At some point, second-year Dayton coach Archie Miller will have the luxury of fielding a veteran team that understands what he values without him always having to pound home his points.

But with six newcomers in his 10-player rotation, the Flyers still need constant reminders, and they’ve been hearing a consistent message all season.

“It starts and stops on the backboard with us,” he said. “When we’re able to rebound the basketball effectively on both ends, we’re going to have a chance to win. That’s what we kind of beat into our guys’ heads as much as we can.”

Miller probably isn’t at a point where he feels safe to let up, but the Flyers are starting to comprehend the importance of crashing the boards.

Since getting out-rebounded for the only time this season in a 62-61 home loss to Weber State, the Flyers have retrieved more missed shots than their opponents in four straight games — most times by wide margins.

They out-rebounded Florida Atlantic 45-31, Miami 45-22, Alabama 37-28 and Northern Illinois 34-30.

They’re second to Butler in the Atlantic 10 in rebound differential this season at plus-6.2 per game, which is about where they were in their best years under previous coach Brian Gregory, who emphasized hitting the boards above all else.

“We play hard,” Miller said. “I don’t think anyone would watch our team anywhere in the country on film and say, ‘Boy, those guys don’t get after it.’

“We play hard, but we don’t play smart all the time. We’re not technically or fundamentally sound all the time. There’s things we have to learn. We’re not as physical right now as we need to be at times. But we have the right intentions right now.”

The Flyers are led in rebounding by junior wing Devin Oliver at 8.7 per game. He’s second in the A-10, just a notch behind George Washington’s Isaiah Armwood (8.9).

Oliver and freshman forward Jalen Robinson both had 14 against Florida Atlantic last week, but the Flyers probably will need others to be relentless rebounders if they want to prevail against Illinois State tonight and Murray State on Saturday at UD Arena.

Illinois State went 21-14 last season and reached the second round of the NIT. They just missed an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament, losing in the Missouri Valley Conference tournament championship.

Murray State went 31-2 and won an NCAA tourney game before being eliminated by Marquette. The Racers are expected to make another run at a 30-win season.

“This is a big, big week — almost a statement week in terms of what we can accomplish at home,” Miller said.