Grant knows the way, though, after six games at Hagan in nine seasons, so he had no trouble navigating the walk through the aisles and up the stands to the level above the court where Hansgen called the game with former Flyer Keith Waleskowski.
Dayton had to hurry to catch a charter flight Saturday because of the weather report in Ohio, so Hansgen didn’t have much time to question Grant about the second loss in four days in Philadelphia. The ninth-year coach, who fell to 3-3 in six games at Saint Joseph’s, also hadn’t had much time to digest the sudden shift in the momentum of the season for his team.
Still, Grant did his best to sum up the state of his team.
“We’ve got to try to get healthy and whole and get mentally and physically back to where we can be the best version of ourselves,” Grant said. “Obviously, we weren’t anywhere near that today. At the end of the day, we know we have a good team. We’ve got to get some guys back in rhythm and get some guys back to doing what we know they’re capable of doing, and I think we will.
“I think we’ve got a group in there that cares. It’s important to them. They obviously are disappointed and frustrated coming on the road and dropping two. There’s a lot of basketball left to be played over the course of the next 11 regular-season games and so we’ll just keep our heads down and keep working and stay together.”
Dayton (14-6, 5-2) returns to action at 7 p.m. Tuesday against Rhode Island (12-8, 3-4). The Flyers will try to avoid their second three-game A-10 losing streak in the last two seasons. Last season, they lost road games against George Washington and Massachusetts and then a home game to George Mason. The skid ruined a once-promising season.
Losses to La Salle and Saint Joseph’s last week put Dayton in a similar situation. The Flyers share third place in the Atlantic 10 Conference with Virginia Commonwealth (14-6, 5-2) with Saint Louis (19-1, 7-0) and George Mason (18-2, 6-2) owning the top two spots in the standings.
Credit: David Jablonski
Credit: David Jablonski
Here are five things to know about the Rhode Island game:
1: Series history: Dayton leads the series 26-19. The Flyers have won two games in a row against Rhode Island and four of the last five games.
Dayton won 85-77 at Rhode Island last season. Rhode Island lost 92-62 in its last visit to UD Arena in 2024.
Former Dayton coach Archie Miller, now in his fourth season at Rhode Island, is 1-2 against Dayton in the last three seasons. This will be his second game at UD Arena since his final game as Dayton coach in 2017.
Rhode Island has lost four straight games at UD Arena since a 72-70 overtime victory in 2019.
2: State of the program: Rhode Island finished 18-13 overall and 11-7 in the A-10 last season. The Rams have improved their record each season under Miller but have yet to contend in the A-10 or for a NCAA tournament berth. He’s 51-63 in four seasons.
Miller’s predecessor David Cox was 64-55 in four seasons after replacing Dan Hurley, who took the program to its last NCAA tournament berths in 2017 and 2018.
3: Scouting report: Jonah Hinton, a 6-foot-3 redshirt junior guard, leads Rhode Island with 14.1 points per game. He averaged 8.4 points last season at St. Bonaventure and scored nine points in a 75-53 victory against Dayton.
• Tyler Cochran, a 6-2, fifth-year guard, averages 14.4 points. Rhode Island is his fifth school in seven years. He was on the roster last season at Minnesota but did not play. He was the Mid-American Conference Defensive Player of the Year at Toledo in 2024.
• Jahmere Tripp, a 6-6 junior guard, averages 11.5 points. He played the last two seasons at Fordham.
• Rhode Island ranks 12th out of 14 A-10 teams in 3-point shooting percentage (30.5). Dayton is ninth (32.3).
4: Season summary: Rhode Island finished 9-4 in non-conference play. Its best victory came against Yale, which ranks 56th in the NCAA Evaluation Tool. Its worst loss came against No. 170 Towson.
Rhode Island started A-10 play with losses to Loyola Chicago, George Mason and La Salle. It has since won three of four games, beating Davidson, Richmond and George Mason and losing to Virginia Commonwealth.
On Saturday, Rhode Island beat George Mason 74-65 in Kingston, R.I. It was the first A-10 loss for George Mason. Three weeks earlier, Rhode Island lost 61-50 at George Mason.
The victory against George Mason followed a 69-68 victory Wednesday at Richmond. RJ Johnson, a 6-1, sixth-year guard, made a go-ahead jump shot with two seconds to play.
“I thought our guys rose to the challenge,” Miller said Saturday. “Playing (George Mason) three weeks earlier probably helped us a little bit just because of the familiarity, but our kids played really hard. We’re battling the elements right now in terms of injuries. I’m super proud of the way they stayed with it. They don’t get too high. They don’t get too low. It was a great week for them in terms of pulling off two wins.”
5: Odds & Ends: KenPom.com gives Dayton a 70% chance of winning and predicts a 71-65 score. Dayton is No. 80 in the Pomeroy ratings. Rhode Island is No. 109.
• Dayton ranks 85th in the NET. Rhode Island is No. 124.
This is a Quadrant 3 game for Dayton, which is 0-2 in Quad 1, 1-1 in Quad 2, 5-3 in Quad 3 and 8-0 in Quad 4.
This is a Quad 2 game for Rhode Island, which is 1-2 in Quad 1, 3-3 in Quad 2, 1-1 in Quad 3 and 7-2 in Quad 4.
NEXT GAME
Who: Rhode Island (12-8, 3-4) at Dayton (14-6, 5-2)
When: 7 p.m., Tuesday
TV: Spectrum News 1
Radio: 95.7-FM, 1290-AM
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