By Malcolm Price
1 24 2025
ST. JOSEPH’S GAME NOTES
https://sjuhawks.com/documents/2025/1/22/20_-_Dayton.pdf
DAYTON GAME NOTES
https://sjuhawks.com/documents/2025/1/23/Dayton_Notes_vs_SJU.pdf
Game Info: Friday, January 24, 2025 – 7:30 p.m.
Location: UD Arena – Dayton, Ohio
TV: ESPN2 | Listen: sjuhawks.com | Live Stats: sjuhawks.com | Saint Joseph’s Game Notes | Dayton Game Notes
Social Media
Twitter/X:@sjuhawks_mbb | Instagram:@sjuhawks_mbb
Opening Tip
The Saint Joseph’s men’s basketball team wraps its two-game road swing with a trip to Dayton on Friday, January 24. Tipoff from UD Arena is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. with the game to air on ESPN2.
Wait, Since When???
It had been an astonishing 54 years and five days since Saint Joesph’s last won a game at Davidson. The Hawks last won a road game at the Wildcats on January 16, 1971, an 85-84 victory at Johnston Gym. It was the first win at Belk Arena for the Hawks in nine tries.
Road Warriors (Part I)
Saint Joseph’s won its second true road game of the season on Tuesday night at Davidson. It was the first road win outside of the city of Philadelphia this year as the previous one was at Penn on November 15. SJU has won five times away from Hagan Arena overall this season, adding in a 3-1 record in neutral site games.
Road Warriors (Part II)
It was a good day to be a road team in the Atlantic 10 on Tuesday as all four visiting schools claimed a win. Even more impressive is that all of the away victories had a margin of at least 13 points. In addition to the Hawks, VCU, Dayton and George Mason picked up wins.
What Can Brown Do For You?
Xzayvier Brown continued his torrid pace as of late, scoring 20 against the Wildcats. It is the third consecutive game Brown netted 20+. The feat marks the first time since February and March, 2023 that an SJU player has tallied 20 or more in at least three straight. During the stretch, he has also been distributing and taking care of the ball, averaging 5.0 assists and posting a 3.75 assist-to-turnover ratio.
Trending Up
Justice Ajogbor had his second game with 10 or more points as a member of Saint Joseph’s against Davidson on Tuesday. The numbers continue an overall upward trend for the graduate student, who is averaging 7.0 points, 6.1 rebounds and 3.0 blocks per contest in his last eight games. Prior to that, in the initial 11 games of the year, he was averaging 4.5 PPG, 2.9 RPG and 1.1 BPG. Ajogbor has multiple blocks in all eight games, including a season-high four on three occasions, against Virginia Tech (12/21), Loyola Chicago (1/11) and VCU (1/17). The run has seen the Benin City, Nigeria native move up to 28th nationally with 36 rejections and is fourth in the A-10 at 1.9 blocks per game.
1,900 And Counting
Erik Reynolds II scored 17 points against Davidson, moving him to 1,907 for his career. He is 16th among active Division I players in career scoring. Reynolds now stands 78 points behind Bernard Blunt (1990-95) and 84 away from Langston Galloway (2011-14) on the Hawks’ all-time scoring list. The senior also delivered five three-pointers versus the Wildcats, giving him 308 in his career and moving into a tie with LJ Cryer of Houston for 10th among active players. With those 308 career treys, he is 35 away from matching Galloway’s program standard.
NET Gains
In a matter of five days the Hawks have moved from 94th to 86th in the NET rankings and are not the fourth highest rated team in the Atlantic 10. VCU leads the way at 47th. Dayton is 68th and George Mason is 75th. St. Bonaventure is also in the top 100, coming in at 88th. St. Joe’s has a chance at a Quad 1 win on Friday as road games against teams in the top-75 are part of that category.
Cleaning The Glass
Rasheer Fleming maintained his position at second in the conference in rebounding at 9.3 per game, also placing 26th in NCAA Division I. While his overall numbers are impressive in their own right, the junior from Camden has been even better at making the opposition go one-and-done. He ranks in the top-15 in the country in defensive rebounds a contest at 7.11. He took seven of his eight caroms against Davidson off the defensive glass.
Scouting Report
Dayton enters play 13-6 overall and is 3-3 in the A-10 following an 82-62 win at Duquesne on Tuesday. The Flyers, who were picked second in the conference preseason poll, have righted the ship, winning back-to-back games after dropping three straight.
Leading the way for UD is on offense is Nate Santos at 14.1 points per game. Three additional players average more than 10 points a night with Enoch Cheeks scoring 13.7 and Zed Key and Malachi Smith posting 11.2 and 10.9 an outing, respectively. Cheeks bests the team at 6.7 rebounds per game. Smith has 112 assists.
A tried and true method for winning fuels the Flyers who lead the A-10 in assists per game at 16.2 while ranking fourth in fewest turnovers at 10.4. They don’t take a ton of threes, sitting at 11th in the conference in attempts, but make them when they do hoist them up, leading the Atlantic 10 at 36.3 percent.
Dayton is a battle tested team that has wins against three power conference schools, including No. 2 UConn. It lost a pair of games to No. 5 Iowa State and No. 12 North Carolina by a total of seven points.
A couple of areas of concern for UD would be bench scoring and field goal percentage defense. The Flyers rank 11th in the conference in both categories.
Anthony Grant is in his eighth season as the head coach of his alma mater with a record of 162-78 in southwest Ohio. Overall in 17 seasons, he has amassed 355 victories, has 11 years with 20 or more wins and guided his teams to the NCAA tournament four times.
All-Time Series
Friday is the 48th meeting between the Hawks and Wildcats. Dayton has a 27-20 series edge in a matchup that dates back to 1939. The Flyers have won six of the last seven contests. St. Joe’s is looking for its win at UD Arena since January 29, 2014.
Last Time Against Dayton
Four players scored in double figures for Saint Joseph’s, but a massive second half by Dayton allowed the Flyers to come away with a 94-79 victory on February 6, 2024. Cameron Brown had 19 points to lead the Hawks. Lynn Greer III added 18. Coming off the bench, Xzayvier Brown scored 15. Rasheer Fleming recorded 14 points and a team-high six rebounds. SJU led 38-34 at halftime, but Dayton shot 67.9 percent in the second half on its way to a 60-point frame.
Up Next
The Hawks return home to take on the Duquesne Dukes on Wednesday, January 29. Tipoff from Hagan Arena is scheduled for 7:00 p.m.
COURTESY ST. JOSEPH’S ATHLETIC COMMUNICATIONS
