A few Dayton Flyers fans, cheering from behind the UD bench, put their fears aside every two years when Dayton plays at the Robins Center. Losses to the Spiders are a bigger worry than actual spiders.
Dayton coach Oliver Purnell was 1-1 at the Robins Center. His successor, Brian Gregory, won his first game at the arena in 2004 and then lost four straight. Archie Miller followed with two losses before an 85-84 victory in 2016.
The current coach, Anthony Grant, has topped them all with four victories in five chances. Dayton beat Richmond 65-60 at the Robins Center on Tuesday to improve to 7-8 at the home of the Spiders. It has never won a game by more than eight points there.
“It’s hard to win on the road in somebody else’s building,” Grant said. “Richmond’s a really tough prep. It’s a unique prep for us. This late in the year, seeing them for the first time, we knew that it would be a battle.”
Dayton’s sixth straight victory gives it a chance to beat the Atlantic 10 Conference’s two Richmond, Va., teams in the same week for the first time since January 2018. The Flyers (21-9, 12-5) play Virginia Commonwealth (23-7, 14-3) at 7 p.m. Friday at UD Arena in the final game of the regular season.
This will be the third year in a row Dayton and VCU have played in the final game of the regular season. Dayton won the first two: 91-86 in overtime at UD Arena in 2024; and 79-76 at the Siegel Center in 2025.
Dayton has already clinched a top-four seed and double bye in the A-10 tournament. Here are the scenarios that will determine whether Dayton is the No. 3 or No. 4 seed.
• Dayton will be the No. 4 seed if it loses Friday or beats VCU and Saint Joseph’s (20-10, 12-5) wins at home against La Salle on Saturday. Saint Joseph’s won 70-67 at Davidson on Wednesday.
• Dayton will be the No. 3 seed if it beats VCU and Saint Joseph’s loses.
Here are five things to know about Dayton’s 31st game:
Credit: David Jablonski
1. Series history: VCU leads the series 16-8. It has won nine of the last 13 games. The teams have split two regular-season games four seasons in a row.
In the first matchup this season, VCU beat Dayton 99-73 at the Siegel Center on Feb. 6. The Flyers trailed 50-27 at halftime and fell behind by as many as 30 points in the second half. It was Dayton’s most lopsided loss to VCU. The Flyers played without second-leading scorer De’Shayne Montgomery, who missed the game because of an illness.
“I know my teammates feel a certain way (about the loss),” Montgomery said. “I would definitely feel a certain way. I’m just ready to get after (VCU).”
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.
Grant is 7-13 against VCU, where he coached from 2006-09, during his tenure at Dayton.
“We’re excited about another chance to play them,” Grant said. “Obviously, they’re having an outstanding year. We didn’t necessarily play our best the last time we played.”
Credit: David Jablonski
2: Senior night: Dayton’s Javon Bennett, Jacob Conner, Jordan Derkack and Keonte Jones will be honored before the game along with senior team managers Ben English, Bella Sindoni and Jordan Harbeck and student athletic trainer Kat Blandford.
“It’s definitely been a long road,” said Derkack, who started his career at Merrimack with Bennett and then played one season at Rutgers. “I’m just happy I got to meet some great people, great teammates and great coaches and be a part of three great programs.”
Dayton has won its final home game in 14 straight seasons since a 69-51 loss to Saint Louis in 2011.
Credit: David Jablonski
Credit: David Jablonski
3: State of the season: VCU has won 12 of its last 13 games since a 2-2 start in A-10 play. Its only loss in that stretch came on Feb. 20 when it fell 88-75 at Saint Louis, which completed a two-game sweep of the season series.
VCU enters the game in second place. It’s one game behind Saint Louis (27-3, 15-2), which clinched a share of the A-10 title with a 79-65 victory Wednesday against Loyola Chicago in St. Louis. The Billikens play at George Mason in their final game Saturday.
Saint Louis also clinched the No. 1 seed in the A-10 tournament. VCU will be the No. 2 seed.
A Quadrant 1 victory Friday would improve VCU’s chances of earning a NCAA tournament at-large bid. ESPN’s Joe Lunardi listed VCU among the “First Four Out” in his latest bracket prediction. On BracketMatrix.com, 46 of the 132 predictions include VCU.
In its last game Tuesday, VCU beat George Mason 70-65. VCU had the lead for the last 18 minutes but never led by more than eight points.
VCU avenged an 86-80 loss at George Mason on Jan. 10, while George Mason (22-8, 10-7) suffered its sixth loss in its last eight games.
“That’s what a March basketball game is supposed to look and feel like,” VCU coach Phil Martelli Jr. said. “Grind it out. Find a way. Not always the prettiest. Not always the cleanest. We told (the players) two days ago, ‘It’s a straight-up toughness game. The toughest team will win.’ They were tougher than us at their place, and I thought we were tougher tonight.”
Credit: David Jablonski
Credit: David Jablonski
4: Scouting report: Terrence Hill Jr., a 6-foot-3 sophomore guard, leads VCU with 14.1 points per game. He scored 14 points in the first game against Dayton.
• Lazar Djokovic, a 6-10 junior forward, averages 13.7 points per game. He scored 13 against Dayton.
• Jadrian Tracey, a 6-5, sixth-year forward, averages 10.2 points. He scored a season-high 26 points against Dayton and made 6 of 9 3-pointers.
5: Odds & Ends: KenPom.com gives Dayton a 49% chance of winning and predicts a 76-75 score. Dayton ranks 76th in the Pomeroy ratings. VCU is No. 46.
• Dayton ranks 71st in the NET. VCU is No. 47.
This is a Quadrant 2 game for Dayton, which is 1-5 in Quad 1, 5-1 in Quad 2, 7-3 in Quad 3 and 8-0 in Quad 4.
This is a Quad 1 game for VCU, which is 1-5 in Quad 1, 4-2 in Quad 2, 9-0 in Quad 3 and 9-0 in Quad 4.
NEXT GAME
Who: VCU at Dayton
When: 7 p.m., Friday
TV: ESPN2
Radio: 95.7-FM, 1290-AM
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