The Dayton Flyers are not having that problem right now even if they are being compared to great teams of the past at every moment — most notably the 2019-20 team that set the bar high for all future UD teams — while also chasing a future in March everyone in the fan base has waited seven years to experience.
Dayton beat Duquesne 72-62 in Pittsburgh on Friday to extend its winning streak to 10 games in a week that saw 15 of the teams ranked in the Associated Press top 25 lose. Dayton moved into the top 25 for the first time Monday, earning a No. 21 ranking.
Asked about those upsets and the ability of his team to keep winning, Grant asked, “Who gets to decide what’s an upset?” In other words, there’s a thin line between the ranked teams and everyone else. That’s true even though there’s a 59-spot gap between No. 17 Dayton and the next highest-ranked Atlantic 10 Conference team, No. 76 George Mason (13-4, 2-2), in the NCAA Evaluation Tool.
“There are good players all over the country and good teams in every league,” Grant said, “and every week, it’s different. On any given night, anything can happen, so you’ve just got to try to be as prepared as you can and make sure you stay focused on the task at hand and try to do your best.”
Dayton (13-2, 3-0) returns to action at 8 p.m. Tuesday against Saint Louis (8-8, 1-2) at UD Arena. The Flyers share first place with Richmond (11-5, 3-0) and Rhode Island (9-7, 3-0), which plays at UD Arena at 12:30 p.m. Saturday.
At No. 230, the Billikens are the lowest-ranked A-10 team in the NET, but they beat the fourth highest-ranked team, No. 79 Saint Joseph’s (10-6, 0-3) in their last game. Saint Louis rallied from a 20-point deficit to win 88-85 on Wednesday in St. Louis.
“We passed the ball tonight,” Saint Louis coach Travis Ford said after the game. “We really found the open man. We made the simple play, not the hard play. When we do that, we have a few offensive weapons. Hopefully, we can continue forward with the passing and the solid shots.”
Dayton beat Saint Louis 70-56 at UD Arena last season and lost 65-61 at Saint Louis in the final game of the regular season. The Billikens have lost nine games in a row at Dayton since a 67-59 victory on Jan. 11, 2014.
Saint Louis finished 21-12 last season and 12-6 in the A-10, tying for second place with Dayton and Fordham. It was picked to place sixth this season but finished 7-6 in non-conference play and started the A-10 schedule with losses to Loyola Chicago and George Mason.
Saint Louis returned its leading scorer, fifth-year guard Gibson Jimerson, who’s averaging 17.2 points per game this season, but lost five of its top six scorers from last season, including Yuri Collins, who led the nation in assists the last two seasons. Its second leading scorer this season, fifth-year forward Terrence Hargrove (13.1), averaged 5.9 points last season. Its third double-digit scorer, fifth-year forward Tim Dalger (10.4), played the last two seasons at Tulsa.
Saint Louis shoots the 3-pointer well. It ranks 24th in the nation in accuracy (37.9%). The team made 14 of 26 3s and Gibson made 7 of 11 in the victory against Saint Joseph’s. Saint Louis committed seven turnovers after averaging 15 in its previous three games.
Defense has been a weak spot for Saint Louis. It allows 75.6 points per game, the second-worst mark in the A-10. It ranks 330th in the country out of 361 Division I teams in adjusted defensive efficiency, according to KenPom.com.
Dayton has yet to trail in three A-10 games but has struggled in a few areas since league play began. For example, it’s averaging 13.7 turnovers in A-10 games. That’s the third highest-total in the league. In its last three non-conference games, Dayton averaged 5.0 turnovers per game.
Dayton also has shot below 40% from 3-point range in each of its three A-10 games. In 12 non-conference games, it shot better than 40% eight times.
For various reasons, the Flyers have to be wary of every opponent.
“There are lot of really good teams in this league,” Grant said. “People expect certain things and try to predict what’s going to happen, but nobody’s in that locker room and nobody’s on the court or in practice. Nobody’s seeing all the things that go into trying to get this done. At the end of the day, the players have got to play the game.”
TUESDAY’S GAME
Saint Louis at Dayton, 8 p.m., CBS Sports Network, 1290, 95.7
Credit: David Jablonski
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