Dayton Flyers vs. Virginia Cavaliers: What you need to know about Thursday's Battle 4 Atlantis semifinal

Flyers, Cavaliers meet in semifinals of Battle 4 Atlantis

The Dayton Flyers will play a top-five opponent in the regular season for the first time since 2009 when they face No. 4 Virginia at 4 p.m. Thursday in the semifinals of the Battle 4 Atlantis. The game will be televised on ESPN.

Dayton lost 71-65 to No. 5 Villanova in 2009 in the Puerto Rico Tip-Off.

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Virginia is the highest-ranked opponent Dayton has faced at any point in the season since it played No. 1 Florida in the Elite Eight of the NCAA tournament in 2014.

Here are five things to know about Dayton’s opponent:

All-time series: Dayton and Virginia have played twice. The Cavaliers won 74-67 on Feb. 16, 1987, at UD Arena and 69-50 on Dec. 9, 1987, in Charlottesville, Va.

» FIVE TAKEAWAYS: Dayton proves the doubters wrong

Streaking Cavs: Virginia has won 22 straight games in the month of November. The team has won its last five Thanksgiving tournaments: the Emerald Coast Classic, the Charleston Classic, the Barclays Center Classic, the Corpus Christi Challenge and the NIT Season Tip-Off).

Top players:  De'Andre Hunter, a 6-7 redshirt sophomore guard, and Ty Jerome, a 6-5 junior guard, lead the team with 14.5 points per game.

» PHOTO GALLERY: 35 shots from Dayton’s victory over Butler

Rotation: Four Virginia starters played 30 or more minutes Wednesday in a 74-52 victory against Middle Tennessee. Like Dayton, Virginia played what was largely an eight-man rotation.

Early schedule: Virginia has not been tested in its first four games. Middle Tennessee, No. 167 in the Ken Pomeroy rankings, is the highest-ranked opponent it has played. It beat another Atlantic 10 team, George Washington, 76-57 in its second game.

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