GW looks for 11th straight against Dayton

I haven’t seen Dayton this year, so my knowledge of the Flyers is limited to what I could find online. They have struggled with injuries recently, most significantly their second-leading scorer, Monty Scott, a preseason First Team All-Conference selection. Despite the casualties, Dayton has won three of its last five games although two of those wins came at home against Duquesne and St. Bonaventure.

A study in contrast to the eighth-ranked Colonials, Dayton averages 64.3 points while holding opponents to 60.3 This is apparently not a team that likes to run on offense or press on defense. In the A-10, they trail only Xavier in field goal percentage defense but are second to last in steals. They are a good three-point shooting team, led by sophomore Brian Roberts (53-125), but they are right in the middle of conference ranking of three pointers made. Mr. Roberts, I’d like to introduce you to Montrell McDonald.

It’s hard not to favor GW heavily here. Dayton’s current starting backcourt is small (6-0 and 6-2), and there’s not much help coming off the bench because of the injuries. GW absolutely disassembled Richmond in their last outing, and Dayton looks to be in for similar treatment. The Flyers are always tough at home, where they feed off their tremendous fan support, but they haven’t won a road game since November. That win came at Cincinnati, which might give GW fans pause, but the Colonials have been on a roll since winning at Charlotte two weeks ago and a home game against Dayton should not disrupt that momentum.