WHAT TO KNOW ABOUT TODAY’S GAME
Who: Dayton (5-3) vs. Northern Illinois (2-5). Where: UD Arena.
When: 2 p.m. today
TV/Radio: Bally Sports Ohio, ESPN+/95.7 and 1290 WHIO.
Series: Dayton leads 2-0. The Flyers beat the Huskies 101-60 on Feb. 15, 1967, at the UD Fieldhouse and 60-43 on Dec. 1, 2012, at UD Arena. This is Dayton’s first game against a Mid-American Conference team since it beat Ball State 78-77, Ohio 79-65 and Akron 73-60 in November 2017.
Last game: On Wednesday, Dayton beat Alabama State 93-54, and NIU beat Eastern Illinois 69-62.
Coaches: Anthony Grant is 83-44 in five season at Dayton. Rashon Burno is 2-5 in his first season at Northern Illinois. Burno spent the last six seasons on Bobby Hurley’s staff at Arizona State. He was also an assistant coach for three seasons on Billy Donovan’s staff at Florida and was on the bench when the Gators beat Dayton in the Elite Eight in 2014. Dayton assistant coach Darren Hertz was also on Donovan’s staff then. About Dayton: KenPom.com gives Dayton a 93 percent chance of winning this game and predicts a 70-54 score . ... Weaver did not play Wednesday because of a disciplinary issue. Kobe Elvis started in his place and scored 15 points. He’s averaging 7.7 points.
... Dayton made 18 of 79 3-pointers (22.8 percent) in its first four games and 33 of 75 (44 percent) in its last four games . ... Dayton ranks 102nd in the Ken Pomeroy ratings. NIU is 323rd. It’s the second-lowest ranked UD opponent behind No. 338 Alabama State.
About NIU: The Huskies opened the season with a 71-64 victory at Washington but then lost five games in a row to Indiana, Missouri, Boston, Little Rock and Marquette before beating Eastern Illinois in their home opener . ... NIU finished 3-16 last season. It was the worst season in school history. It was picked to finish last out of 12 teams in the MAC this season . ... NIU has played in the NCAA three times, most recently in 1996. ... Williams scored a career-high 24 points Wednesday.
Looking ahead: Dayton plays Southern Methodist (6-3) at 8 p.m. Wednesday in Dallas, Texas.
— David Jablonski, staff writer