him off the offensive glass. We know he’s active. With those players, you’ve got to respect them and try to make their night as hard as possible.”

5. Tournament history: Dayton seeks its first Sweet 16 appearance since 2014 and its second in this century. Arizona has made 11 Sweet 16 appearances in the same stretch.

Arizona eased some of the pain of a loss to No. 15 seed Princeton in the first round a year ago by beating Long Beach State. Two years ago, it beat Wright State and Texas Christian to reach the Sweet 16.

“Especially after what we went through the year before, you’ve got to acknowledge that was in the back of people’s minds,” Lloyd said. “I know it wasn’t in the back of people’s minds outside the program. It was probably in the forefront of their minds.

“Inside the program, you’ve got to admit it’s on your mind. So I think to kind of be able to get past that first hurdle feels good. Hopefully, it puts us in a position where we can come out and just let it rip and play good, normal Arizona basketball.”