Dayton vs. Rhode Island: What to know about Wednesday’s game

Two years ago, Miller coached Rhode Island to a 75-70 victory against Dayton in his first matchup against his former program. Dayton got revenge last year with a 96-62 victory against Rhode Island at UD Arena.

The novelty of Miller coaching against his successor at Dayton, Anthony Grant, has worn off. With neither team ever in serious contention for the Atlantic 10 Conference regular-season championship this season, this game is all about the teams trying to improve their seeding for the A-10 tournament.

“We just want to finish strong and get ready for March,” said Dayton forward Nate Santos on Friday after a 76-72 loss at Loyola Chicago.

Here are 10 things to know about Dayton’s 28th game:

1. Series history: Dayton leads the series 26-19. Grant was 8-5 against Rhode Island in his first seven seasons.

2. Standings update: Virginia Commonwealth (22-5, 12-2) moved into a tie for first place by beating George Mason (22-5, 12-2) 70-54 on Saturday at the Siegel Center in Richmond, Va. George Mason’s 11-game winning streak ended. VCU won its sixth straight game.

Dayton (18-9, 8-6) is tied for fourth place with Saint Joseph’s (17-10, 8-6) and Saint Louis (15-12, 8-6). Dayton beat both of those teams earlier this season and owns the head-to-head tiebreaker, but the remaining schedule favors Saint Joseph’s. KenPom.com projects Saint Joseph’s to tie for third with Loyola Chicago (18-9, 9-5) and for Dayton and Saint Louis to tie for fifth.

Rhode Island (17-9, 6-8) is one of three teams tied for ninth place.

3. State of the program: Miller is 38-51 in three seasons at Rhode Island. The Rams will break a four-year streak of losing seasons this year but will have to win the A-10 tournament to reach the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2018, Dan Hurley’s last season as coach.

4. Season summary: Rhode Island started 9-0 with victories against two teams ranked in the top 100 of the NCAA Evaluation Tool: No. 68 Yale; and No. 87 Providence. A double-overtime loss at a fellow Rhode Island school, No. 208 Brown, followed in their 10th game.

In A-10 play, Rhode Island has alternated wins and losses most of the season. Other than VCU, the Rams are the only team to beat George Mason. That 62-59 victory at the Ryan Center came in the second A-10 game of the season.

Rhode Island also has lost to the two teams at the bottom of the 15-team league: Fordham; and La Salle.

In its last game Saturday, Rhode Island lost 81-66 at Saint Louis. Saint Louis outscored Rhode Island 12-0 in second-chance points thanks to an 11-0 edge in offensive rebounds.

“The rebound margin and the way they scored off the rebound margin — backbreaking 3s, things like that — it was just one of those games that was very frustrating for us,” Miller said Monday, according to a report by Bill Koch, of the Providence Journal. “Then the spirit of our team, I thought late, the ability to finish the game the right way in terms of playing through the adversity, it was the first time in a while we didn’t show that resilience.”

5. Top returner: David Green, a 6-foot-7 fifth-year forward, led Rhode Island in scoring last season (14.3 points per game) and ranks second this season.

6. Top newcomer: Sebastian Thomas, a 6-1 senior guard, leads Rhode Island in scoring (17.7). He played his first two seasons at Rhode Island but then played last season at Albany.

7. Dayton news: Junior forward Isaac Jack did not travel with the Flyers to Chicago last week after undergoing an appendectomy earlier in the week. One Dayton source said Jack was not out for the season and was expected to return at some point this season. Grant said after the game Friday that “remains to be seen.”

8. Close to home: Dayton guard Enoch Cheek is from Providence, R.I. This will be his first college game in his home state.

9. Strengths and weaknesses: In A-10 play, Rhode Island ranks second in the conference in free-throw attempts (207 of 307, 67.4%). Dayton ranks third (231 of 303, 76.2%).

• Dayton ranks last in the A-10 in opponents’ field-goal percentage (124 of 346, 35.8%). Rhode Island is seventh (111 of 348, 31.9%).

10. Odds & Ends: KenPom.com gives Dayton an 59% chance of winning and predicts a 78-76 score. Dayton ranks 83rd in the Pomeroy ratings. Rhode Island is No. 130.

• Dayton ranks 76th in the NCAA Evaluation Tool. It is the third highest-ranked A-10 team behind No. 31 VCU and No. 66 George Mason. No. 121 Rhode Island 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, 2-5 in Quad 2, 7-1 in Quad 3 and 6-0 in Quad 4. Rhode Island is 0-1 in Quad 1, 2-3 in Quad 2, 8-1 in Quad 3 and 5-0 in Quad 4.

WEDNESDAY’S GAME

Dayton at Rhode Island, 7 p.m., CBS Sports Network, 95.7, 1290