Where: Capital One Arena, Washington, D.C.
When: 6 p.m. Friday.
TV/Radio: USA Network/95.7 and 1290 WHIO.
Series: Dayton leads 17-14. Dayton has won five straight games in the series — by a combined margin of 88 points — since an 86-82 double-overtime loss at UMass in 2018. UMass also won 62-60 at UD Arena that year, which was the first for UMass coach Matt McCall and his mentor, Dayton coach Anthony Grant.
Dayton swept two games from UMass in 2019 and 2020. They didn’t play last season because of COVID-19 reasons. Dayton beat UMass 82-61 at UD Arena on Feb. 23 in the only regular-season meeting between the two schools this year.
Dayton and UMass have played only once in the A-10 tournament. In 2011, Dayton won 78-50 in the first round.
Last game: On Saturday, Dayton beat Davidson 82-76 at UD Arena in the final game of the regular season. UMass beat No. 7 seed George Washington 99-88 on Thursday in the second round of the A-10 tournament.
Coaches: Anthony Grant is 100-50 in five seasons at Dayton. Matt McCall, who will not return next season, UMass announced on March 1, is 61-81 in five seasons.
Probable Dayton starters
Name, Ht., Class, Pos., Points per game
DaRon Holmes II, 6-10, Fr., F, 11.9
Toumani Camara, 6-8, R-So., G 10.8
Malachi Smith, 6-0, Fr., G, 9.2
Kobe Elvis, 6-2, R-Fr., G, 8.7
R.J. Blakney, 6-6, R-Fr., G, 6.4
Probable UMass starters
Noah Fernandes, 5-11, Jr., G, 14.5
Rich Kelly, 6-1, Gr., G, 12.7
Trent Buttrick, 6-8, Gr., F, 10.8
TJ Weeks Jr., 6-4, So., G, 9.6
Greg Jones, 6-7, Jr., F, 5.8
About Dayton: KenPom.com gives Dayton an 82 percent chance of winning this game and predicts a 78-68 score. ... Dayton ranks 52nd in the NCAA Evaluation Tool. UMass is 181st. ... Dayton seeks its first A-10 semifinal appearance since 2016 when it was the No. 1 seed and beat No. 9 Richmond 69-54 in the quarterfinals before losing 82-79 to No. 4 seed and eventual champion Saint Joseph’s. Last year, Dayton had the No. 7 seed and beat No. 10 Rhode Island 82-74 in the second round before losing 73-68 to No. 2 seed VCU. ... Dayton has a 25-24 record in 25 A-10 tournament appearances since 1996. It’s one of four current A-10 programs over .500 in the tournament. VCU is 15-7 (.682). Davidson is 10-5 (.667). Saint Joseph’s is 43-34 (.558). Saint Louis is 15-13 (.536).
About UMass: UMass fell one point short of becoming the sixth team in A-10 tournament history to score 100 points on Thursday. It did score 100 in the second round in 2021 in a victory against Saint Joseph’s. ... Fernandes scored a career-high 29 points on 11-of-17 shooting Thursday. He also had seven assists and seven steals. “If that’s not one of the best guards in the Atlantic 10,” McCall said. “I don’t know what it looks like. I’m sorry. And I like, I know he’s ours, but he’s just a warrior, and he leaves it all out there, and he plays the game with such a passion.” ... UMass made 12 of 29 3-pointers against George Washington. It ranks 25th in the country in 3-point percentage (37.4). Dayton ranks 28th (37.3). ... UMass is 39-39 in 43 A-10 tournament appearances. It has played in the championship game seven times and owns the most championships (4) of any current A-10 member. It won them in four straight seasons (1992-95).
Looking ahead: The winner will play No. 3 seed Virginia Commonwealth (21-8) or No. 6 Richmond (20-12) at 3:30 p.m. Saturday in the semifinals. VCU and Richmond play at 8:30 p.m. Friday. VCU won both regular-season matchups: 64-62 and 77-57.
Richmond rallied from a 15-point deficit to beat No. 11 seed Rhode Island 64-59 in the final game of the second round Thursday.
Other Friday games: No. 1 seed Davidson (25-5) plays No. 8 Fordham (16-15) at noon in the first quarterfinal. No. 4 St. Bonaventure (20-8) plays No. 5 Saint Louis (22-10) at 2:30 p.m.
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