Dayton Flyers
Atlantic-10 (25-7, 14-4)
Dayton’s NCAA Tournament run in 2015 was not nearly as impressive as their 2014 tournament where they reach the Elite Eight, but it was a solid performance for a pretty young team. But perhaps the best is yet to come. This Flyers squad beat Alabama, Iowa, Monmouth and Vanderbilt in nonconference play and all of that was without Dyshawn Pierre, who missed the first 11 games of the season. Many thought Pierre, a tough 6-6 forward, would take over the Flyers, but he has comfortably returned to the lineup and just given Coach Archie Miller yet another very talented player to work with. On the year, Pierre has averaged 13.0 points and 8.6 rebounds.
Big Wins: 11/26 vs Iowa (82-77), 12/9 at Vanderbilt (72-67), 1/19 at St. Bonaventure (85-79)
Bad Losses: 12/12 Chattanooga (59-61), 2/20 St. Bonaventure (72-79), 2/27 Rhode Island (66-75)
Coach: Archie Miller
Why They Can Surprise:
While Pierre was gone it was James Madison transfer Charles Cooke who took over. He has proven to be a great fit at Dayton and the 6-5 guard was doing extra work on the glass when Pierre was out and led the team with 15.7 points per game and added 6.0 rebounds. For a team that may not put out a lot of size to start a game, the Flyers are very good on the glass and very good defensively inside the paint. Like Pierre, Kendall Pollard is just 6-6, but plays much bigger. He is a double-digit scorer and a great defender, even if he is not much of a shot blocker. The shot blocker on the team is freshman Steve McElvene. If Dayton needs a big man to start a game, it will be McElvene. At 6-11 and 268 pounds, McElvene is a large presence in the paint and he swatted 1.8 shots away per game and added 6.1 points and 5.6 rebounds. The bench also includes 6-8 freshmen Sam Miller and Xeyrius Williams, making this a pretty big team at times.
Why They Can Disappoint:
When the ball is inside the arc, Dayton is a great team. When they need to start taking some three’s is when the offense usually falls apart. Cooke is a productive and efficient three-point shooter and point guard Scoochie Smith is always a threat to shoot, but the rest of the backcourt and the team as a whole will not do too much damage from beyond the arc. If Kyle Davis, Darrell Davis or John Crosby get hot at the right time, Dayton will be able to stretch out the opposing defense. The Dayton defense on the other hand rarely stretches out. There are impressive defensive numbers across the board for this Flyers team, but three-point field-goal defense is not one of them. Part of the problem is that Smith and Kyle Davis form the starting backcourt duo and both are 6-2 and 6-0, respectively. Having a 6-2 point guard is fine, but Davis needs to be matched up with somebody who cannot simply shoot over him all day.
Probable Starters:
Scoochie Smith, Junior, Guard, 11.7 ppg, 4.3 apg, 3.4 rpg
Kyle Davis, Junior, Guard, 7.9 ppg, 2.2 apg, 3.5 rpg
Charles Cooke, Junior, Guard, 15.7 ppg, 1.9 apg, 6.0 rpg, 1.2 bpg
Dyshawn Pierre, Senior, Forward, 13.0 ppg, 8.6 rpg, 2.3 apg
Kendall Pollard, Junior, Forward, 10.6 ppg, 4.8 rpg, 1.4 apg
Key Roleplayers:
John Crosby, Freshman, Guard, 2.5 ppg
Darrell Davis, Sophomore, Guard, 6.0 ppg, 1.3 apg
Steve McElvene, Freshman, Center, 6.1 ppg, 5.6 rpg, 1.8 bpg
Sam Miller, Freshman, Forward, 3.2 ppg, 1.4 rpg
Xeyrius Williams, Freshman, Forward, 2.2 ppg, 1.8 rpg
By the Numbers:
Scoring Offense: 73.1 (176th in nation, 9th in conference)
Scoring Defense: 65.7 (38, 2)
Field-Goal Percentage: 46.0 (73, 2)
Field-Goal Defense: 40.7 (50, 1)
Three-Point Field Goals Per Game: 6.9 (189, 10)
Three-Point Field-Goal Percentage: 35.2 (146, 8)
Free-Throw Percentage: 67.0 (275, 10)
Rebound Margin: 5.3 (39, 3)
Assists Per Game: 14.7 (88, 6)
Turnovers Per Game: 12.9 (199, 11)
Recent Postseason Appearances:
2015 NCAA First Round win over Boise State
2015 NCAA Second Round win over Providence
2015 NCAA Third Round loss to Oklahoma
2014 NCAA Second Round win over Ohio State
2014 NCAA Third Round win over Syracuse
2014 NCAA Regional Semifinal win over Stanford
2014 NCAA Regional Final loss to Florida
2012 NIT First Round loss to Iowa
2011 NIT First Round loss to College of Charleston
2010 NIT First Round win over Illinois State
2010 NIT Second Round win over Cincinnati
2010 NIT Quarterfinal win over Illinois
2010 NIT Semifinal win over Mississippi
2010 NIT Final win over North Carolina
2009 NCAA Round of 64 win over West Virginia
2009 NCAA Round of 32 loss to Kansas
2008 NIT First Round win over Cleveland State
2008 NIT Second Round win over Illinois State
2008 NIT Quarterfinal loss to Ohio State
2004 NCAA Round of 64 loss to DePaul
*all team stats through 3/6
