Dayton Flyers will be wary of young UMass on Saturday

Johnson wrote he made the decision after close consultation with his doctors.

“This has been a tough decision for me,” Johnson said. “I need to consider my future health beyond the game of basketball. I look forward to continuing my progress as I pursue getting healthy and returning to the game of basketball. I appreciate the support of my family, the UD coaching staff and well wishes of UD fans.”

Without Johnson, who missed the last seven games, the season moves forward with only one more extended break — in the first week of February — between now and March. The Flyers were 7-1 with Johnson in the rotation, and they’re 6-1 since he last saw action Dec. 8 against Saint Mary’s.

» FLYERS VS. MINUTEMEN: Everything you need to know

The last game before classes resume at UD takes place at 12:30 p.m. Saturday. No. 15 Dayton (13-2, 2-0) plays Massachusetts (7-8, 1-1) in its Atlantic 10 home opener at UD Arena. The Flyers will try to build on road victories against La Salle and Saint Joseph's and start 3-0 in the conference for the third time in four years.

“It felt like we were in Philly for three weeks,” Dayton guard Jalen Crutcher said Thursday. “It’s good to be back home. It was really good to get those two games out there in Philly.”

As Dayton found out Sunday in an 80-67 victory at Saint Joseph's, even the teams at the bottom of the Atlantic 10 Conference can be dangerous. Here are five reasons it should be wary of the Minutemen:

1. UMass can shoot from outside: It ranks 51st in the country in 3-point shooting percentage (36.5) with two players topping 40 percent: freshman T.J. Weeks (32 of 66, 48.5) and Carl Pierre (45 of 109, 41.3). Weeks played in the first nine games but will miss the rest of the season after undergoing surgery for a hernia.

2. It may be better than its record: The Minutemen have lost seven games to teams ranked in the top 100 of the Ken Pomeroy ratings. While they have not lost to any bad teams, they do have one bad loss: 89-55 at Harvard.

The same UMass record lacks any strong victories. It beat No. 139 Northeastern and No. 161 La Salle for its top wins.

The Minutemen’s last three losses — to Yale, Akron and Saint Louis — have come by six points or less. They fell 83-80 at Saint Louis in overtime in their A-10 opener.

» HALL OF FAME: Three new members to be inducted Saturday

"The good thing for us is we've put ourselves in a lot of close games this year, and we've gotten better," third-year UMass coach Matt McCall told the Daily Hampshire Gazette. "There was a point in time where I questioned sometimes our competitive spirit, how hard we're playing, and that's been addressed. That gave us a chance against Saint Louis and that gave us a chance against Akron. Now we've got to put it all together and start winning some games."

3. UMass has one of the A-10's best freshman classes: Even with Weeks sidelined, UMass has freshman center Tre Mitchell, who leads the team in scoring (14.7 points per game). He was the top-ranked recruit entering the conference (No. 71 in the 2019 class, according to Rivals.com), and he's the highest-scoring freshman in the league.

Guard Sean East II is another freshman starter. He’s averaging 12 points per game and ranks seventh in the conference in assists (5.1).

UMass has one of the nation’s youngest rosters. It ranks 342nd out of 353 teams in experience.

4. UMass has played well against Dayton in three of the last four meetings: McCall and Grant, who worked together at the University of Florida for five seasons, entered the league in the 2017-18 season. UMass swept the series that first season and had a chance to beat Dayton at UD last season. The game was tied with two minutes to play, but the Flyers scored the last five points to win 72-67. Crutcher hit a tie-breaking 3-pointer with 1:10 to play.

» RECRUITING: Flyers offer scholarship to 2021 forward

Dayton dominated the second game last season, winning 72-48 in Amherst, Mass.

UMass is trying to end a streak of four straight losing seasons and pull itself out of the bottom of the A-10 standings after winning a total of nine conference games the last two seasons. UMass ranks 118th in the NCAA Evaluation Tool. Dayton is 10th.

“They’re a good team,” Grant said. “They play to the identity of their coach. I think they’ve got a few freshman playing really well for them. They press and play with good speed. We’ve got to be prepared and be ready to play our best.”