Dayton Flyers Preview

On Tuesday, BG will head into what is probably its most difficult non-conference assignment--and quite possibly the best team they will play this season.  The opponent is the Dayton Flyers, obviously on the road.

We all know what Dayton did in the Big Dance last year, and while they did lose 3 starters off that team, they are back off to a 6-1 start and were picked all along to be in the top part of the highly competitive A-10.

They beat BG's last opponent by 24 in their opener, and then beat Boston College and Texas A&M in Puerto Rico.  They did struggle with Miami, winning by 4 at Millett, and they beat EMU by 9 in their last contest.  Their only defeat was to UConn in PR.

Looking at a profile of their team, they are averaging 1.05 points per possession, which is good if not great.  They get almost 28% of their points on the FT line, despite making only 67%, which is below average.  So, they get to the line a LOT.

They are an average shooting team from the field and don't take especially good care of the ball, turning it over on 19% of possessions.  They are average on the offensive boards.  They are not reliant on the 3--they are in the lower quarter of the country in taking and making the 3 ball.

Their real calling card is that they play also play stifling defense, allowing 57 points a game, or .88 points per possession, which is in the top 40 in the country.  Teams shoot only 43% against them and they force turnovers on about 20% of possessions, which is very good.  They do a good job on the offensive glass and are above average in keeping opponents off the line.

Not to dwell on this, but in 7 games they have tried 198 FTs and allowed 126.  Teams commit 22 fouls a game against the Flyers.

Their leading scorer is Jordan Siebert, a 6'4" Sr.  Siebert is shooting 38% but gets 87% from the line.

Dyshawn Pierre is their 2nd leading scorer at 12 a game.  He's 6'6" and a junior.  He shoots 51% from the field and is 2nd on the team with 6 rebounds per game.

Their other double-figure scorer is Kendall Pollard, who is 6'6" and averages 11 points in 22 minutes.  He shoots almost 60% from the field and also averages 5 rebounds.

Their leading rebounder is Devon Scott, a 6'9" player who gets 7 REB per game.  Their leading assist man is, I swear to God, Scoochie Smith with 4 assists per game.

They play a pretty tight rotation, with 8 men getting 10 minutes or more.

Look, athletic competition is one of those things...you never know.  Ask the New Jersey Institute of Technology, for example.  Having said that, this is an uphill assignment for the boys and it will be interesting to see how they fare.