Dayton @ Massachusetts preview

Last Meeting ( Jan 11, 2020 ) Massachusetts 60, Dayton 88

Sixth-ranked Dayton looks to extend its winning streak to 14 games and remain unbeaten in Atlantic 10 play when it goes on the road to face a young Massachusetts squad on Saturday afternoon. Sophomore star Obi Toppin recorded his seventh double-double of the season with 22 points and 10 rebounds Tuesday as the Flyers knocked off second-place Rhode Island 81-67 at home.

“We knew they were No. 2 in the conference and we had to put a stamp on what we have going on,” Toppin, who averages team highs of 19.7 points, 7.9 rebounds and 1.4 blocks, told reporters after Dayton began the game on a 17-0 run. Dayton, which leads the nation in field-goal percentage (52.3), continues to push for a high seed in the upcoming NCAA Tournament and goes for a fourth straight victory over the Minutemen after routing them 88-60 on Jan. 11 and taking the lead in the all-time series 15-14. UMass, mostly made up of freshmen and sophomores, has won three of its last five contests after edging George Mason 69-67 last Sunday for a third straight win at home - improving to 9-3 overall at the Mullins Center. Freshman Tre Mitchell is averaging 19.4 points over the last five games, including 30 against URI on Feb. 4, and the 6-9 center from Pittsburgh tops the team overall at 16.2 per contest.

TIME: 12:30 p.m. ET. TV: NBC Sports Network

ABOUT DAYTON (22-2, 11-0 Atlantic 10): Junior guard Jalen Crutcher poured in 21 points against URI and has scored at least 20 five times in eight games to boost his season mark to 14.7 to go along with a team-best 5.1 assists. Crutcher (41.8 percent) and junior guard Ibi Watson (41.4) entered Friday ranked third and fourth in the A-10, respectively, in 3-point accuracy and Watson is third on the team in scoring (11.1) while the Michigan transfer has made exactly half of his shots overall. Senior guard Trey Landers (11.0 points on 58.8 percent shooting) scored 10 and hauled in 14 rebounds in Tuesday’s win for his second double-double of 2019-20.

ABOUT MASSACHUSETTS (10-14, 4-7): Mitchell scored 16 on 7-of-10 from the field against George Mason while freshman forward Preston Santos led the way with 17 points and is averaging 11.6 over the last five games - more than seven over his season mark. Junior guard Carl Pierre (13.1) is second among active players in scoring for the Minutemen and entered Friday ranked second in the league with 63 made 3-pointers. Freshman guard Sean East II averages 9.6 points and a team-high 4.7 assists after connecting on 6-of-7 from the field in Sunday’s win to score 12, following a five-game stretch in which he was 5-for-26 shooting for 15 total points.

BUZZER BEATERS

1. UMass sophomore F Samba Diallo averages 6.8 points and is grabbing a team-high 6.2 rebounds per contest.

2. Dayton sophomore G Dwayne Cohill scored seven points on Tuesday, the most he has produced since recording four versus UMass.

3. The Flyers are third in the A-10 in rebound margin (plus-3.1) while the Minutemen are 13th (minus-4.0) entering Friday.

PREDICTION: Dayton 80, UMass 64