When: 2 p.m. Saturday.
TV/Radio: ESPN+/ESPN+/95.7 and 1290 WHIO.
Series: Dayton leads 7-5. Since the 2014-15 season, when Davidson joined the A-10, Dayton is 7-2 in the series. Davidson beat the Flyers 77-60 at Belk Arena in 2015 and won 73-67 in the A-10 tournament in 2017 in Pittsburgh. Dayton has won the last five games in the series, including three straight games at Belk Arena. That includes an 89-78 overtime victory at Davidson in 2021 and an 82-76 victory at UD Arena in the final game of the regular season last March.
Coaches: Anthony Grant is 111-57 in his sixth season at Dayton. Matt McKillop is 8-5 in his first season at Davidson. He replaces his dad, Bob McKillop, who retired after last season. He was 634-380 in 34 seasons.
Last game: Dayton beat Duquesne 69-57 on Wednesday at UD Arena. Davidson won 57-43 at Fordham on Wednesday.
KenPom.com odds: Dayton has an 59 percent chance of winning. The website predicts a 65-63 score. Dayton ranks 60th. Duquesne ranks 121st.
NET rankings: Dayton climbed from No. 82 to No. 80 with its last victory. Saint Louis is the second-ranked A-10 team at No. 100. Davidson is No. 142.
Probable Dayton starters
Name, Ht., Class, Pos., Points per game
DaRon Holmes II, 6-10, So., F, 18.0
Toumani Camara, 6-8, Jr., G, 11.3
Mustapha Amzil, 6-9, R-So., F, 10.8
R.J. Blakney, 6-6, R-So., G/F, 7.8
Mike Sharavjamts, 6-8, Fr., G/F, 6.9
Probable Davidson starters
Foster Loyer, 6-0, Sr., G, 17.4
Sam Mennenga, 6-9, Jr., F, 15.5
Connor Kochera, 6-5, Jr., G, 7.8
Grant Huffman, 6-3, Jr., G, 7.6
Reed Bailey, 6-11, Fr., F, 7.5
About Dayton: Dayton has won four games in a row against UNC Asheville, Wyoming, Alcorn State and Duquesne since a 77-49 loss at Virginia Tech on Dec. 7. ... This will be Dayton’s first game on New Year’s Eve since it lost 81-51 at North Carolina in 2006. This will be only the fourth New Year’s Eve game for Dayton in the last 40 years. In the same span, it has played on Dec. 30 twenty times. ... Mustapha Amzil has 17 assists in the last three games after tallying 13 in the first 11 games.
About Davidson: Desmond Watson, a 6-5 guard/forward from Columbus, is the team’s top scorer off the bench (8.8). He had 15 points and 11 rebounds against Fordham. ... Loyer is the team’s top 3-pointer shooter (34 of 92, 37%). ... Kochera is a transfer who averaged 14.6 points over the last two seasons at William & Mary. .... Another newcomer is Buffalo transfer David Skogman, a 6-10 forward averaging 6.9 minutes. ... Luka Brajkovic, the A-10 Player of the Year last season, is now playing in Spain. ... Davidson joined the A-10 in 2014-15. Since then, it has two two regular-season championships (2015 and 2022) and one A-10 tournament title (2018). It has played in the NCAA tournament three times (2015, 2018 and 2022).
Looking ahead: Dayton plays Saint Joseph’s (6-6) at 7 p.m. Wednesday at UD Arena, while Davidson hosts Loyola (6-6) that same night.
Credit: David Jablonski
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