Dayton was picked as the preseason favorite to win the A10 so they won't be a slouch. As noted, they smoked fellow tourney member Alabama already (weird scheduling to possibly play a team twice in the noncon). Game will be at 8 pm on ESPN2. They play William and Mary (3-0) tomorrow afternoon. W&M is supposed to be pretty good too so maybe we'll get a better indicator.
Their starting line is as follows
6'0 G Kyle Davis, 5.0 PPG, 4.0 RPG, 2.5 APG
6'2 G Scoochie Smith, 11.5 PPG, 4.0 APG
6'5 G Charles Cooke, 14.0 PPG, 6.5 RPG, 2.0 APG
6'6 F Kendall Pollard, 5.0 PPG, 9.0 RPG <--Preseason All-A10
6'11 C Steve McElvene, 9.0 PPG, 8.5 RPG
Pretty good depth off the bench as well
6'4 G Darrell Davis, 12.5 PPG, 5.0 RPG
6'7 F Ryan Mikesell, 12.0 PPG, 5.0 RPG, 6/9 3 pointers
6'9 F Sam Miller
6'8 F Xeyrius Williams
Don't know much about them other than they have made two good runs in the NCAA the last two years. They don't have any seniors, but 4 of the starters are juniors, McElvene is a RFr, and the bench is 1 soph and all true freshmen. From what I remember watching last year, they aren't big, but are very athletic and good handlers. However, this is also the same conference as Davidson and as we saw last year, that style of play didn't do so hot against bigger teams. But you don't do well in the NCAA's by accident, so I'll give Dayton the benefit of the doubt.
Should be a fantastic game. Definitely the best of the first round IMO. Would be a huge RPI boost in March to win against Dayton. Also, if we win, the next two games are on ESPN2, but if we lose, we'll be back on internet-only ESPN3.
Dayton fan here, lurking to learn more about Thursday's big matchup. The above preview is really pretty accurate. Dayton was forced to go small last year, after kicking their two 6'9" guys off the team in December. The last 20 or so games, UD had only 6 scholarship players and nobody over 6'6".
This year, Dayton has gone to a more traditional lineup with Steve McElvene starting at center (he's just barely under 7 feet, and so far has played well, though he's very raw - sat out last year as a partial qualifier due to academics). Sam Miller is the freshman backup big, and has played okay but has been rusher foul-prone. He fouled out yesterday in 8 minutes.
Kendall Pollard has not played well at all this year, though he was thought to be our best returner. He's a little undersized as a 6'6" PF, but has long arms, very good athleticism & quickness, and he plays with a high motor. Went to Simeon in Chicago, and was high school teammates with Jabari Parker. He was forced to play center for Dayton last year, and seems to be struggling so far figuring out his role now that he is back playing the 4 spot. He shot the most free throws for Dayton last year and was only at 58% for the season. Supposedly he changed his form but he's only 4/11 from the stripe so far this year. He's been foul-prone so far too. His play is a big key for the outcome of this game, in my opinion.
At the 3, Dayton starts Charles Cooke, who sat out last year after transferring from James Madison. He's 6'5" with freakishly long arms. He's pretty athletic and a good shooter, but still getting acclimated to the team. Ended up with 0 points in the first half against William & Mary but turned it on in the second half to finish with 18. Had 21 against Alabama on Tuesday. He can score it multiple ways.
Dayton's shooting guard is Kyle Davis, who is maybe 6 foot even. He's not a shooter, but a tough, elite man-to-man defender who seems to relish trying to shut down the other team's best guard. He shut down Kris Dunn of Providence last year in the first round of the tournament, holding him to 4 of 13 shooting with 7 turnovers. With a minute to go in a tie game yesterday, he made a huge steal and took it the other way for the go-ahead layup. He is a lefty, which seems to take guys by surprise at times. He seems to get a couple transition buckets every game by using his quickness to push it in transition. He has yet to make a 3 on the season, and teams have been sagging off of him on the perimeter, daring him to shoot it. Darrell Davis off the bench is about the exact opposite of Kyle Davis. He's a talented shooter - led the A10 in 3-pt percentage as a freshman last year. He's been our backup point guard as well, and is an okay ball-handler. He lacks strength but is not afraid to let it fly.
Point guard Scoochie Smith is the engine that makes Dayton run. He plays pretty good defense, and gets a lot of steals by digging at the ball off of help defense, when guys try to drive toward the middle. He's an excellent ball handler, can get to the rim, and create a bucket when Dayton needs it. He's not super athletic, but is quicker than he looks, pretty crafty, and can finish with either hand. He's worked on his shooting and can knock down a 3 or a jumper when needed. His assist numbers aren't all that impressive but he gets us in our offense and makes things run. Freshman John Crosby was supposed to be the backup point, but he hasn't looked good at all and Darrell Davis has been the backup when Scoochie needs a blow.
Off the bench, Ryan Mikesell is a fundamentally sound big guard, who can shoot it. Had 21 in Dayton's first game, but hasn't done as much the last two. Xeyrius Williams is a thin 6'9" bouncy backup 4, and he's done a good job so far of just playing his role and not trying to do too much. The only current senior is Bobby Wherli, a former walk on who played key minutes fro Dayton last year as the 7th guy. He can shoot the 3, but really shouldn't be seeing much playing time now that Dayton has some more options (though he was awarded a scholarship for the 2nd half of last year and for this year). Of note, he played high school ball with Frank Kaminsky.
Archie Miller is a very good coach who is good at sniffing out opponents' weaknesses and making in-game adjustments. I expect a tight game win whoever makes the most plays in the last couple minutes pulling it out. The RPI implications of this game are huge for both Iowa and Dayton - you don't want to have to play Monmouth (though they did beat UCLA!).
One quick aside, UD got Alabama to agree to play us as sort of an "exempt" game as part of the Advocare Invitational, and it'll be a home-and-home with Dayton playing at Alabama next year. The only way Bama would agree to the game was that they got the ESPN exposure as part of the tip-off marathon. I don't know a lot about how Iowa fans travel, but I expect there will be a ton of Dayton fans in Orlando.
Anyway, hope you guys go a solid 2-1 in the tournament and go on to have a great season!
