For an eight-year stretch that started with Paxson’s freshman season, Dayton had a solid and consistent but unspectacular program, which changed with a run to the Elite Eight in 1984.
The team Paxson watched Wednesday had also been solid and consistent but not spectacular through 18 games. Its resume lacked impressive victories but also disastrous defeats — until the game at La Salle.
Dayton’s loss to a team that now ranks 219th in the Ken Pomeroy ratings won’t surprise anyone who remembers Dayton losing 62-60 to No. 229 La Salle in 2022 or 61-57 to No. 267 La Salle in 2016.
Then there was a 55-53 loss to No. 103 La Salle in the final regular-season game of 2015 when a Dayton team that would win 27 games had a chance to clinch a share of the A-10 championship.
Dayton’s struggles in Philadelphia are well known. The latest defeat also adds to the program’s history of losing to low-ranked teams in Grant’s tenure.
This was Dayton’s 16th loss to a team ranked 200 or below in the Pomeroy ratings in the last nine seasons. By comparison, Virginia Commonwealth, the only team that has been better than Dayton in the A-10 in the same stretch, has six sub-200 losses in the last nine seasons. And in the nine seasons before Grant took the reins in 2017, Dayton had three sub-200 losses.
Half of Dayton’s sub-200 losses came in two seasons: four in 2017-18, Grant’s first season; and four in 2021-22. The loss Wednesday was Dayton’s second sub-200 loss in the last three seasons.
Where does this loss to La Salle rank on the list of the worst losses in Grant’s tenure?
Below is the list of the 16 sub-200 defeats. The Pomeroy ratings listed are the teams’ end-of-season rankings, not the ranking they had at the time of the game.
1: Jan. 5, 2021: 55-54 at No. 310 Fordham
Six days after a loss at home to No. 200 La Salle, Dayton fell at Rose Hill Gym. It remains the worst loss of the Grant era. It’s the only time Dayton has lost to a team that ranked 300 or below on KenPom.com.
After a go-ahead basket by Dayton’s Elijah Weaver, Chris Austin made a 3-pointer with 24 seconds remaining to give Fordham the lead. Ibi Watson then missed a jump shot at the buzzer as Fordham ended a 16-game losing streak to Dayton, beating the Flyers for the first time since Jan. 4, 2006.
Fordham finished 2-12 in the pandemic season. Dayton finished 14-10 and ranked 87th in the Pomeroy ratings.
2: Nov. 20, 2021: 87-81 to No. 291 Austin Peay
Austin Peay outscored Dayton 14-3 in the last four minutes, sending Dayton to its third straight home loss. The Governors finished 12-17.
Dayton beat Miami, No. 4 Kansas and Belmont a week later to win the ESPN Events Invitational. The Flyers finished 24-11 and 45th in the Pomeroy ratings that season and were the first team left out of the NCAA tournament. Losing to UMass Lowell, Lipscomb and Austin Peay in an eight-day stretch cost Dayton in March.
3: Nov. 17, 2021: 78-59 to No. 264 Lipscomb
Dayton followed a 59-58 loss to UMass Lowell with an equally stunning — if only because of the margin of defeat — loss to Lipscomb. It was Dayton’s most lopsided loss at home since an 84-55 loss to Buffalo in 2011.
Lipscomb finished 14-19.
Credit: David Jablonski
4: Jan. 25, 2023: 75-70 at No. 255 Rhode Island
Archie Miller, the first-year Rhode Island coach who led the Flyers for six seasons, became the first former Dayton coach to beat UD. The Flyers suffered their third loss in four games after a seven-game winning streak.
Rhode Island finished 9-22 that season. This was its best victory.
Dayton finished 22-12 and ranked 79th in the Pomeroy ratings.
5: Nov. 13, 2021: 59-58 to No. 249 UMass Lowell
In the second game of the 2021-22 season, with three future NBA players in the starting lineup (DaRon Holmes II, Toumani Camara and Koby Brea), Dayton suffered its worst home loss in years — at least until the Austin Peay loss a week later.
Dayton had 15 turnovers, almost twice as many as Lowell (8). Camara led the Flyers with three turnovers. Elijah Weaver also had three. He stepped out of bounds while driving the baseline with 17 seconds to play when Dayton trailed 59-58.
