22nd-ranked Flyers set sights on Spiders

Jan 24, 2015 - 3:54 PM Dayton, OH (SportsNetwork.com) - The Dayton Flyers, just days after receiving the No. 22 ranking in the nation, will try to rebound from a tough loss as they host the Richmond Spiders in an Atlantic 10 Conference battle at UD Arena.

Dayton went into Tuesday's matchup against Davidson owning an eight-game win streak, and a 15-2 record on the season. The 22nd-ranked Flyers however, instantly fell behind to Davidson as the Wildcats opened up a lead and ran to a 77-60 upset win. At home, Dayton is a perfect 10-0 this season.

Richmond has been on the upswing lately, with three wins in the team's last four games. The Spiders are coming off an 89-63 clobbering of the very same Davidson team that just beat up on Dayton. However, Richmond is just 3-2 in A-10 play this season, and a dismal 0-6 on the road.

Dayton leads the all-time series against Richmond, 13-9, and has won 10-of-11 matchups at UD Arena. The two sides split the season series a year ago, with each squad winning on its home court.

Richmond's crushing of the Wildcats last Saturday at the very least lends toward the Spiders potentially pulling off an upset this time around. The Spiders were sensational shooting the ball, connecting on 57.4 percent from the floor on their home court last weekend. Richmond hit on 14-of-31 from 3- point range, and made 13-of-16 from the free-throw line. Kendall Anthony scored 25 points to pace the Spiders in the win, while T.J. Cline chipped in with 23 points and six boards, and Terry Allen added 21 points, six rebounds and five assists. Alonzo Nelson-Ododa contributed 15 points off the bench to the effort.

Richmond's scoring offense has been lacking at times this season, although that wasn't the case against Davidson. The Spiders are in the bottom half of the Atlantic 10 rankings in terms of scoring offense, averaging 64.4 ppg this season. Richmond is led on offense by Anthony, who nets 16.3 ppg this season - just over a point on average less than the conference's leading scorer. Allen chips in with 11.8 ppg, and Cline rounds out the trio of double-digit scorers at 11.3 ppg. The team's defense has been relatively stellar this season, however, holding opponents to just 59.9 ppg, which ranks fourth in the A-10 defensively.

Davidson's offense was rather stagnant when the Wildcats played on the road a week ago against Richmond, but that wasn't the case at all as the team hosted the Flyers on Tuesday. The Wildcats were allowed to hit on 51.7 percent of their shots from the floor as they opened up a 12-point halftime lead and never looked back. Dayton shot well still, hitting 48.9 percent from the field. Jordan Sibert and Kendall Pollard each scored 23 points to lead the team, while Dyshawn Pierre grabbed a team-best eight rebounds. Scoochie Smith dished out a team-best six assists in the defeat.

Like Richmond, Dayton has prided itself on a strong scoring defense this season as the Flyers head into Saturday holding opponents to 59.1 ppg - second in the Atlantic 10. Although Dayton's offense is ranked roughly in the middle of the pack in the league in terms of scoring (68.5 ppg), the Flyers have a handful of players that can do damage at any given time. Sibert leads the team in scoring at 16.1 ppg, followed by Pierre's 12.2 ppg, and Pollard's 11.2 ppg. Devon Scott averages 9.1 ppg and a team-best rebounding average of 7.4 boards per outing. Only trouble is Scott is out due to disciplinary reasons, so Pierre is the team's active rebounding leader (7.2 rpg). Smith has dished out a team-high 76 assists in 18 contests started, averaging 4.2 per game (third in the league).