One thing is consistent. Archie Miller’s Flyers don’t concede until the final buzzer. Never tell them the odds because the odds would be slim that they would be 23-5 overall and 14-2 in the Atlantic 10 Conference with two games left in the regular season despite all that has happened since the end of last season: Steve McElvene’s death last May, Kendall Pollard’s surgeries, Josh Cunningham’s injury and several setbacks by other key players.
Yet here they are: two wins from the best regular-season record in Miller’s six seasons and, thanks to a 69-59 loss by Virginia Commonwealth at Rhode Island on Saturday, with the chance to win the Atlantic 10 championship outright Wednesday on Senior Night at UD Arena.
“We’re just not going to quit,” Pollard said. “We’re fighting for the regular-season championship. We knew we couldn’t drop this one.”
Here are five things to know about Dayton’s 28th game:
1. Three big shots: Senior point guard Scoochie Smith etched his name in the history books ages ago. His place is secure. He'll finish his career ranked among Dayton's all-time leaders in points and assists. He'll likely have appeared in more games than any player in school history.
Smith hit a new peak in this game. A sub-par night — he had six points in the first 40 minutes, all at the free-throw line — ended with a spectacular five minutes.
Smith scored 11 of his 17 points in overtime after Dayton had rallied from a 70-57 deficit in the final eight minutes of the second half. He hit three straight 3-pointers in the first 2 minutes and 31 seconds of overtime. Davidson (14-13, 7-9) never recovered.
“I was eager to make a play,” Smith said. “I didn’t make too many plays all game. After I made the first one, I knew it was over.”
Smith has also played in every game of the past four seasons, 134 in all. The Flyers are 101-33 in that span. He ranks sixth in school history and is four away from tying Chris Johnson for most games played. Smith is three from tying Kurt Huelsman and London Warren for most consecutive games played (137).
RELATED: Twitter reacts to Smith’s big shots
Those are all reasons Smith’s legend was secure. After Friday’s performance, it’s just a little bigger.
“He got us going,” Miller said. “He’s fearless when it comes to these big moments. He got a couple good looks. The first one went down, and after that, they all kind of looked the same.”
2. Key sub: Smith picked up his fourth foul with 6:18 to go and took a seat. Dayton trailed 70-59 at that point and had trimmed the deficit to 72-70 by the time he returned with 2:50 to play. Backup point guard John Crosby played a big role in the comeback.
Crosby scored a career-high 12 points Tuesday and engineered a 20-0 run against George Mason, building confidence for a moment like this. He replaced Smith after his fourth foul. Crosby converted a 3-point play with 5:25 to go, cutting the deficit to 72-64.
“John did a really good job,” Miller said. “His minutes were key.”
3. The last March: The Flyers head to the the final month of the season after their best February in decades. They finished 7-0. They had not posted a perfect record in February since they were 8-0 in 1971.
“The last March, it’s bittersweet,” Smith said. “More bitter than sweet, but it’ll be fun. I’ve had a good run with these guys. It’s been exciting playing all four years. I just appreciate all the Flyer Faithful.”
Dayton is 15-7 in March the last three seasons. That includes five NCAA Tournament victories. Pollard is looking forward to his last March with the Flyers, who reached the Elite Eight when he, Smith and Davis were freshmen.
“Hopefully, it’ll be like the first March,” he said.
4. Tired legs: Davidson stars Jack Gibbs and Peyton Aldridge, the second highest-scoring tandem in the country with 42.5 points per game between them, were great for about the first 32 minutes. They were so-so for the last 13.
It’s not easy playing every minute, especially when you did the same thing three days earlier in the case of Aldridge. Gibbs did get a one-minute break Tuesday against Richmond. There’s no doubt Gibbs and Aldridge, who each scored 27 points, had little left for overtime.
“We definitely wore them down,” Pollard said.
Aldridge made 11 of 19 shots from the field, including 4 of 9 3-pointers. He scored two points in the final 11 minutes of the second half and none in overtime. His last basket put Davidson ahead 74-72 with 44 seconds to play. Xeyrius Williams tied the game 12 seconds later with a layup.
Gibbs made 9 of 21 shots from the field, including 4 of 12 3-pointers.
“Jack played 45 minutes,” Davidson coach Bob McKillop said. “Peyton played 45 minutes. They emptied their tank.”
5. A-10 update: The tables turn for Dayton and VCU when they play at 8 p.m. Wednesday.
Last season, VCU needed a victory at UD Arena on Senior Night to win the outright title. This season, VCU again visits UD on Senior Night. Only this time, the Flyers can clinch the outright title with a victory. They have won division championships and shared the title last season with VCU and St. Bonaventure, but never has Dayton won an outright league title.
VCU (23-6, 13-3) trails Dayton by a game with two to play. VCU beat Dayton 73-68 on Jan. 27 in Richmond. VCU’s nine-game winning streak, which featured two improbable last-second victories against St. Bonaventure and George Washington, ended Saturday. VCU made 1 of 15 3-pointers against Rhode Island (19-9, 11-5).
WEDNESDAY’S GAME
VCU at Dayton, 8 p.m., CBS Sports Network, FM 95.7, AM 1290 WHIO
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