Jeff Allen NCAAB Game Preview: Dayton at Duquense
It’s a pretty lackluster card in both the NBA and college hoops on Tuesday but … a game from a conference that Jeff Allen is
starting to key on, the A-10, is worth a look as conference leading Dayton (19-3, 9-1) hosts the (15-8, 5-5) Duquesne Dukes.
With an RPI of 12 and quality wins over Iowa, Monmouth, and Arkansas … Dayton is one of the few at large teams that figure
to go dancing in March even if they were to get upset in the A-10 conference tournament. The Dukes have an RPI of 110 with
their best wins coming against Penn State and Western Kentucky which means that barring a complete meltdown, they are
locked into the NIT or CBB/CIT post season action. The current Vegas line is the same as the overnight send out, Dayton -13.5
with the over/under set at 147.
Duquesne is led by their twin guard scoring tandem of Derrick Colter (18.3) and Micah Mason (16.3). Colter is a dribble
penetration and kick type of guard while Mason shoots better than 40% from behind the arc. Center Darius Lewis does most
of the board work (6.9 rpg.) for the visitors. The Dukes are not very deep but to their credit, are a pretty good offensive rebounding
team considering their lack f size.
The Dayton Flyers are a quality program and HC Archie Miller’s name is always in the mix when the rumor mill starts when bigger
programs are looking for a marquee name. This year’s Flyer outfit is led by sniper Charles Cooke (16.1, 6.5). a 6’5″ swing man
that shoots better than 45% from downtown. Dyshawn Pierre is a power forward (13.8, 7.7) that has only played on the Flyers last
11 games. The Flyers are 10-1 with him in the lineup with the only loss coming at LaSalle.
Dayton (-7, 147) won the first meeting 66-58 back on January 2 in Pittsburgh in a game that saw the Flyers shoot just 3-25 from
beyond that arc. Duquesne has won five of seven but are 0-3 in L3 as road dogs and four of their conference losses are by 11+
points. The Flyers have won 10 of 11 and five of six in the series with the last two meetings on this floor by margins of 16 and 26.
UD Arena is one of the toughest venues in the country for a road team to get a win and if we were to play this game it could only
be Dayton wearing down a game but undermanned Duquesne team and extending late.