Dayton vs. UNLV: What to know about Tuesday’s game

“Dayton is the most exciting mid-major in the country, no question,” college basketball analyst Evan Miyakawa wrote on X on Saturday.

“Flyers now have the resume to match the eye test we all saw from Maui,” a NCAA tournament expert wrote. “Dayton moves from bubble territory to comfortably into the field, and deservingly so.”

Dayton coach Anthony Grant cautioned the media not to build up this team too fast in his postgame press conference Saturday.

“We’re not a finished product,” Grant said. “We won the game tonight. Three days from now, it’s going to be a different challenge. The most important game is the one we’ve got next. I hope you guys understand that and help our guys understand that. Let’s not make too much out of one game.”

The next game comes fast. Dayton (9-2) plays UNLV (5-4) at 7 p.m. Tuesday at UD Arena. Here are 10 things to know about the game:

1. Delayed matchup: Dayton lost 60-52 at UNLV in the third game of the 2022-23 season. UNLV was scheduled to play at Dayton on Dec. 6 last season. The game was canceled that day because of a shooting on the UNLV campus in Las Vegas, Nev.

2. Series history: This is the second matchup in the series. Fifth-year Dayton guard Brady Uhl, who played the final 19 seconds against UNLV in 2022, is the only Flyer remaining on the roster who played in that game. Malachi Smith missed the game with an injury.

Ten UNLV players saw action in the game against Dayton two years ago. Only two remain in college basketball, and neither are at UNLV. Keshon Gilbert is Iowa State’s leading scorer (16.4 points per game). Jackie Johnson III is Fordham’s leading scorer (19.0).

3. Tough schedule: UNLV has lost to four teams ranked in the top 70 of the NCAA Evaluation Tool: 80-74 at home to No. 30 Memphis; 80-58 to No. 24 Mississippi State at the Arizona Tipoff event in Tempe, Ariz.; 66-61 to No. 59 Northwestern in Tempe; and 83-65 at No. 69 Creighton.

4. Last game: UNLV ended a three-game losing streak with a 72-65 victory against Pacific (5-7) on Saturday in Henderson, Nev. UNLV turned a three-point lead into a nine-point lead with back-to-back 3s late in the game.

“I’m really proud of the guys,” UNLV coach Kevin Kruger said in a story on UNLV’s website. “I thought we did a lot of things that we wanted to do from the scouting report and our approach. They made some really tough shots. We guarded them the way we wanted to and put them into the spots that we wanted to. Our guys didn’t let that affect them too much. When they took the lead, DJ (Dedan Thomas Jr.) changed gears and ended up being the difference. He made some big-time shots and big-time plays. We came up with some stops to get the lead back, and of course, Julian (Rishwain) extended it with back-to-back threes.”

5. Top returner: Thomas, a 6-1 sophomore guard, leads UNLV in scoring (16.7 points per game). He also led the team as a freshman (13.4).

6. Top newcomers: Jeremiah Cherry, a 6-11 junior forward, ranks second in scoring (11.0). He played at New Mexico Junior College the last two years.

• Jailen Bedford, a 6-4 sophomore guard, ranks third in scoring (10.4). He played at Oral Roberts last season.

• Rishwain, a 6-5 sixth-year guard, is playing for his fourth school. He played one season at Boston College, three at San Francisco and one at Florida.

7. Ohio connection: Former Miami RedHawks coach John Cooper is in his third season as an assistant coach on Kruger’s staff.

8. On the rise: Kruger improved UNLV’s victory total in each of his first three seasons. After finishing 12-15 in 2020-21, T.J. Otzelberger’s final season, UNLV finished 18-14 in Kruger’s first season, then 19-13 in the season it beat Dayton and 21-13 last season.

9. Strong conference: UNLV finished fourth in the Mountain West Conference last season with a 12-6 mark. The three teams ahead of it — Utah State, Nevada and Boise State — all made the NCAA tournament. The three teams right below it in the standings — San Diego State, New Mexico and Colorado State — also earned bids.

UNLV, which last played in the NCAA tournament in 2013, was picked to finish fifth in the 11-team league this season.

10. Odds & Ends: KenPom.com gives Dayton an 89% chance of winning and predicts a 79-66 score. Dayton climbed from No. 32 to No. 26 in the Pomeroy ratings after beating Marquette. UNLV is No. 113.

• Dayton is No. 23 in the NCAA Evaluation Tool. UNLV is No. 154. This is a Quadrant 3 game for Dayton and a Quadrant 1 game for UNLV. If UNLV ranks between 76 and 160, it will remain a Quad 3 game for Dayton.

Dayton is 2-2 in Quad 1 games, 1-0 in Quad 2 and 5-0 in Quad 4. UNLV is 0-3 in Quad 1, 0-1 in Quad 2 and 5-0 in Quad 4.

TUESDAY’S GAME

UNLV at Dayton, 7 p.m., Peacock, 1290, 95.7