They are a very uptempo, athletic team. They will push the ball quickly under any circumstance and the first shot they see that they like in transition they will take. If we don't get back both on a make and a miss, it could be a long night. However, if we can neutralize their transition game which accounts for 19 points a game (25% of their offense)we have a great chance to win. They will look to drive to the basket hard and if they draw two or three defenders, they will kick it out for a spot up 3 pointer or a trail 3 pointer.
In the halfcourt they look to attack driving lanes and closeouts by setting a ton of flare screens, ball screens, and double ball screens. They do a tremendous job of moving without the basketball and forcing the defense to rotate and if they don't, Dayton will make the extra pass to find the open man. They mix up their single high ball screens between pick and roll/replaces and slips, So our bigs need to do a great job of communicating and moving quickly. If we can do a great job taking away driving lanes while not getting lost on #1 Darrell Davis (6/11 from 3), #4 Charles Cooke (9/18 from 3), and #11 Scoochie Smith (7/16 from 3) then we have a tremendous chance to win this game. Another player to watch is going to be #34 Ryan Mikesell (6'7") as he will shoot from anywhere on the court with half of his shots (10 of 20) coming from behind the arc, even though he currently is only shooting 30% from there.
Defensively, they will extend out and guard 10 feet past the 3pt line and will also use a 1-2-2 press to speed the other team up. Outside of that, they do not appear to be like their previous stout defenses. They almost seem to overhelp on drives so if we can create driving lanes we should have an opportunity for kick out 3s or attacking closeouts. They aren't a big team as they only have one guy taller than 6'8", so we should also look to dump the ball in the post as much as we can as guys like Jacobson, Morrow, and even Jordy could have nice games.
Overall, Dayton is still a very skilled and very dangerous team. My opinion is that their defense has gotten a bit weaker while their offense has shown some signs of being better. A winnable game for us and I think we match up really well to pull off what many would believe would be an upset.