“The first 10 to 12 minutes I thought our guys did a good job of holding the line and understanding what we needed to do,” Grant said.
At that point, Grant said, a combination of substitutions being made leading to different combinations of players on the floor resulted in VCU making a run while Dayton’s shots weren’t falling.
“I think what I said after the game, just in terms of the competitive character we had to have, I didn’t think we responded the way we needed to respond,” Grant said. “Some of that, obviously, is the environment you’re in and the situation you’re in, but some of it just comes down to having a level of toughness about you and being able to compete in those environments.”
Dayton trailed 25-21 after a 3-pointer by Jacob Conner with 8 minutes, 38 seconds to play in the first half. In the next four minutes, it committed three turnovers and missed four straight shots. VCU took advantage with a 12-0 run and led by double digits the rest of the way.
Dayton (15-9, 6-5) suffered its fifth loss in the last six games. It returns to action for the first time in nine days at 4 p.m. Sunday against Davidson (15-9, 6-5) at UD Arena.
Dayton and Davidson are tied for fifth place with Duquesne (14-10, 6-5). Fourth-place Saint Joseph’s (15-10, 7-5) leads that group by a half game.
Here are five things to know about Dayton’'s 25th game:
1. Series history: Dayton leads the series 12-5. It has won 10 straight games against Davidson since a 73-67 loss in the quarterfinals of the A-10 tournament in 2017.
Last season, Dayton beat Davidson 69-63 at UD Arena.
Dayton tied the game on two free throws by Javon Bennett with 48 seconds to play after the technical foul. Video on social media showed Davidson’s Hunter Adam saying something to Dayton’s Nate Santos as they crossed paths near center court during a timeout. The officials called the technical on Adam.
Bennett then converted a 3-point play on the possession after the free throws. Dayton led 64-61 with 46 seconds to play and made 5 of 6 free throws down the stretch to seal the victory.
The 10-game winning streak is Dayton’s longest active streak against a current A-10 program and is the fourth longest streak against an A-10 opponent. The other winning streaks of 10 or more games are:
• Fordham: 20 games from 2007-20.
• Duquesne: 16 games from 1997-2004.
• La Salle: 11 games from 2000-05.
2: State of the program: Davidson finished 17-16 overall and 6-12 in the A-10 last season. It has finished under .500 in the A-10 three seasons in a row after winning the regular-season championship with a 15-3 mark in the 2021-22 season, which was the final season for longtime coach Bob McKillop.
Matt McKillop, Bob’s son, is 63-58 in his fourth season. The Wildcats were picked to finish 11th in the A-10 preseason poll.
3: Scouting report: Robert Blums, a 6-foot-4 sophomore guard, leads Davidson with 11.8 points per game. He averaged 4.3 points as a freshman.
• Josh Scovens, a 6-4 junior guard, averages 10.9 points. He played at Army the last two seasons.
• Parker Friedrichsen, a 6-3 junior guard, averages 10.3 points. He played at Wake Forest the last two seasons.
• Sam Brown, a 6-3 junior guard, averages 8.9 points. He played at Penn his first two seasons.
• Alter graduate RJ Greer, the son of Dayton associate head coach Ricardo Greer, averages 3.9 points. He has appeared in 15 games.
• Davidson ranks 34th in the country in 3-point shooting percentage (37.4). Dayton ranks 237th (32.8).
Credit: AP
Credit: AP
4: Season summary: Davidson finished 8-4 in non-conference play with losses to Utah State, Saint Mary’s, Temple and Kansas.
In A-10 play, Davidson is 1-3 against teams ahead of it in the standings with losses to Saint Louis, Virginia Commonwealth and George Mason and a victory at Saint Joseph’s. Davidson lost by a total of 15 points to VCU and Saint Louis, teams that beat Dayton by 57 points.
In its last A-10 game, Davidson beat Loyola Chicago 84-64 on Feb. 6. In its most recent game, Davidson beat Mid-Atlantic Christian 114-53 on Monday. That game was added to the schedule on Jan. 26.
“We searched tirelessly to find an additional non-conference game throughout the preseason, but we were never able to reach an agreement with the right opponent on the right date,” McKillop said in a press release. “With the A-10 schedule giving us a nine-day break during our bye week in early February, we were given an interesting opportunity to find a game. Having the chance to compete on the court to maintain our energy and growth as we head into the final stretch of our season, while still allowing for us to get the needed rest of a bye week, is something that our staff and players all believe to be the best thing for this team.”
5: Odds & Ends: KenPom.com gives Dayton a 65% chance of winning and predicts a 71-66 score. Dayton ranks 99th in the Pomeroy ratings. VCU is No. 106.
• Dayton ranks 92nd in the NCAA Evaluation. Davidson is No. 102.
This is a Quadrant 3 game for Dayton, which is 0-5 in Quad 1, 3-0 in Quad 2, 4-3 in Quad 3 and 8-1 in Quad 4.
This is a Quad 2 game for Davidson, which is 0-4 in Quad 1, 1-2 in Quad 2, 6-3 in Quad 3 and 6-0 in Quad 4.
NEXT GAME
Who: Davidson at Dayton
When: 4 p.m., Sunday, Feb. 15
TV: ESPN family of networks
Radio: 95.7-FM, 1290-AM
About the Author
