Dayton (11-6, 1-3) has rekindled memories of the Brian Gregory years with three straight losses in Atlantic 10 Conference play. Three times during Gregory’s tenure as coach, Dayton squandered strong non-conference performances with sub-par play in league games, settling for NIT bids in 2008, 2010 and 2011.
Dayton faced a similar situation in coach Archie Miller’s third season. The Flyers started 1-5 in A-10 play that season but then won nine of their last 10 games to secure a NCAA tournament berth. That’s the season everyone points to any time Dayton struggles in A-10 play, but anyone watching the current Flyers will find it hard to imagine a repeat of that turnaround.
Dayton hit rock bottom in 2014 with a 60-57 loss to Saint Joseph’s at UD Arena on Jan. 29. Langston Galloway made a bank-shot 3-pointer to beat the Flyers with 1.8 seconds to play.
“Nobody’s boo-hooing,” Miller said after the game. “Nobody’s crying. We’ve just got to continue to work to get better. We’ll climb our way out of it.”
Continuing to work also was a theme of current Dayton coach Anthony Grant’s press conference Wednesday after a 67-59 loss to George Mason.
“There are 14 games left,” Grant said. “Each game has a life of its own. We’ve got to make sure that we don’t get caught up in the noise or get caught up in necessarily the disappointment of the results.”
The noise is the criticism being directed at the Flyers. There were scattered boos at the game Saturday but nothing overwhelming. It’s a different story online, where fans are venting their frustrations about a sweet season that has turned sour.
Grant doesn’t have a problem tuning out the noise and said his players are used to it in some ways.
“Obviously, it goes both ways,” Grant said. “You can’t always believe the praise, and you can’t always believe the criticism. It depends on where it’s coming from. I think we’re in a day and age where young people are kind of in some ways immune to it because they live in that world, so to speak.”
Dayton doesn’t have to wait long for a chance to break the three-game skid. It plays Loyola Chicago (11-6, 2-2) at 4 p.m. Saturday at UD Arena. Here are 10 things to know about the game:
1. Series history: Dayton leads the series 35-16. Dayton has won two of the three games since Loyola joined the A-10 in the 2022-23 season.
Last season, Dayton lost 77-72 at Loyola. Dayton committed a season-high 22 turnovers. Loyola scored 20 points off those turnovers.
In 2023, Dayton beat Loyola 85-81 in overtime at UD Arena and then won 65-49 at Loyola. Those were the first two meetings between the programs since 1993. The first game took place in the 1928-29 season.
2. Losing streak: Dayton will try to avoid its first four-game losing streak in A-10 play since January 2014 when a team that would reach the Elite Eight that March lost to Richmond, Virginia Commonwealth, Rhode Island and Saint Joseph’s.
Dayton also has not lost two straight A-10 games at home — with no road games in between — since 2012 when it lost to Rhode Island and Duquesne in a five-day stretch.
3. State of the program: Loyola Chicago improved from 10-21 overall and 4-14 in the A-10 in its first season to 23-10 and 15-3 last season. It shared the regular-season title with Richmond in 2024.
After reaching the NCAA tournament three times in its last five seasons in the Missouri Valley Conference, it has not made the tournament the last two seasons. Coach Drew Valentine is 69-45 in his fourth season. His team was picked to finish fifth this season in the A-10 preseason poll.
4. Standings update: Dayton sits alone in 14th place as one of only two teams that hasn’t won at least two games. Fordham (8-10, 0-5) is the only team without an A-10 victory.
Loyola Chicago is one of five teams tied for sixth place with a 2-2 mark. George Mason (4-1) sits alone in first place with a half-game lead over Virginia Commonwealth, Saint Louis and Duquesne (all 3-1).
5. Season summary: Loyola started the season 8-0 but beat only one team ranked in the top 150 of the NCAA Evaluation Tool in that stretch, No. 119 Princeton. It then lost four of its last five non-conference games.
Loyola opened A-10 play with an 84-65 loss at home to Virginia Commonwealth. It then won 79-68 at La Salle and lost 93-57 at Saint Joseph’s. In its last game Wednesday, it beat Rhode Island 81-77 in Chicago.
“The guys made a decision tonight to do whatever it takes to win,” Valentine said in his postgame press conference. “I have to give them credit. A lot of guys stepped up when our usual suspects couldn’t get hot.”
6. Roster losses: Three of Loyola’s top four scorers played their final seasons of college basketball last season: Philip Alston (12.6 points per game); Braden Norris (9.2); and Dame Adelekun (9.1).
Loyola also lost one key player earlier this season. Justin Moore, who averaged 7.7 points and a team-best 5.3 assists in the first nine games, suffered a season-ending knee injury in December.
7. Top returners: Desmond Watson, a 6-foot-5 senior guard, led Loyola in scoring last season (12.6 points per game) and leads the team again this season (12.2). He played his first two seasons at Davidson. He scored 24 points against Dayton last season.
• Sheldon Edwards, a 6-4, fifth-year guard, averaged 6.0 points last season and ranks second on the team in scoring this season (12.1).
• Jayden Dawson, a 6-4 junior guard, has increased his scoring average from 7.9 to 12.0 this season.
8. Top newcomer: Francis Nwaokorie, a 6-7 senior forward, averages 6.7 points and leads the team in rebounding (5.9). He played the last three seasons at UC San Diego.
9. Strengths and weaknesses: Loyola has shot 36.9% from 3-point range in A-10 play. That’s the fifth-best mark in the A-10. Dayton ranks ninth (32.1).
• A-10 opponents have an effective field-goal percentage of 56.4 against Loyola. That’s the worst mark in the conference. Dayton ranks 11th (56.4).
10. Odds & Ends: KenPom.com gives Dayton an 84% chance of winning and predicts a 78-67 score. Dayton ranks 58th in the Pomeroy ratings. Loyola is No. 146.
• Dayton ranks 64th in the NCAA Evaluation Tool. It is the second highest-ranked A-10 team behind No. 59 VCU. No. 159 Loyola is the 12th highest-ranked A-10 team.
This is a Quad 3 game for Dayton and a Quad 1 game for Loyola.
Dayton is 2-3 in Quad 1 games, 1-1 in Quad 2, 3-2 in Quad 3 and 4-0 in Quad 4. Loyola is 0-0 in Quad 1, 1-3 in Quad 2, 2-3 in Quad 3 and 7-0 in Quad 4.
SATURDAY’S GAME
Loyola Chicago at Dayton, 4 p.m., CBS Sports Network, 95.7, 1290
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