Dayton basketball: If top seeds win, Flyers will play George Mason in A-10 tournament Friday

Meanwhile, at St. Bonaventure, coach Mark Schmidt announced he will retire after the 2025-26 season. He has led the Bonnies for 19 seasons. A 68-63 loss at home to Davidson (19-12, 10-8) on Saturday left St. Bonaventure (15-16, 4-14) with its A-10 worst record since.Schmidt’s first season (2-14 in 2007-08).

“I’m a lucky guy,” Schmidt said in a story on the St. Bonaventure website. “To be able to be the head coach at St. Bonaventure for 19 years is an honor. When I first got the job, I remember someone telling me I was going to be here for three or four years and then I was going to be selling insurance. I give Steve Watson and Sister Margaret Carney all the credit in the world that they took a chance on me 19 years ago. A guy who was 82-90 at Robert Morris and they allowed me to coach, they allowed us to build a program, and I think it was a pretty good one.”

Nothing that happened Saturday changed much for the Dayton Flyers. They will open the A-10 tournament in the quarterfinals at 2 p.m. Friday at PPG Paints Arena in Pittsburgh. The game will air on the USA Network.

The matchup will come seven days after Dayton lost 68-62 to VCU at UD Arena. The result prevented the Flyers from entering the postseason on a seven-game winning streak.

“It’s March, and I think our guys are excited about the opportunities that lie in front of us,” Dayton coach Anthony Grant said Friday. “The regular season ended today. Obviously, the goal and the expectation here at Dayton is you play for championships, and unfortunately, we came up a little short in that area this year. But I think just in terms of the fight that our guys showed, I’m grateful for that. Now we’ve got an opportunity moving forward, so we’re going to focus on that opportunity.”

The possible quarterfinal opponents for No. 4 seed Dayton are No. 12 seed La Salle (9-22, 5-13), No. 13 seed St. Bonaventure or No. 5 seed George Mason (23-8, 11-7).

In the regular season, Dayton lost 67-64 at La Salle, beat St. Bonaventure 72-70 at UD Arena and won 82-67 at George Mason.

La Salle and St. Bonaventure play in the first game of the tournament at 11:30 a.m. Wednesday. George Mason will play the winner of that game at 2 p.m. Thursday.

If Dayton wins Friday, it will play in the semifinals at 1 p.m. Saturday. That game would air on the CBS Sports Network. The possible opponents are: No. 1 seed Saint Louis, No. 8 Fordham (17-14, 8-10) or No. 9 George Washington (17-14, 8-10).

If Dayton wins Saturday, it will play in the championship game at 1 p.m. Sunday. CBS broadcasts the championship game.

NEXT GAME

Who: Dayton vs. George Mason, La Salle or St. Bonaventure in A-10 tournament

When: 2 p.m., Friday

Where: PPG Paints Arena in Pittsburgh

TV: USA Network

Radio: 95.7-FM, 1290-AM