I picked up these insights by checking the box score at ESPN tonight… The Wright State Raiders are now 17-6 while the quickly fading Dayton Flyers are 16-6. The Raiders have won 8 in a row, while the Flyers have lost 5 of their last 8 games.
It’s hard to believe that the Flyers lost to lowly George Washington (6-13, ranked 226 in the RPI) 57-54. That homer boy, Jimmie Binnie, went 1-5 behind the 3-pt line; Huelsman fouled out in 18 minutes of play; Sandoval was held scoreless on 0-5 shooting. Chuck Little was the only bright spot with 12 points and 11 rebounds in 27 minutes of play.
Well, at least the Raiders won beating Youngstown State 50-47. Vaughn Duggins had an off night with 1-9 shooting and only 3 points; Todd Brown popped in 14 points; The dough boy, Ronnie Thomas, helped out by hitting 5 points in 12 minutes of play.
That loss really hurt Dayton’s chances for the NCAA tournament. Before the game, I knew in order for Dayton to make the NCAA tourney with 8 games left on their schedule they would need to win at least 6 of 8 and to lose unexpectedly to a second rate team like George Washington seems like it automatically means win the A-10 or its most likely the NIT. I see Dayton going 8-8 in the A-10 and pulling out 20 wins. However, it will end in a disappointing finish similar to last year, except a few more quality wins this year to get into the NIT. Maybe and hopefully I will be wrong and they will make it to the NCAA tourney.
Wright State has done better than Dayton in conference play, but will need to win the Horizon in order to win the NCAA tourney. Hypothetically, if the Horizon and Wright State’s SOS was as tough as the A-10 and Dayton, Wright State would make the NCAA tourney at this point of the season.
We will see…..