We also talked about Davidson starting A-10 play with a double-overtime loss at home to Duquesne and then winning three of four games — now four of five. I said something along the lines of, “Anyone can beat anyone in the A-10.”
Two days later, anyone did.
La Salle opened the game Wednesday with a 33-8 run and held off Dayton in the second half to win 67-64 at John E. Glaser Arena in Philadelphia. It’s the type of loss teams with A-10 championship hopes have to avoid.
In six of head coach Anthony Grant’s nine seasons, the Flyers have lost at least one A-10 game to a team ranked 200 or below in the Ken Pomeroy ratings. In all, they’ve lost 16 games to teams in that category, though half of those came in two seasons: 2017-18 and 2021-22.
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These games are often described as landmines, but you can’t see landmines. Everyone saw the La Salle game ahead on the schedule and knew the danger.
Dayton has had a better team than La Salle in all 13 seasons I’ve covered the team, but I’ve seen La Salle beat Dayton six times in 15 games since 2014. I’ve seen five Dayton losses at La Salle (2015, 2016, 2018, 2022 and 2026). The only time La Salle won at UD Arena in this stretch, it came in a mostly empty building during the pandemic on Dec. 30, 2020.
Fans have wondered over the years if the atmosphere at La Salle plays a part in Dayton’s performances. Used to playing in front of 13,000-plus fans at UD Arena, the Flyers often see the smallest crowd of the season at La Salle. The announced attendance Wednesday was 1,330. The actual crowd was maybe half that, and a decent percentage of that crowd was there to root for Dayton.
That explanation doesn’t work if you look at the fact that Virginia Commonwealth, which ranks second in the A-10 in attendance behind Dayton, is 6-0 at La Salle since joining the A-10.
The simplest explanation is Dayton hasn’t been good enough, from a playing and coaching perspective, to avoid these losses. It’s still a good team — far better than average — and I think it’ll finish in the top four of the A-10 for the fifth straight season, but that’s not going to be enough to appease the Flyer Faithful, who are hungry for a championship and another NCAA tournament berth.
Game time change for Saturday
Credit: David Jablonski
Credit: David Jablonski
I walked four or five miles around Philadelphia on Thursday afternoon, checking out the Delaware River, the Ben Franklin Bridge and a few museums in the historic district. At the Ben Franklin Museum, which is located where Franklin lived, there’s a quote on the wall that reads, “You know my house ... you will be most heartily welcome.”
That was not the case for Dayton on Wednesday at La Salle, where the Explorers did not do their guests any favors once the game began, and it won’t be the case Saturday at Hagan Arena when Dayton plays Saint Joseph’s.
The A-10 moved the time of the game from 6 p.m. to 2 p.m. because of the winter storm in the forecast. Dayton should be able to fly home in plenty of time to beat the snow.
I was scheduled to fly home Sunday morning. Instead, I will rent a car Saturday morning and leave as soon as possible after I write my game story. I’ll drive as far as I can until the snow starts and then, hopefully, finish my trip on Sunday. At least this way, I take matters into my own hands instead of putting my fate with the airlines.
An extended stay in Philly
Credit: David Jablonski
Credit: David Jablonski
Friday is my third day in Philadelphia. I’m staying in the Fishtown neighborhood, just north of downtown. When James Haring, an assistant coach at La Salle who spent two seasons on Grant’s staff, saw my Fishtown photos on social media, he texted me about a dozen recommendations for places to eat and get coffee.
I have a great AirBnB, but it’s right next to elevated train tracks. Septa trains roar by every couple of minutes. They wake me up around 6 a.m., though I’m so used to being woken early by my dogs or son, I don’t think I would sleep much later anyway.
The Flyers, who are staying in a hotel near Saint Joseph’s, watched the Philadelphia 76ers beat the Houston Rockets 128-122 in overtime on Thursday night at Xfinity Mobile Arena. Earlier in the day, they practiced at Temple University, where Aaron McKie, the father of Dayton freshman Jaron McKie, played.
I don’t know what the Flyers are doing with their second off day Friday, other than practicing.
After the game Wednesday, Grant spoke about the importance of the team playing to its strengths and understanding its identity.
The numbers show that Dayton is not a good 3-point shooting team. It shot 13% (3 of 23) against La Salle despite getting a number of open looks late in the game. Its season percentage stands at 31.9, nearly two percentage points below the national average.
Dayton is strong on defense and leads the A-10 in turnovers forced per game (16.6), but it couldn’t overcome a poor start on that end in the loss to La Salle. La Salle shot 75% (12 of 16) in its game-opening 33-8 run and 31.6 (12 of 38) the rest of the way.
“We have to understand in every league it’s hard to win on the road,” Grant said. “It’s hard to win period. It’s really hard to win on somebody else’s court. So you have to be committed and convicted about what it is that you have to do to have success, and we didn’t show that in the first 9 or 10 minutes of the game.”
Fast Break
Here’s other news that might interest Flyer fans:
🏀 Saint Louis moved into the Associated Press top 25 poll this week. It’s No. 24. I have it ranked higher than anyone at No. 17, though I dropped it three spots from the previous week. Other teams had more impressive victories, while Saint Louis beat Fordham and Richmond.
🏀 Even as an Ohio University graduate, it’s been fun to watch the Miami RedHawks win 20 straight games. Chris Vogt and Tom Archdeacon have covered Miami well for the Journal News. Its latest victory, the second straight overtime victory, came Tuesday at Kent State.
I have voted for Miami in the last four polls, and enough voters finally came around on Miami to get it into the top 25 this week. I was a senior at OU in 1999, writing for The Post in Athens, the last time Miami was ranked.
🏀 What do you want to know about the Flyers?
I want to hear from you. Reach out to me directly at david.jablonski@coxinc.com with your questions and feedback on the team or this newsletter.
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