Where: UNT Coliseum; University of North Texas; Denton, Texas.
When: Noon, Saturday.
TV: ESPN/1290 and 95.7 WHIO.
Series: Dayton leads 12-7. Memphis has won four straight games in the series. The teams last played in 1995. Memphis won 87-60 at the Pyramid in Memphis. Dayton last beat Memphis 82-64 at UD Arena in 1980.
Last game: Dayton lost 73-68 to Virginia Commonwealth on March 5 in the quarterfinals of the Atlantic 10 Conference tournament. Memphis lost 76-74 to Houston on March 13 in the semifinals of the American Athletic Conference tournament.
The last time Dayton beat Memphis on Jan. 17, 1980, a Flyer News sports writer got the credit for motivating the team by writing a critical column in which he described Dayton as "the epitome of mediocrity." pic.twitter.com/tRQN2OJbkw
— David Jablonski (@DavidPJablonski) March 18, 2021
Coaches: Anthony Grant is 78-40 in four seasons at Dayton. Penny Hardaway is 59-32 in three seasons at Memphis.
Probable Dayton starters
Name, Ht., Class, Pos., Avg.
Jalen Crutcher, 6-1, Sr., G, 18.1
Ibi Watson, 6-5, R-Sr., G, 15.8
Rodney Chatman, 6-1, R-Sr., G, 7.9
Jordy Tshimanga, 6-11, R-Sr., C, 6.8
R.J. Blakney, 6-6, Fr., G, 4.8
Probable Memphis starters
Landers Nolley, 6-7, So., G, 12.6
DeAndre Williams, 6-9, So., F, 11.2
Boogie Ellis, 6-3, So., G, 10.2
Lester Quinones, 6-5, So., G, 9.0
Moussa Cisse, 6-10, Fr., C, 7.0
About Dayton: KenPom.com gives Dayton a 36 percent chance of winning and predicts a 72-68 score. ... Crutcher has 1,587 points and needs 15 points to pass Chris Wright and move into 15th place in Dayton history in career scoring. Crutcher moved into fourth place in career 3-pointers made (242), passing Ramod Marshall (241), by making 4 of 7 3-pointers against VCU in the last game. ... Dayton ranks 80th in the NCAA Evaluation Tool. Memphis is 52nd. Dayton is 78th in the Pomeroy ratings. Memphis is 38th.
About Memphis: The Tigers have lost four games since January by a combined eight points. They lost twice in six days to AAC champion Houston by a total of five points. ... Ellis averaged 19.5 points in two AAC tournament games and was named to the all-tournament team. He was the AAC Sixth Man of the Year. ... Penny Hardaway’s son Jayden, a redshirt sophomore guard, averages 2.9 points per game. ... Nolley played against Dayton when he was at Virginia Tech last season. He scored 15 points in the Maui Invitational semifinals. ... Quinones, a four-star recruit in the 2019 class, received a scholarship offer from Dayton in 2018.
Other first-round games: The Dayton-Memphis game is the seventh of eight first-round games this week. Saint Louis plays Mississippi State at 5 p.m. Saturday on ESPN in the final first-round game. Two other A-10 teams have already played. Richmond advanced by beating Toledo 76-66. Davidson lost 75-61 to North Carolina State.
Looking ahead: The Dayton-Memphis winner will play No. 2 seed Boise State in the quarterfinals Thursday at the Comerica Center in Frisco, Texas. Boise State beat No. 3 Southern Methodist 85-84 in the first round.
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