Mikesell's plus-minus stood at plus 13.45 points per game per 40 minutes before an 89-86 double-overtime victory Saturday against St. Bonaventure at the Reilly Center. No other starter was better than plus 7.0.
» FIVE TAKEAWAYS: Defense carries Dayton to comeback win
In short, Mikesell does a lot of things that don’t end up in the box score, though ironically, his plus-minus was minus-1 Saturday when he scored a team-high 21 points against the Bonnies. The stat doesn’t always paint a perfect picture, but it does say a lot about Mikesell.
“I’m a big believer and big proponent of guys who are able to affect winning with stuff that doesn’t show up on the stat sheet,” Dayton coach Anthony Grant said. “As a coach, you love guys like that, and Ryan’s one of those guys — whether it’s his ability to pass or his ability to be a ball-handler who can break pressure for you, or his ability to make a shot (and) defensively, his awareness. Trey (Landers) is like that. His value doesn’t always show up on a stat sheet. Those are guys that make winning plays for you, and we’re fortunate. I think we’ve got that in Ryan. I think we’ve got that in Trey. And I think we’re developing that across the board.”
Opposing viewpoint: Dayton (12-6, 4-1) has now won four straight games against the Bonnies (6-12, 2-3) and 10 of the last 11 in the series.
“I thought we fought,” St. Bonaventure coach Mark Schmidt told the Olean Times-Herald. “We had our chances to win the game, but we didn’t make enough plays. We did enough to put it into overtime. We couldn’t make enough plays.”
Around the A-10: Davidson (13-5, 4-1) beat Richmond 75-62 on Saturday, rebounding from a 61-60 loss Tuesday at St. Joseph's. Freshman guard Luke Frampton scored 24 points for the Wildcats.
» TWENTY PHOTOS: Top shots from Saturday
Virginia Commonwealth (13-5, 4-1) followed its victory against Dayton on Wednesday with a 68-50 victory against Massachusetts (7-11, 0-5). The Minutemen are tied with Fordham (9-9, 0-5) for last place.
Looking ahead: The Flyers play George Mason (11-8, 5-1) at 7 p.m. Wednesday at UD Arena. The Patriots beat 71-68 on Saturday in Fairfax, Va. Otis Livingston hit a game-winning 3-pointer with less than a second to play.
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