St. Bonaventure @ Dayton preview

Last Meeting ( Jan 19, 2019 ) Dayton 89, St. Bonaventure 86

Seventh-ranked Dayton continues its stretch of challenging Atlantic 10 Conference games when it hosts St. Bonaventure on Wednesday. The Flyers, who have won seven straight, moved up four spots in the Top 25 after defeating VCU 79-65 on Jan. 14 and winning at Saint Louis 78-76 in overtime on Friday, and face three more teams in the top half of the A-10 standings in the Bonnies, and Richmond along with Duquesne on the road.

“It means a lot - probably a lot to our fans, definitely,” Dayton junior guard Ibi Watson told reporters about the lofty ranking. “We’re really just focused on getting better every day and trying to stay focused and not letting it get to our head.” The Flyers were on the ropes against Saint Louis, trailing 55-42 with 7:40 remaining before junior guard Jalen Crutcher made a 3-pointer at the overtime buzzer. St. Bonaventure saw its four-game winning streak come crashing down with its first A-10 loss, 91-63 at VCU on Saturday. "We're in a stretch of playing the marquee teams in the league and we have to get better," Bonnies coach Mark Schmidt told reporters.

TIME: 7 p.m. ET. TV: CBS Sports Network

ABOUT ST. BONAVENTURE (12-6, 4-1 Atlantic 10): Sophomore guard Kyle Lofton averages a team-high 14.5 points despite behind held to a season-low six points Saturday while his 6.5 assists pace the conference. Sophomore guards Dominick Welch (11.3 points, 6.0 rebounds) and Jaren English (10.7 points) are key cogs with English shooting 47.1 percent from the field and Welch 38.7 from 3-point range. Sophomore center Osun Osunniyi (9.9 points, team-high 9.3 rebounds) missed the VCU game because of a concussion.

ABOUT DAYTON (16-2, 5-0): Crutcher (13.7 points, team-high five assists per game) was named A-10 Player of the Week after averaging 20.5 points against Saint Louis and VCU. Sophomore forward Obi Toppin, a national player of the year candidate, scored 20 on Friday to raise his club-high average to 19.6. Watson (11.8 points) leads the conference in 3-point percentage at 47.3 while senior guard Trey Landers contributes 11.2 points and 5.9 rebounds.

BUZZER BEATERS

1. The Flyers lead the A-10 in scoring at 82.8 points per game and led the nation in field goal percentage entering Tuesday at 51.9.

2. Lofton paces the conference in minutes at 38.3 per game.

3. Dayton has four won straight meetings, 10 of the last 11 and 19 of the past 21.

PREDICTION: Dayton 82, St. Bonaventure 68