SATURDAY’S GAME
Saint Louis at Dayton, 12:30 p.m. Saturday, NBC Sports Network, 1290, 95.7
The Dayton men’s basketball team is playing so well, you have to dive deep into the media guide to provide the proper context for what it’s doing.
• With a 61-50 victory over La Salle on Wednesday at UD Arena, the Flyers are off to their first 4-0 start in Atlantic 10 Conference play since the 2003-04 season. They’ve won 14 of their last 15 games in A-10 regular-season play.
• They’re 4-0 in the A-10 for the fourth time since joining the conference before the 1995-96 season.
• They’ve won their first four A-10 games by double digits for the second time ever and first since 1997-98.
• They’re off to their first 14-2 start since 2008-09.
• This is the second time since 1955-56 they’ve won their first four games in January by double digits.
• They’ve won 13 straight games at home.
Dayton has accomplished all that with six scholarship players and a walk-on named Bobby Wehrli, who is known by many nicknames on Twitter: Wehrli Bird, Bobby Basketball, Bobby’s Wehrld and Bobby Buckets, to name a few.
The toughest tests in conference play still await, but the Flyers are enjoying the ride and providing little reason to doubt them. They’ve won seven straight since the 69-55 loss at Arkansas on Dec. 13 and the dismissal from the team of Devon Scott and Jalen Robinson four days later.
“We knew when we reorganized our offense, it wouldn’t be easy to guard us,” sophomore guard Scoochie Smith said. “When teams go zone, we’re already spread out so everybody is ready to shoot. We shoot a lot of shots every day. We’re ready to shoot at all times.”
Dayton didn’t shoot well in the first half Wednesday (35 percent), but it torched the nets in the second half for the second straight game. It shot 84 percent (16 of 19) in the second half of a 76-58 victory at Fordham on Saturday and 64 percent (14-of-22) in the second half against La Salle.
Yet coach Archie Miller continues to stress it’s Dayton’s defense and rebounding that is carrying it to victories. In four A-10 games, the Flyers have allowed 56 points per game.
Despite its lack of size, Dayton has won the rebounding battle in three of the last four games. It beat La Salle 31-30 in that category, thanks in part to 14 rebounds by Dyshawn Pierre.
“We don’t talk about offense a whole lot,” Miller said. “That’s the one thing all of our players would say. Regardless of what we try to do offensively or how many shots go in the basket, the only thing we’re really consumed with right now is our intensity level, our effort, our concentration. We have so many holes that if they’re not all intact, the game could flip quick. We’ve got to be very smart.”
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