Two in a row? Dayton Flyers hope seventh time is the charm

If Dayton (7-7, 1-1) loses at noon Saturday at home to Massachusetts (7-8, 0-2), it won't be as shocking, but it will be perplexing in its own way. The Flyers picked up their biggest victory of the season Wednesday, beating St. Bonaventure 82-72 at home, and now they get their seventh chance to earn that elusive second straight victory. After each of its first six victories, Dayton lost the next game.

» ST. BONAVENTURE GAME: Four reasons Dayton won | Archdeacon on Landers | Photos | Grant’s postgame thoughts | Notes

The magnitude of the victory against St. Bonaventure made it seem like a turning point. The Flyers never trailed. They had a double-digit lead for most of the night. Aside from 18 turnovers and losing the rebounding battle 35-29, it was a strong performance in every way. The Flyers need to duplicate it Saturday.

“I think that’s my hope,” Dayton coach Anthony Grant said. “You learn lessons throughout the year. The plan is to develop a level of consistency and continue to get better. I thought we got better with the way we played. Winning aside, we came out together as a team and had one purpose: to make sure we did the things we need to do to put us in a position to be successful.”

This game matches two of the four new coaches in the A-10: Grant and Matt McCall, of UMass. They coached together on Billy Donovan’s staff in 2006 when the Florida Gators won the national championship. Grant left after that season for Virginia Commonwealth.

“A lot of people don’t know this, but (Grant) called me and offered me his (director of basketball operations) role (at VCU),” McCall said in October at A-10 Media Day. “Five minutes after he offered me that, coach Donovan called me. I thought he was calling me to congratulate me, and he offered me the ops role at Florida. I owe a tremendous amount to (Grant). If you were going to ask me my mentors in the game, obviously coach Donovan is at the top of the list, and Anthony Grant is right there with him.”

» POSTGAME INTERVIEWS: Jalen Crutcher | Darrell Davis | Trey Landers

McCall worked at Florida from 2006-08 and again from 2011-15, spending all of those years with another Donovan assistant, Darren Hertz, who’s now on Grant’s staff at Dayton. McCall spent two seasons at Chattanooga, and his Mocs ended Dayton’s 26-game home winning streak on Dec. 12, 2015, winning 61-59 at UD Arena.

In his first season at UMass, McCall has experienced as many ups and downs as Grant. The Minutemen have one of the worst losses in the A-10 (Quinnipiac) but two of the best victories (Providence and Georgia). They had won four of five games when A-10 play began but opened A-10 play with losses to St. Bonaventure and George Mason.

Grant described McCall as a dear friend.

“He’s done a great job with his team,” Grant said. “It will be great to see him, but at the end of the day, it’s a basketball game between his guys and our guys.”

SATURDAY’S GAME

Massachusetts at Dayton, noon, NBC Sports Network, FM 95.7, AM 1290 WHIO