When: 7 p.m., Wednesday
TV/Radio: Spectrum News 1/1290, 95.7 WHIO
Series: Dayton leads 30-16. The Flyers won 80-54 at La Salle last season, ending a four-game losing streak at Tom Gola Arena. The Explorers have lost 14 straight games at UD Arena, the last five by double digits. They last beat Dayton at UD Arena 88-74 on Feb. 27, 1999.
Last game: Dayton beat Mississippi 65-62 on Dec. 19. La Salle lost 84-71 at Maryland on Dec. 22.
Coaches: Anthony Grant is 68-32 in four seasons at Dayton. Ashley Howard is 28-41 in three seasons at La Salle.
Probable Dayton starters
Name, Ht., Class, Pos., Avg.
Ibi Watson, 6-5, R-Sr., G, 18.0
Jalen Crutcher, 6-1, Sr., G, 17.2
Chase Johnson, 6-9, R-Jr., F, 12.2
Rodney Chatman, 6-1, R-Sr., G, 11.2
Jordy Tshimanga, 6-11, R-Sr., C, 7.2
Probable La Salle starters
David Beatty, 6-2, Sr., G, 9.6
Jack Clark, 6-8, R-So., G., 9.0
Jhamir Brickus, 5-11, Fr., G, 8.1
Clifton Moore, 6-10, R-Jr., C, 7.0
Scott Spencer, 6-6, Sr., G, 6.6
About Dayton: The Flyers rank 59th in the Ken Pomeroy ratings. La Salle ranks 176th. Dayton has an 87 percent chance of winning this game, according to KenPom.com, which predicts a 73-60 score. ... Not counting the teams that aren’t playing this season, Dayton ranks last in the country in bench minutes. Reserves are playing 13.7 percent of Dayton’s total minutes. The national average is 30.8 percent. La Salle ranks 20th (39.7). Dayton’s Ibi Watson (40.4) and Jalen Crutcher (39.8) rank first and second in the A-10 in minutes played.
About La Salle: The Explorers finished 15-15 last season, a five-win improvement from Howard’s first season. They haven’t had a winning season since they were 17-16 in 2014-15. They have not finished above .500 in the A-10 since they were 11-5 in the 2012-13 season. They were picked to finish 13th out of 14 teams in the A-10 preseason poll. ... La Salle opened A-10 play with an 85-66 loss at home to UMass on Dec. 16. ... La Salle ranks third in the A-10 and 40th in the nation in 3-point field-goal percentage (38.7). Dayton ranks second in the conference and 27th in the nation (39.5). ... Moore is a transfer from Indiana who sat out last season after receiving limited playing time in his first two seasons.
Looking ahead: Dayton plays George Mason (4-2) at 4:30 p.m. Saturday at UD Arena. NBC Sports Network will televise the game.
About the Author
