One more possible pitfall awaits for Dayton (20-8, 12-3). It plays La Salle (7-18, 2-13) at 2 p.m. Saturday at Tom Gola Arena in Philadelphia, Pa. Only Duquesne (6-20, 1-13) sits below the Explorers in the 14-team conference.
That doesn’t mean Dayton can overlook La Salle. The Explorers beat the Flyers 67-65 at UD Arena in the A-10 opener for both teams a season ago. Dayton also has a tortured history at Tom Gola Arena, having lost their four times in a row before an 84-58 victory in 2020.
“We will prepare to go and try to get a road win against a team we struggled with last year,” said Dayton coach Anthony Grant on Wednesday after an 82-61 victory against UMass. “About half these guys were a part of that last year. We know what they’re capable of. Despite whatever the records may say, we understand that we’ve got to go try to win a game and we’ve got to be focused.”
La Salle beat Dayton a season ago on a jump shot by Clifton Moore with 2.5 seconds remaining. La Salle ended Dayton’s 20-game A-10 winning streak and ended a 14-game losing streak at UD Arena. It had not won in Dayton since Feb. 27, 1999.
La Salle returns three starters from the team that beat Dayton: Moore; Jack Clark; and Jhamir Brickus. Christian Ray, who did not start that game but played 32 minutes, starts this season.
The Explorers finished 9-16 overall and 6-11 in the A-10 last season and are on their way to possible their worst season ever in conference play. They will need to win one of their last three games against Dayton, Saint Joseph’s and Duquesne to avoid their third sub-.200 winning percentage in 27 A-10 seasons.
While Dayton enters the game on a five-game winning streak, La Salle enters the game with five straight losses. Its only A-10 victories have come against Saint Joseph’s (75-64 on Jan. 17 at Hagan Arena) and George Mason (83-78 on Feb. 5 at La Salle). It did play St. Bonaventure close, losing 80-76 in overtime in Philadelphia on Jan. 11 but lost by 19 at home to Virginia Commonwealth and by 18 at home to Saint Louis.
This will be Dayton’s second straight Saturday afternoon game in Philadelphia. It won 74-62 at Saint Joseph’s last week, improving to 5-2 in A-10 road games.
“We’ve just got to keep stacking up these wins,” Dayton guard Koby Brea said. “We know on the road that’s a little tougher, but it’s nothing our team can’t handle.”
Injury news: Dayton guard Elijah Weaver will undergo season-ending surgery to repair an injury to his left wrist on March 4 and will miss the rest of the season, UD announced Friday.
Weaver, a fourth-year player who has one season of eligibility remaining, suffered the injury during the 62-57 victory against Virginia Tech on Dec. 12.
At that point in the season Weaver was averaging a team-best 11.0 points per game. He played through the pain in the weeks ahead, but his production declined. He then rested the injury for four games before returning Feb. 9. He played in four games but then sat out the last game Wednesday against UMass.
Without Weaver, Dayton will have 11 scholarship players available the rest of the season. It started the season with a full roster of 13. Lynn Greer III left the program in December and transferred to Saint Joseph’s.
SATURDAY’S GAME
Dayton at La Salle, 2 p.m., ESPN+, 1290, 95.7
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