Good Dayton teams had lost to average or poor La Salle teams. For whatever reason, La Salle had Dayton’s number in Philadelphia — at least until the first game of 2020.
La Salle (9-4) entered the game with three losses to Penn, Temple and Villanova by a combined 32 points. Dayton beat the Explorers 84-58. It was La Salle's worst loss since a 77-39 defeat at UD on Senior Night last March.
“All credit goes to Dayton,” said second-year La Salle coach Ashley Howard. “They’re a really good team. Great chemistry. They play with great pace. Until you see it live, you don’t really get a feel for it. It’s hard to simulate. We had some scoring issues early in the game that really just affected our fight. I just felt like midway through the first half, we lost our fight once we couldn’t generate easy offense, and that’s all Dayton.”
Credit: David Jablonski - Staff Writer
Credit: David Jablonski - Staff Writer
La Salle trailed 14-12 when Dayton began a 6-0 run. After one basket by La Salle, Dayton then ran off 18 straight points.
“They do a great job,” Howard said. “They communicate at a high level. They have great interchangeable people. It’s not just Obi Toppin. It’s (Ryan) Mikesell, Trey Landers, (Jalen) Crutcher, Ibi Watson. Those guys are big-time players, and they’re confident and they’ve got a good thing going right now. They’re a great representation of the Atlantic 10.”
BIG RUN: Examining Dayton’s 18-0 spurt in first half
Howard called the game a reality check for his team. La Salle has two top-150 victories, judging by the Ken Pomeroy ratings: 75-64 against No. 141 Murray State and 72-70 against No. 112 Wright State.
“We played some opponents that were not at the same level as the Atlantic 10,” Howard said. “We won those games. I was afraid that we may get a little overconfident and a false sense of where we are. Today put us right back in check to understand we won these games and now we have a lot of work to keep getting better, and Dayton is really good. They might be one of the best teams in the country. They played like it tonight.”
Looking ahead: Dayton ended a four-game losing streak at Tom Gola Arena and will try to end a nine-game skid at Saint Joseph's on Sunday. The Flyers play the Hawks at Hagan Arena at 1 p.m. Saint Joseph's (3-10) lost 84-52 at Richmond in its A-10 opener Thursday.
» DECADE IN REVIEW: Best and worst of UD basketball
Philly stay: Dayton practiced at Tom Gola Arena after arriving in Philadelphia on Wednesday. Then on Thursday, they held a morning shootaround across the river in New Jersey on the campus of Rutgers-Camden.
Rising Flyers: Dayton moved from No. 9 to No. 8 in the Pomeroy ratings. It's the highest the program has ever been ranked since the ratings were first published in 2002.
Around the A-10: Duquesne (11-2) beat Saint Louis 73-59 in Pittsburgh on Thursday. Marcus Weathers scored 26 points for the Dukes. The Billikens (11-3) faded after cutting the deficit to four points with under six minutes to play.
Preseason favorite Virginia Commonwealth opened conference play with a 64-46 victory at home against Fordham (6-7). Mike’L Simms scored 14.
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