13 reasons for 13 straight Dayton victories

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Jan. 25—A large sign on the bottom level of Tom Gola Arena, outside the Joseph C. Kirk Pool, reads, “Explorers are never lost.”

There’s a big difference between “are never lost” and “have never lost.” The Dayton Flyers, for example, have lost a game, but it’s been a while. They stretched their winning streak to 13 games with a 66-54 victory Tuesday at La Salle in Philadelphia.

By the time No. 16 Dayton (16-2, 6-0) plays at Richmond (14-5, 6-0) at 6 p.m. Saturday in a showdown for first place in the Atlantic 10 Conference, 69 days will have passed since they last lost a game. Dayton has not lost since falling 69-55 to Houston in the Charleston Classic championship game on Nov. 19. It is officially the hottest team in the country with the nation’s longest active winning streak because Samford’s 17-game streak ended Wednesday with a loss to Furman.

As the winning continues, the hype grows around Dayton. Broadcaster John Fanta, of FOX and the Field of 68, this week predicted Dayton will make the Final Four along with Connecticut, Kentucky and Purdue.

Brendan Marks and Kyle Tucker, of The Athletic, moved Dayton to No. 14 this week in their power rankings.

“We’ve upgraded the Flyers from last week’s appearance at No. 16, which we reserve for a rotating spotlight of plucky mid-majors,” they wrote. “to a bona fide place among the best teams in the country, regardless of weight class.”

How has Dayton put together its second-longest winning streak in the last 50 years? Here are 13 reasons:

1. DaRon Holmes II: The junior forward has put himself in the conversation for the national player of the year awards four years after Obi Toppin was the consensus national player of the year at Dayton. Holmes has climbed to No. 2 in the KenPom.com national player of the year rankings, trailing only Purdue center Zach Edey.

At this point, Holmes’ stats look very similar to Toppin’s 2020 numbers:

—Holmes: 19.6 points per game; 7.6 rebounds; 2.7 assists; 2.2 blocks; 0.8 steals; 59.0 2-point percentage;…

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Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/analysis-13-reasons-13-straight-194500984.html

Author : Dayton Daily News, Ohio

Publish date : 2024-01-25 19:45:00

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