Dayton v North Texas: 2019-20 college basketball game preview, TV schedule
Dayton hosts North Texas in a non-conference matchup. The Flyers will look to keep their season rolling against a team that has struggled to find a rhythm.
TV Schedule: Tuesday, December 17. 7:00pm. ESPN+
Arena: UD Arena in Dayton, OH.
Starting off the season 8-1, the Dayton Flyers have been one of the most impressive in college basketball. Their offense is currently one of the best in the game. Led by sophomore sensation Obi Toppin, the Flyers are scoring 86.3 points per game, ranking fourth overall in the nation. Dayton is now #14 in the nation and will prove to be the biggest test for North Texas so far this season.
Mean Green has started the year 4-6. A win for them here would give them that much-needed boost going into this Christmas period. If they want to be competitive in the C-USA, they’re going to have to start figuring out a way to get wins in succession. Tuesday, Dayton will obviously come in as favorites, they’re better than North Texas in pretty much every area of the game. What will cause the Flyers a problem though is their opponent’s defense.
North Texas’ defense is tied-36th in the nation, allowing just 61 points per game. Their schedule hasn’t been the most trying, however, they did hold both VCU and Utah State, two top-25 teams, to under 70 points. It’s clear that their offensive side of the game is what’s led to these six early-season losses. A road game at Dayton provides a real opportunity for Mean Green to get a season-changing win, however improbable it may be.
The main draw to this fixture is obviously Toppin. The Flyer forward, who is tipped to be a lottery pick by many mock draft creators, has been sensational for his side early on. He’s averaging 21.1 PPG and 8.2 RPG as well as shooting 40.7% from three-point range and leading the Flyers in blocks per game. North Texas’ focus will be to shut down Toppin, and as they’ve shown early on this season they have got the ability on the defensive side to stop scoring, but Toppin is another beast. Also, the Flyers’ shot-creating has been on point early on. They rank 3rd overall with 20.1 team assists per game, led by junior guards Jalen Crutcher (5.8 APG) and Rodney Chatman (4.3 APG).
With an offense as dominant as the Flyers have shown that they can be, North Texas will have their work cut out for themselves on both ends. Not only will they have to deal with the incredible Toppin and co. but they’ll need to try to match what they produce. And Mean Green just hasn’t proven that they have the ability to do so. There’s always a chance that this could change, but it doesn’t look like it’ll be Tuesday when this will even itself out.
Junior guard Umoja Gibson is the only North Texas player who’s averaging double-figure points. He averages 15.8 per game, which is more than seven points more per game than their second-highest scorer. He’ll have to have a huge game if his team is going to get a realistic chance at getting close, and the rest of the starters and top of the bench will need to contribute real numbers too.
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All in all, this should be a routine win for the Flyers. With eight wins on the year, the only ranked team that Dayton has faced is #4 Kansas, in Maui, where they got close but ultimately lost 90-84. They haven’t had a tough schedule, but they also weren’t tipped to be as good as they’ve shown that they can be. If they keep on winning it doesn’t really matter what their strength of schedule is. All they can do is play what’s in front of them. They’ll look to keep it rolling Tuesday against Mean Green.