While talking about the struggles of the offense in the second half — 13 made free throws but no field goals and three turnovers in a nine-minute stretch — Grant mentioned what was happening on the bench.
“We want to know how efficient we’re being offensively,“ Grant said, ”so our staff is yelling, ‘Three empty possessions.’ We didn’t score. ‘Five empty possessions.’ We didn’t score. ‘Seven empty possessions.’"
At one point, Grant said he told his staff members, “I know! Stop! I’m watching the game.”
Grant laughed as he told that part of the story. Everyone present laughed, too.
No one would have been laughing had Dayton lost its fifth straight game. It avoided its longest losing streak since it suffered seven straight losses in the 2005-06 season and its first five-game skid in the Atlantic 10 Conference since the 1996-97 season.
While Dayton earned its fifth single-digit victory in A-10 play, St. Bonaventure lost its seventh single-digit A-10 game.
Dayton (15-8, 6-4) should expect another close game when it plays Virginia Commonwealth (17-6, 8-2) at 7 p.m. Friday at the Siegel Center in Richmond, Va. The Flyers and Rams have played 26 times since VCU entered the A-10 in the 2012-13 season. Sixteen of those games have been decided by five points or fewer.
Seven players in Dayton’s rotation will experience the VCU rivalry for the first time.
“I will tell them it’s a very hostile environment,” senior guard Javon Bennett said. “We don’t like each other. These programs have been battling each other for a very long time, so you’ve got to come in with the right mindset and watch film and go in there and try to win.”
Dayton sits alone in fifth place with eight games to play in the regular season.
Saint Louis (22-1, 10-0) continues to lead the A-10. George Mason (20-3, 8-2) fell into a tie for second place with VCU after losing 71-65 at home to Duquesne on Wednesday. Saint Joseph’s (15-8, 7-3) stayed in fourth place with its fourth straight victory Wednesday, beating George Washington 76-73 in Philadelphia.
Here are five things to know about Dayton’s game at VCU:
Credit: David Jablonski
1. Series history: VCU leads the series 15-8. It has won eight of the last 12 games. The teams have split two regular-season games four seasons in a row.
Dayton has won three of the last four matchups at the Siegel Center, while VCU has won three of the last four matchups at UD Arena.
Last season, VCU won the first matchup 73-68 at UD Arena on Feb. 7 thanks to a 12-0 run in the final minutes. Dayton then beat VCU 79-76 at the Siegel Center in the final game of the regular season.
Grant is 7-12 against VCU, where he coached from 2006-09, during his tenure at Dayton.
Credit: David Jablonski
Credit: David Jablonski
2: State of the program: VCU finished 28-7 overall and 15-3 last season. It won the A-10 regular-season championship for the third time in 13 seasons. It also won its third A-10 tournament championship.
VCU has earned nine NCAA tournament berths since entering the A-10 in the 2012-13 season.
Coach Phil Martelli Jr., the son of the former Saint Joseph’s coach, is the fifth coach to lead VCU during its time in the A-10. He replaced Ryan Odom, who was 52-21 in two seasons before taking the head coaching job at Virginia.
Martelli Jr., who played for his dad at St. Joseph’s, was 43-25 in the last two seasons at Bryant.
3: Scouting report: Terrence Hill Jr., a 6-foot-3 sophomore guard, leads VCU with 14.5 points per game. He averaged 4.3 points as a freshman at VCU.
• Lazar Djokovic, a 6-10 junior forward, averages 13.5 points per game. He played at Xavier and the College of Charleston the last two seasons.
• Jadrian Tracey, a 6-5, sixth-year forward, averages 9.5 points. He played at Oregon the last two seasons after starting at Saint Joseph’s.
4: Season summary: VCU finished 9-4 in non-conference play. Its best victories came against Virginia Tech and South Florida, ranked No. 56 and No. 62, respectively in the NCAA Evaluation Tool.
VCU’s worst loss came against No. 43 New Mexico. It also lost to No. 14 Vanderbilt, No. 25 North Carolina State and No. 27 Utah State.
In A-10 play, VCU has lost only to the two teams ahead of it in the standings: Saint Louis and George Mason.
In its last game Tuesday, VCU led Fordham by 16 points early in the second half. Fordham rallied and made it a one-possession game four times in the last four minutes before losing 63-59 at Rose Hill Gym.
5: Odds & Ends: KenPom.com gives Dayton a 23% chance of winning and predicts a 79-71 score. Dayton ranks 90th in the Pomeroy ratings with four straight losses. VCU is No. 49.
• Dayton ranks 91st in the NET. VCU is No. 51.
This is a Quadrant 1 game for Dayton, which is 0-3 in Quad 1, 2-2 in Quad 2, 5-2 in Quad 3 and 8-1 in Quad 4.
This is a Quad 3 game for VCU, which is 0-5 in Quad 1, 4-1 in Quad 2, 5-0 in Quad 3 and 8-0 in Quad 4.
NEXT GAME
Who: Dayton (14-7, 5-4) at VCU (17-6, 8-2)
When: 7 p.m., Friday
TV: ESPN2
Radio: 95.7-FM, 1290-AM
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