Keonte Jones ran at Avila and threw up his arms as he jumped to defend the shot. Avila made the shot anyway with a swish.
On Dayton’s first possession, Keonte stepped out of bounds while driving the baseline. That was another sign of things to come because Dayton committed four turnovers in the first four minutes and 15 in the game. Two of the turnovers came when Dayton tried to get the ball to L’Etang in the paint only to have a defender positioned behind L’Etang knock the ball away.
Better passing, better shooting, better decision making, Saint Louis (21-1, 9-0) had it all in its first victory against Dayton (14-8, 5-4) since March 3, 2023.
Judging by the sold-out crowd, this was the game of the season at Chaifetz Arena, though the way Dayton has played in four straight defeats, it’s not a victory that will stand out on Selection Sunday.
The Flyers are now projected to finish 9-9 in the A-10 by KenPom.com. That would be the program’s worst A-10 record since it posted an 8-10 record in coach Anthony Grant’s first season.
Dayton has lost four straight games for the first time since January 2014. It’s only the third losing streak of four or more games in this century. The only longer skid — seven games — took place in the 2005-06 season.
What has gone wrong? Here are four stats that tell the story of four losses:
Credit: David Jablonski
Credit: David Jablonski
1: Three-point defense: Dayton’s defense behind the 3-point line has hurt the team all season. It ranks 313th in the country in 3-point percentage defense (36.6). That’s the worst number since Grant’s first season (38.3).
Saint Louis shot a season-best 60.7% from 3-point range, making 17 of 28 shots from behind the arc.
Saint Louis owns the second-best 3-point shooting percentage in the nation (41.1%).
In its previous game, Dayton faced a much worse shooting team, Rhode Island, which ranks 311th in 3-point percentage (30.9). The Rams shot 41.2% (7 of 17) against Dayton, however, and won 81-76 in overtime at UD Arena on Tuesday.
Neither La Salle (7 of 22, 31.8%) or Saint Joseph’s (10 of 31, 32.3%) shot well from 3-point range against Dayton, but the Flyers found other ways to lose those games.
Credit: David Jablonski
Credit: David Jablonski
2: Three-point offense: Dayton is a below-average shooting team behind the arc, ranking 239th in the country (32.7%). Dayton has shot better than that percentage in the last three games but shot 13% (3 of 23) in the first game of the skid, a 67-64 loss at La Salle.
Javon Bennett, who has attempted 62 more 3s than anyone on the roster, has made 6 of 26 3s (23.1%) during the losing streak. He shot 39% last season and is shooting 30.8% this season.
3: Turnovers: Dayton has averaged 16.5 turnovers in the last four games. It averaged 13.2 in its first five A-10 games.
Dayton committed 23 turnovers, its second-highest total of the season, in the loss to Rhode Island.
4: Free throws: Dayton averaged 25.8 free-throw attempts in its first five A-10 games. In the last four games, it averaged 20.5.
Dayton still ranks sixth in the country in free-throw rate (46.5), which measures how often a team gets to the line compared to how often it attempts a field goal.
NEXT GAME
Who: St. Bonaventure (13-8, 2-6) at Dayton (14-7, 5-4)
When: 7 p.m., Tuesday
TV: CBS Sports Network
Radio: 95.7-FM, 1290-AM
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