LaSalle at Dayton (-11.5) - 1:00pm Pacific

Dayton comes in with an impressive 20-6 overall record and is 10-3 in A-10 play.  Their three conference losses came at St Joe's, at Xavier, and at GW who are a combined 31-2 at home.  The Flyers are an impressive 10-4 vs RPI top 100 teams.  They are an experienced group with three seniors, one junior, and one sophomore in the starting lineup.  Four starters returned from last years 24-6 team and this is the schools fifth straight 20+ win season. 

 

Dayton has not had a clean home blowout of a conference opponent all season long.  They are sure to be hungry for a big win today as all three of their conference losses came in the last four games and they have not seen action in 7 days.  It is their first extended break since January in which they beat Xavier in following game.  The Flyers need to win to stay in a tie for first place with GW in the A-10 West.  In first meeting at LaSalle, Dayton only won by 2, but led by as many as 15 in first half, by 10 at half-time, and by 12 with under 6 minutes to play.  Dayton could have easily won the first meeting by double digits and the switch of venues has to be worth at least 10 more points.

 

LaSalle is 0-4 in A-10 road games against teams with a winning record and their average losing margin is 24.5 points.  They recently played two games without starting point guard Jermaine Thomas (concussion), he returned to play in last game but shot just 2-for-8 in home loss to Temple.  The Explorers are just 3-9 in last 12 games.  Three wins have come vs Duquesne (twice) and St Bonnie.  Dayton is 12-1 at home this season and I expect them to continue their march for an NCAA at large birth with an easy romp today.

 

Dayton  1 UNIT