When: 9 p.m. Monday
TV/Radio: CBS Sports Network/95.7 and 1290 WHIO.
Series: Dayton leads 24-18. A year ago, Dayton won 67-56 on Jan. 30 at UD Arena and then lost 91-89 in double overtime on Feb. 16 at the Ryan Center. The Flyers then beat Rhode Island 84-72 in the second round of the A-10 tournament. Dayton won the first matchup this season 53-51 on Jan. 28 at UD Arena.
Last game: On Saturday, Dayton beat George Washington 80-54 at UD Arena, and Rhode Island beat Davidson 72-65 in Kingston.
Coaches: Anthony Grant is 94-49 in five seasons at Dayton. David Cox is 62-49 in four seasons at Rhode Island.
Probable Dayton starters
Name, Ht., Class, Pos., Points per game
DaRon Holmes II, 6-10, Fr., F, 11.5
Toumani Camara, 6-8, So., F, 10.6
Malachi Smith, 6-0, Fr., G, 9.4
Kobe Elvis, 6-2, Fr., G, 9.2
R.J. Blakney, 6-6, R-Fr., G, 6.2
Probable Rhode Island starters
Mahkel Mitchell, 6-10, So., F, 11.2
Jeremy Sheppard, 6-1, Sr., G, 10.6
Makhi Mitchell, 6-9, So., F, 9.8
Ishmael Leggett, 6-2, R-Fr., G, 8.5
Ishmael El-Amin, 6-3, Sr., G, 6.7
About Dayton: KenPom.com gives Dayton a 57 percent chance of winning this game and predicts a 62-60 score. ... The Flyers already have almost as many 20-point wins in A-10 play this season (4) as they did in the 18-0 season of 2019-20 (5). In A-10 games, Dayton leads the conference in scoring margin (plus 11.8). ... Holmes is tied for second in the A-10 with Makhel Mitchell with 2.7 blocks per game in A-10 play. St. Bonaventure’s Osun Ossuniyi leads the conference (2.9). Holmes leads the league in field-goal percentage (65.3).
About Rhode Island: The Rams rank 347th out of 358 Division I teams in free-throw percentage (64.4), but they made 19 of 23 (82.6) in the victory against Davidson. ... Opposing offenses shoot 43.9% on 2-point shots against Rhode Island, which ranks 13th in the country in that category. It ranks 66th in 3-point shooting defense (31.1). It ranks fourth in the country in blocked shots per game (6.3).
Looking ahead: Dayton plays Saint Joseph’s (10-13, 4-8) at 1 p.m. Saturday at Hagan Arena in Philadelphia, Pa.
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