When: 2:30 p.m., Saturday
TV/Radio: NBC Sports Network/1290, 95.7 WHIO
Series: Dayton leads the series 6-0. The teams last met on Dec. 30, 2014. Dayton won 78-74 at UD Arena. One season earlier, Dayton beat Mississippi 83-80 in Oxford, Miss., on Devin Oliver’s 3-pointer with 0.3 seconds left in overtime.
Last game: Dayton beat Mississippi State 85-82 in double overtime in Atlanta on Saturday. Ole Miss beat Middle Tennessee State 70-51 in Murfreesboro, Tenn., on Wednesday. For Davis, it marked a return to the school where he coached for 16 seasons. Davis is Middle Tennessee’s all-time winningest coach (332-188).
Coaches: Anthony Grant is 67-32 in four seasons at Dayton. Kermit Davis is 39-30 in three seasons at Ole Miss.
Probable Dayton starters
Name Ht. Class Pos. Avg.
Ibi Watson, 6-5, R-Sr., G, 19.8
Jalen Crutcher, 6-1, Sr., G, 15.8
Chase Johnson, 6-9, R-Jr., F, 14.9
Jordy Tshimanga, 6-11, R-Sr., C, 7.0
Rodney Chatman, 6-1, R-Sr., G, 8.8
Probable Mississippi starters
Devontae Shuler, 6-2, Sr., G, 17.8
Luis Rodriguez, 6-6, So., G/F, 10.0
KJ Buffen, 6-7, Jr., F, 7.5
Jarkel Joiner, 6-1, Jr., G, 6.0
Romello White, 6-8, Sr., F, 13.3
About Dayton: Watson leads Dayton in 3-pointers made (10 of 23, 43.5 percent). Johnson leads the team in 3-point accuracy (5 of 7, 71.4). ... Chatman has nine of the team’s 23 steals. ... Of the 322 Division I teams that have played a game this season, Dayton ranks 304th in turnover percentage (25.9). It averages 18.3 turnovers per game, or about one every four possessions. Mississippi forces 21.5 turnovers per game. ... KenPom.com gives Dayton a 48 percent chance of winning and predicts a 67-66 score. ... Grant said Thursday freshman Mustapha Amzil “will be hopefully joining the team for the second semester. That would be the plan.” Amzil signed with Dayton in November.
About Mississippi: Shuler has been the team’s best 3-point shooter (10 of 21, 47.6 percent). ... White is a grad transfer from Arizona State who scored 927 points the last four seasons. He was the sixth-ranked grad transfer in the country in 2020, according to ESPN. Another grad transfer on the roster is Dimencio Vaughn, who left Rider after scoring 1,239 points in three seasons. Vaughn ranked 13th on ESPN’s list. He’s averaging 1.5 points in 8.3 minutes per game. ... Center Khadim Sy, who started the first game and averaged 8.0 minutes in the first two games, has not played in the last four games. He is not with the team on this trip, Davis said, because of an undisclosed reason. ... Mississippi State finished 15-17 last season. It was the second losing season in the last three years. Prior to that, it had enjoyed 11 straight winning seasons.
Looking ahead: Dayton does not have a game scheduled between Saturday and the A-10 opener Dec. 30 against La Salle at UD Arena, though there is still a chance it could schedule a game early next week.
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