“What it means is maybe 3,000 fans who wouldn’t have bothered to drive down if they could have seen it on TV will come down and support us,” Dayton sophomore Doug Harris said before the game.
Nearly 47 years later, Dayton (7-2) and Cincinnati (8-1) will play again at Riverfront Coliseum, which is now called the Heritage Bank Center, at 7 p.m. Saturday in the Hoops Classic. The game will be broadcast on ESPN+. That won’t stop thousands of Dayton fans from making the 50-mile trip for the first matchup between the Flyers and Bearcats since 2010.
“I know Dayton fans are going to be there in droves,” Cincinnati coach Wes Miller said Thursday on 700 WLW. “I believe Bearcat fans will (be there), too. We’re looking forward to making sure it’s as close to a home game as possible.”
The crowd won’t approach 17,000, but it should be bigger than 6,016. That was the attendance 13 years ago when the Flyers and Bearcats last played. That game also took place at the arena on the riverfront. Harris, then the UD beat writer for the Dayton Daily News, reported the crowd was two-third Dayton fans. They didn’t see their dedication rewarded as the Bearcats doubled Dayton’s score, winning 68-34.
The game this weekend promises to be closer. Judging by the NCAA Evaluation Tool ranking — Cincinnati is No. 25 and Dayton is No. 44 — it would be the best victory for either team so far this season.
“We’re excited about the opportunity,” Dayton coach Anthony Grant said Thursday. “They’re very good team, a very well-coached team and playing really well. They’re off to a great start with the season. For our guys, it’s been a busy week with finals and everything that they’ve got going on. But these last couple of days we’ve been able to watch (Cincinnati) on film, and we’ll try to translate the information to our guys get prepared.”
Dayton beat Troy 82-70 on Saturday at UD Arena in its last game. It has won four straight games since losing 69-55 to Houston in the Charleston Classic championship game on Nov. 19.
Cincinnati opened the season with seven straight victories. Only one of those teams, No. 97 Illinois-Chicago, ranks in the top 100 of the NET. Only one of the games was close. Cincinnati won 86-81 in overtime at Howard on Nov. 28.
After a 7-0 start, the Bearcats lost the Crosstown Shootout to Xavier for the fifth straight season, falling 84-79 at the Cintas Center on Dec. 9. They bounced back with an 85-53 victory at home against Bryant on Tuesday.
Cincinnati has one of the best rebounding teams in the nation. It ranks fifth in rebounding margin (plus 12) and 20th in offensive rebounds per game (14.1). Dayton, on the other hand, ranks 285th in the country in offensive rebounding percentage (32.8).
“They’ve got great size, great athleticism,” Grant said. “They’re outstanding in transition. They really get out and run. Then they’ve got some really good talent. We’re getting our guys as familiar as we can with who their personnel is, what they do well, and the things that we’ll have to do to limit those opportunities in transition. And obviously, for us, the rebounding piece of it is real. We’ve got to make sure that we understand that.”
Viktor Lahkin, a 6-foot-11 junior forward, leads Cincinnati in scoring (14.7 points per game) and rebounding (8.8). Four other players average in double figures for an offense that ranks 17th in the nation in scoring (86.1): 6-0 guard Day Day Thomas (11.3); 6-5 wing John Newman (10.8); 6-6 guard Dan Skillings Jr. (10.7); and 6-1 freshman guard Jizzle James (10.3), the son of former NFL running back Edgerrin James.
Cincinnati could see the debut Saturday of Jamille Reynolds, a 6-11 forward who had been ineligible as a two-time transfer until a federal judge issued a 14-day temporary restraining order this week against the NCAA and giving immediate eligibility to two-time transfers. However, the NCAA ruled athletes could lose a year of eligibility if they play in the 14-day window. There’s no guarantee the athletes would be able to compete after the 14-day window.
As of Thursday, Miller said UC and Reynolds had not made a decision on whether he will play and risk losing the year of eligibility.
Dayton could also have an extra player available Saturday. Freshman guard Marvel Allen, who has been sidelined all season with a lower-body injury he suffered in the week before the season began, returned to practice Tuesday, Grant said.
“It’s been six or seven weeks,” Grant said, “so we’ve got to make sure he progresses in the right direction, and we’ll figure it out from there.”
Cincinnati will face a Dayton team coming off three straight games in which it shot 50% from 3-point range. The Flyers have climbed to 11th in the country in 3-point percentage (40.3).
“They’re excellent,” Miller said. “Where they’re ranked nationally, they’re the best opponent we’ve faced this year. You start watching the tape, and you start to understand why they’re there. They’re a little unique in that their center (DaRon Holmes II), who’s first-team all conference and has a chance to be a player of the year candidate in all the college basketball, actually enters their offense as a point guard sometimes and then obviously does all the things that a great center does as well. He’s a great decision maker. He’s great ball handler. He’s a good post player. He’s a threat to the rim when he rolls. He’s probably the best passer on their team. He’s a terrific player.”
SATURDAY’S GAME
Dayton vs. Cincinnati, 7 p.m., ESPN+, 1290, 95.7
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