Dayton vs. Loyola Chicago: What to know about Friday’s game

Beating Dayton in Chicago after losing at UD Arena earlier in the season helped Loyola claim a share of the Atlantic 10 Conference regular-season championship in its second season in the league. It beat Davidson and La Salle in its final two games and tied for first place with Richmond. Dayton also won its last two regular-season games to post a 14-4 record in A-10 play but finished a game back of the co-champions.

Dayton and Loyola entered the game last March tied for second, one game behind Richmond. One year later, Dayton (18-8, 8-5) and Loyola Chicago (17-9, 8-5) will play at 7 p.m. Friday at Gentile Arena with third-place on the line instead.

The Flyers will play for the first time since a 77-76 victory Saturday against Duquesne at UD Arena.

“The bye week obviously gives us a chance to kind of evaluate where we are with five games left in the regular season,” Grant said.

Grant described the standings as a log jam. George Mason (21-5, 12-1) and Virginia Commonwealth (20-5, 10-2) have separated themselves from a group vying for the final two top-four seeds in the A-10 tournament. The contenders for third and fourth place are: Dayton; Loyola; fifth-place Saint Louis (14-12, 7-6) and Saint Joseph’s (16-10, 7-6); and seventh-place Rhode Island (17-8, 6-7) and Duquesne (11-15, 6-7).

“You’re trying to secure the best seed you can for the postseason,” Grant said. “We’ve just got to keep pushing and trying to keep maximizing who we are as a group.”

Here are five things to know about Dayton’s 27th game:

1. Series history: Dayton leads the series 36-16. Dayton is 3-1 against Loyola since Loyola joined the A-10 in the 2022-23 season.

In the first meeting this season on Jan. 18 at UD Arena, Dayton won 83-71 in overtime when Amaël L’Etang caught a 55-foot alley-oop pass from Malachi Smith and made a go-ahead layup with 0.2 seconds to play.

Last season, Dayton lost 77-72 at Loyola. In 2023, Dayton beat Loyola 85-81 in overtime at UD Arena and then won 65-49 at Loyola.

2. Improved Ramblers: Since a 3-4 start in A-10 play, Loyola has won five of six games. In its most recent game, it beat Davidson 77-69 on the road Tuesday.

“We were just hooping tonight,” Valentine said in a story posted to Loyola’s website. “I thought we did a really good job on our transition offense and had solid early looks whether it was from three or two. Defense is our identity and we had a handful with Reed Bailey, but overall, I think we made Davidson inefficient.”

3. Dayton’s rotation: Grant has tinkered with hockey-like substitutions in the last three games. In a 68-63 loss to VCU on Feb. 7, he took out four players at once nine minutes into the game. He repeated the four-player substitution three times in the first half in a 93-76 victory at Fordham on Feb. 12.

Against Duquesne on Saturday, Grant replaced five players at once six minutes into the game. He did the same thing twice more in the first half and twice in the second half.

The 11-man rotation is unusual for Dayton. Last season, for example, it played what was largely an eight-man rotation.

“Strength in numbers,” Grant said. “We’ve had different guys available at different times throughout the year. Some guys have missed games for various reasons. Other guys have been in and out. We’re just trying to figure out how we can become the best version of ourselves. No options are really off the table for us in terms of figuring that out as we head to March.”

4. Players to watch: In Loyola’s last three games, Jayden Dawson, a 6-foot-4 junior guard, has scored 24, 26 and 24 points, respectively. He made 17 of 32 3-pointers in the stretch. He leads the team with 13.5 points per game. He had 19 points in the first game against Dayton.

• Dayton forward Zed Key scored 32 points in the last two games. He scored a total of 29 points in his previous six appearances.

5. Odds & Ends: KenPom.com gives Dayton an 55% chance of winning and predicts a 74-72 score. Dayton ranks 78th in the Pomeroy ratings. Loyola is No. 123.

• Dayton ranks 74th in the NCAA Evaluation Tool. It is the third highest-ranked A-10 team behind No. 35 VCU and No. 64 George Mason. No. 122 Loyola is the ninth highest-ranked A-10 team.

This is a Quadrant 2 game for both teams. Dayton is 2-3 in Quad 1 games, 2-4 in Quad 2, 7-1 in Quad 3 and 6-0 in Quad 4. Loyola is 0-2 in Quad 1, 0-3 in Quad 2, 7-3 in Quad 3 and 9-1 in Quad 4.

FRIDAY’S GAME

Dayton at Loyola Chicago, 7 p.m., ESPN2, 95.7, 1290