Dayton (17-8, 7-5) has a strong chance to earn a top-four seed in the A-10 tournament. That hasn’t helped it in the last three seasons. It had the double bye to the quarterfinals each year but lost in the semifinals, final and then the quarterfinals.
Still, every team would rather have to win three games in three days at Capital One Arena in Washington, D.C., instead of four games in four days or five games in five days, as is the case for the lowest-seeded teams.
Finishing in the top four is the goal in the next three weeks. Dayton is one of seven teams with five or six A-10 losses. Two of them will earn top-four seeds.
The Flyers want to improve their chances of winning a tournament they haven’t won since 2003.
“We’re going to try to get one,” Grant said. “We’ve seen over 12 games now that anybody can beat anybody. George Mason and VCU have kind of separated themselves in terms of the records. I think most of the games throughout have been really competitive. So you want to put yourself in the best position, to be playing well and to be as healthy as you can, and you’ve got to have some luck on your side.”
Credit: David Jablonski
Dayton’s next test comes at 2:30 p.m. Saturday against Duquesne (10-14, 5-6). Here are seven things to know about Dayton’s 26th game:
1. Series history: Dayton leads the series 64-25. The Flyers had won five straight games, including two in the regular season a year ago, against the Dukes and 11 of the last 12 games in the series before losing 65-57 in the Atlantic 10 Conference tournament quarterfinals last March.
In the first matchup this season, Dayton built a 30-point lead and coasted to an 82-62 victory in Pittsburgh on Jan. 21. Duquesne has lost 10 straight games at Dayton since an 83-73 victory on Feb. 1, 2012.
2. Losing streak: The loss to Dayton started a five-game losing streak for Duquesne. Three of the losses came on the road to Fordham, Saint Joseph’s and Richmond, and each game was decided by five points or fewer. Duquesne also lost 62-53 at home to Massachusetts.
3. Last game: Duquesne ended the skid with a 69-56 victory Saturday at home against Loyola Chicago.
Duquesne missed its first 11 shots of the second half, giving up a 9-0 run that led to Loyola taking a 36-34 lead, but the Dukes quickly regained the lead and closed the game with an 11-1 run.
“I don’t think we allowed our offense to affect our mood,” Duquesne coach Dru Joyce III said. “I applaud my guys. They just kept playing. I applaud them for the looks they got, too. We had good possessions, and weren’t playing bad basketball. Sometimes that’s more important than watching the scoreboard. How is our rhythm? How are we defending? Even during that stretch, our defense was still strong. We had shots in front of the rim, we just didn’t finish them. They kept attacking, and it finally broke our way.”
4. Standings update: George Mason (20-5, 11-1) has won 10 straight games and leads Virginia Commonwealth (20-5, 10-2) by one game. Those teams play Feb. 22 at the Siegel Center in Richmond, Va.
The seven teams with the best chances of earning the last two top-four seeds are: Dayton; Saint Louis (14-11, 7-5); Saint Joseph’s (15-9, 6-5); Loyola Chicago (15-9, 6-5); UMass (11-14, 6-6); Davidson (15-9, 5-6); and Duquesne.
5. Rotation changes: Dayton fifth-year guard Brady Uhl played meaningful minutes the last two seasons at various times. That’s why he earned a scholarship halfway through last season. This season, he played 13 minutes against Division III Capital in November and a total of six minutes in the rest of the games — none of them at important times in the game.
That changed Wednesday when Uhl played five minutes in the first half. Grant also played junior forward Isaac Jack, who did not see action in the previous two games, for seven minutes in the game.
Asked to explain the changes, Grant said, “Just trying to put us in a position to win games.”
Of Uhl, Grant said, “Brady’s always ready. There’s been several years where we’ve had to call on him for a variety of reasons, and he always was ready. So we trust him. I thought he did a good job.
6. Strengths and weaknesses: Dayton has shot above 30% from 3-point range eight times in the last nine games after shooting under 30% six games in a row. It’s shooting 37.1% in A-10 games. That’s the best mark in the conference. Duquesne ranks fifth (34.3%).
• Dayton ranks 14th in conference games in opponents’ 3-point shooting percentage (35.9). Duquesne ranks 10th (35.1).
7. Odds & Ends: KenPom.com gives Dayton an 81% chance of winning and predicts a 74-64 score. Dayton rose from No. 76 to No. 75 in the Pomeroy ratings after beating Fordham. Duquesne is No. 154.
• Dayton ranks 72nd in the NCAA Evaluation Tool. It is the third highest-ranked A-10 team behind No. 36 VCU and No. 65 George Mason. No. 170 Duquesne is the 11th highest-ranked A-10 team.
This is a Quad 4 game for Dayton and a Quad 1 game for Duquesne
Dayton is 2-3 in Quad 1 games, 2-4 in Quad 2, 6-1 in Quad 3 and 6-0 in Quad 4. Duquesne is 0-0 in Quad 1, 2-4 in Quad 2, 5-5 in Quad 3 and 2-3 in Quad 4.
SATURDAY’S GAME
Duquesne at Dayton, 2:30 p.m., USA Network, 1290, 95.7
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