Massachusetts (22-5, 9-4) at Dayton (19-9, 7-6)
When: 11 a.m. Saturday
Where: UD Arena
TV/Radio: ESPNU/1290, 95.7
Probable Dayton starters
Player, Ht., Yr., Pos., PPG
Devin Oliver, 6-7, Sr., F, 12.0
Dyshawn Pierre, 6-6, So., F, 11.2
Matt Kavanaugh, 6-10, Sr., C, 5.6
Khari Price, 5-11, So., G, 6.8
Jordan Sibert, 6-4, Jr., G, 12.2
Probable UMass starters
Cody Lalanne, 6-10, Jr., C, 12.5
Sampson Carter, 6-8, Sr., F, 10.9
Raphiael Putney, 6-9, Sr., F, 9.8
Chaz Williams, 5-9, Sr., G, 15.6
Derrick Gordon, 6-3, So., G, 9.1
About Dayton: The Flyers need one win to reach 20 for the 10th time since 2000. … Pomeroy gives Dayton a 58 percent chance of winning. … The Flyers average 48-percent shooting in victories and 42 percent in losses. … Dayton is 8-0 when it has 15 or more assists. … Devin Oliver is 13-of-14 at the free-throw line in the last six games. In A-10 only stats, he ranks fourth in free-throw percentage (88). … Dayton finished 6-1 in February, its best record in that month since it was 6-1 in 2000-01.
About UMass: The Minutemen climbed as high as 13th in the AP poll after a 16-1 start that included non-conference top-50 RPI wins over New Mexico, Brigham Young and Nebraska. This is their third game against a team from Ohio. They beat Ohio 83-71 in Athens in December and won at home against Miami 73-65. … UMass leads the A-10 in scoring (76.8), rebounding margin (plus 4.8), blocked shots (5.7) and assists (15.9). … Their A-10 losses are to Richmond, Saint Bonaventure, Saint Jospeh’s and George Mason. … Coach Derek Kellogg is in his sixth season. UMass has reached the NIT the previous two seasons and has not finished higher than fifth in the A-10 in his tenure.
FYI: The series is tied 10-10. UMass won last season at home, 76-66. Dayton won the two previous meetings, including the last game at UD, 76-43 in 2012.
— David Jablonski
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