Lowell finished 15-16.
6: Feb. 26, 2022: 62-60 at No. 229 La Salle
La Salle ended a five-game losing streak by rallying from a 36-21 deficit in the second half. It scored 29 points in 10 minutes to take a 50-43 lead with 6:37 to play. It shot 57.4% from the field in the first half after shooting 25% in the first half. Dayton missed 11 straight field-goal attempts during La Salle’s run.
La Salle finished 11-19. Dayton finished 24-11 and at No. 45 in the Pomeroy ratings.
Credit: David Jablonski
Credit: David Jablonski
7: Jan. 8, 2025: 76-72 at No. 222 UMass
Dayton suffered its second A-10 road loss in five days. It shot under 30% from 3-point range (6 of 24, 25%) for the sixth straight game. UMass won despite shooting 15% (3 of 20).
UMass finished 12-20. Dayton finished 23-11 and at No. 77 in the Pomeroy ratings.
8: Feb. 14, 2018: 85-67 at No. 220 George Mason
Dayton’s starters watched the final five minutes from the bench as the Patriots dominated the second half and picked up their first victory over Dayton since 2007. The Flyers had won seven games in a row in the series.
George Mason finished 16-17.
Credit: David Jablonski
9: Jan. 21, 2026: 67-64 at No. 219 La Salle
La Salle opened the game with a 33-8 run. Dayton’s Javon Bennett missed two game-tying 3-pointers in the final eight seconds.
Credit: David Jablonski
Credit: David Jablonski
10: Jan. 21, 2023: 76-69 at No. 217 George Washington
George Washington never trailed and beat Dayton for the first time in six years. James Bishop, the A-10’s leading scorer with 21.7 points per game, scored 27 points. He made 10 of 19 field goals and 7 of 10 free throws.
Credit: David Jablonski - Staff Writer
Credit: David Jablonski - Staff Writer
11: Jan. 6, 2018: 62-60 to No. 207 Massachusetts
Three days after beating No. 68 St. Bonaventure at UD, Dayton lost at home to a team that would finish 13-20. Darrell Davis missed what would have been a game-tying layup at the buzzer.
12: Feb. 3, 2018: 86-82 in double overtime at No. 207 UMass
The game turned on a desperation 3-pointer by UMass guard Luwane Pipkins with 55 seconds left in the second overtime. He picked up a loose ball near halfcourt and banked in a shot from several steps behind the 3-point line with Darrell Davis in his face. The Minutemen took an 84-81 lead.
UMass, which finished 13-20, swept two games from Dayton in coach Matt McCall’s first season.
13: Feb. 24, 2021: 97-84 at No. 202 Saint Joseph’s
Dayton had not allowed this many points in a game since a 100-90 loss to George Washington in the Atlantic 10 Conference tournament on March 4, 1999. That was a 20-win George Washington team. Dayton was playing a Saint Joseph’s team that had won two games all season entering the game.
Saint Joseph’s dominated Dayton for most of the 40 minutes, starting with a 24-7 run in the first six minutes.
Saint Joseph’s finished 5-15.
T-14: Dec. 30, 2018: 70-62 at No. 201 Duquesne
The Flyers lost the first A-10 game of the Grant era in Pittsburgh. The Dukes, who finished 16-16 that season, ended the game on a 10-1 run. Dayton finished 14-17 in Grant’s first season and ranks 172nd in the Pomeroy ratings.
Duquesne finished 16-16.
T-14: Feb. 4, 2023: 68-59 at No. 201 St. Bonaventure
Dayton lost at the Reilly Center for the first time in 11 years. The Bonnies made 9 of 24 3-pointers, while Dayton made 4 of 20.
St. Bonaventure finished 14-18.
16: Dec. 30, 2020: 67-65 to No. 200 La Salle
Clifton Moore’s jump shot with 2.5 seconds remaining lifted La Salle to a victory at UD Arena.
La Salle ended Dayton’s 20-game Atlantic 10 Conference winning streak. The Explorers ended a 14-game losing streak at UD Arena. They had not won in Dayton since Feb. 27, 1999.
La Salle finished 9-16.
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