GAME NOTES: Having narrowly picked up a win against Richmond in the team's last outing, the Dayton Flyers will now go for consecutive victories as they travel to face the Massachusetts Minutemen in an Atlantic 10 Conference tilt at the Mullins Center.

Dayton was rolling with an eight-game win streak before the Flyers were felled by Davidson, 77-60, last Tuesday. But the Flyers were able to bounce back in their next contest against Richmond at home, prevailing over the Spiders, 63-60, to improve to 6-1 in conference play.

Massachusetts hasn't been able to sustain the type of success the team was accustomed to in the early season. After a 5-1 start, things began falling apart for the Minutemen, who enter this clash having lost two of their last three (with a 62-56 defeat to Saint Joseph's serving as the latest loss) for a 10-9 overall record. At home, UMass is 6-3 this season however.

This will be the 22nd meeting between the conference rivals all-time. Dayton holds a narrow 11-10 advantage over Massachusetts in the series, as the Flyers broke a 10-10 tie last season against the Minutemen in Dayton.

Dayton opened up a large lead in the first half against Richmond after connecting on 68.2 percent of its shots in the opening frame, and managed to take a 37-27 lead into the intermission. But a dismal second half allowed the Spiders to climb back into the conversation, although the Flyers were able to fend off a full comeback attempt in the end. Dyshawn Pierre paced Dayton in the contest, netting 21 points with five rebounds. Kendall Pollard chipped in with 14 points, and Scoochie Smith added 10 points for the Flyers, who only received eight points from leading scorer Jordan Sibert.

Sibert will have to be much more active against a high-scoring UMass offense on Thursday. But the eight-point performance for Sibert fell well below his season average of 15.7 ppg. The Flyers are helped out in the scoring department by Pierre (12.7 ppg) and Pollard (11.4 ppg), who contribute to Dayton's overall scoring average of 68.2 ppg on 46.8 percent shooting from the floor. Pierre is the team's active leading rebounder, bringing down 7.1 boards per outing for the Flyers, and Smith averages 4.2 apg to lead his squad. Dayton's strong scoring defense, which holds opponents to 59.2 ppg, will have its hands full against UMass.

Unfortunately for Massachusetts, that typically strong scoring offense wasn't on display against Saint Joseph's eight days ago, when the Minutemen dropped the six-point contest after shooting 42.3 percent from the floor. The team connected on only 3-of-12 from 2-point range, and shot just 9-of-17 from the free-throw line in the loss. Trey Davis scored 14 points to pace the Minutemen, and Donte Clark chipped in with 10 points in the loss. Cady Lalanne narrowly missed a double-double with nine points and nine rebounds.

Maxie Esho was held to just two points by the Hawks, which dropped his team- leading scoring average down to 12.8 ppg on 52.1 percent shooting from the field. Lalanne has been one of the most consistent players for the Minutemen this season, netting 11.9 ppg with a team-best and third-in-conference 9.3 rpg. Davis (10.7 ppg) and Derrick Gordon (10.4 ppg) round out a group of double-digit scorers for UMass this season. The Minutemen rank fourth in the Atlantic 10 in scoring offense, netting 70.6 ppg on 44 percent shooting. But the team's scoring defense, which allows 71.0 ppg to opponents, is second to last in the conference.

Having the home advantage helps UMass in this situation, but going against a defensive-minded team in Dayton could mean another sub-par offensive performance for the Minutemen. If Esho goes quiet, the team's spark flames out.