Dayton Basketball: 2019-20 keys to beating Duquesne at home

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DAYTON, OH – NOVEMBER 30: Quinndary Weatherspoon #11 of the Mississippi State Bulldogs drives to the basket against Dwayne Cohill #35 of the Dayton Flyers (Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images) /

1. Dayton should be able to beat Duquesne on the boards

As is the case in most games, a key for Dayton in this game will be their ability to take advantage of Duquesne’s deficiencies on the glass. This isn’t to say that Dayton is the best rebounding team out there, they are not, they rank 90th in defensive rebounds per game with 26.85 and are one of the worst offensive rebounding teams in the country, pulling down just eight which puts them 303rd in the sport. Three Flyers, Toppin, Landers and forward Ryan Mikesell grab 18.7 of the team’s 34.9 per game.

The reason this will be a key for Dayton is that their opponents are relatively weaker on both ends of the floor in that category ranking 205th in defensive rebounds per game (25.28), 182nd in offensive rebounds per game (10), and 192nd in overall rebounding (35.28).

Not only that, but the Dukes are a middle-of-the-pack shooting team, knocking down 44% of their shots and shoot just 31.6% from three-point land, so there should be rebounding opportunities for the Flyers in this one. So, while Dayton doesn’t necessarily excel at rebounding the basketball, being better than Duquesne on the glass will give Dayton a leg up in the rematch with the Dukes.