It took a gritty 56-55 win over Boise State in a play-in game, but the Dayton Flyers are back in the national tournament as an 11 seed. They face the highly-touted Providence Friars in what should be a highly-entertaining, competitive Round of 64 game. Think Dayton has what it takes to pull off an upset? Read on as we give you everything you need to know heading into this game.
The Big East was a shark tank full of NCAA tournament teams. Aside from Providence, five others made it into the Big Dance. Villanova, in particular, is a favorite Final Four pick for experts. But the Friars took Villanova to the brink in the Big East tournament semifinals, but lost 63-61. The Friars are due for a deep run in the tournament, especially with the talent they have on their roster.
[sc:NCAAB240banner ]Providence has a couple of players who could explode for big games at any given time. LaDontae Henton leads the Friars with 19.7 points and 6.4 rebounds per game. He’s a versatile player who could bury a couple of timely threes (he’s made about two three-pointers per game this season) as well as score in the post.
Henton’s all-around game is complimented by an excellent point guard in Kris Dunn. He finished the season ranked second in the nation in assists (7.6 per game) and fourth in steals (2.8 per game). Dunn is also a scoring threat, averaging 15.8 points per game this season. He’s looking even sharper than ever heading into the tournament, averaging 19 points, 8.6 assists and 5.2 rebounds over his last five games.
Excellent ball movement through Dunn’s playmaking should help Providence get past Dayton’s excellent defense. Opponents are shooting 51 percent from two-point range against Dayton when left unmarked.
Providence is 5-2-1 ATS when given four or more days off.
Betting on the Dayton Flyers
You can’t sleep on these Dayton Flyers.
Dayton returns to the NCAA tournament with mostly the same squad that flew all the way to the Elite Eight last season as an 11 seed. The Flyers, who just squeaked by Boise State, 56-55, in Wednesday’s play-in game, could go on another Cinderella run this year with a couple of key returnees in Jordan Sibert, Kendall Pollard and Dyshawn Pierre.
The presence of Sibert (16.5 points per game), Pollard (12.8 points per game) and Pierre (12.7 points per game) ensures that Dayton can score from pretty much all over the floor. Sibert is making 2.2 three-pointers per game this season, while Pollard and Pierre offer an imposing frontcourt tandem.
Dayton also owns one of the best defenses in the nation, allowing just 60.7 points per game (40th in the league) on just 42 percent shooting. They should have enough personnel to slow down a Providence side which relies too much on its top two players.
Dayton guards Sibert, Scoochie Smith and Kyle Davis are all averaging over one steal per game this season. Any one of them should be able to hound Providence guard Dunn, who has a whopping 4.1 turnovers per game this season.
The Flyers have won seven of their last 10 games, but have gone just 4-6 against the spread over that span.
