When: 7 p.m. Wednesday
TV/Radio: ESPN+/95.7 and 1290 WHIO.
Series: Dayton won the only previous meeting 81-50 on Dec. 20, 1996, at UD Arena. Dayton is 16-3 against the Southwestern Athletic Conference and plays another SWAC team, Southern (3-4), on Dec. 21, at UD Arena.
Last game: Dayton beat Belmont 63-61 on Sunday to win the ESPN Events Invitational championship. Alabama State lost 81-69 at home to North Alabama on Sunday.
Coaches: Anthony Grant is 82-44 in five season at Dayton. Mo Williams is 6-20 in two seasons at Alabama State.
Probable Dayton starters
Name, Ht., Class, Pos., Points per game
Elijah Weaver, 6-6, R-Jr., G, 10.1
Toumani Camara, 6-8, So., F, 10.6
DaRon Holmes II, 6-10, Fr., F, 10.1
R.J. Blakney, 6-6, R-Fr., G, 5.0
Malachi Smith, 6-0, Fr., G, 8.4
Probable Alabama State starters
Kenny Strawbridge, 6-6, So., G, 8.1
Gerald Liddell, 6-6, Jr., F, 11.6
Isaiah Range, 6-5, So., G, 9.4
Juan Reyna, 6-2, Fr., G, 8.8
Jordan O’Neal, 6-7, So., F, 9.3
About Dayton: KenPom.com gives Dayton an 96 percent chance of winning this game and predicts a 76-57 score. ... Dayton seeks its first four-game winning streak since the 2019-20 season when it won its last 20 games. The Flyers had two three-game winning streaks in the 2020-21 season. ... This is the first time since 2014 Dayton has followed a losing streak of three or more games with a winning streak of at least three games. That season it lost four straight A-10 games and then won six in a row. ... Dayton ranks 19th in the country in 2-point field-goal percentage (57.9). ... Holmes is averaging 3.0 blocks per game. That puts him on pace to block 93 shots this season. The school single-season record of 55 was set by Steve McElvene in the 2015-16 season.
About Alabama State: The Hornets have lost to teams from the Southeastern Conference (Vanderbilt), Big 12 (Iowa State) and Big Ten (Iowa). Their lone victory against a Division I team came against North Carolina Central on Nov. 20. They also beat Tuskegee, a Division II program. ... Alabama State finished 4-14 last season and has suffered six losing seasons in a row. The program reached the NCAA tournament four times between 2001 and 2011. It played at UD Arena in the First Four in 2011, losing 70-61 to Texas-San Antonio. That was the first year of the First Four. From 2001-10, Dayton hosted one opening-round game.
Looking ahead: Dayton plays Northern Illinois (1-4) at UD Arena at 2 p.m. Saturday.
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