Dayton probably won’t draw up any gimmick defenses today in an attempt to contain Murray State star Isaiah Canaan, but the senior guard is confident he can still knock down his trademark 3-point shot no matter what the opposition throws at him.

In an ESPN The Magazine feature this week, Canaan said: “Any team that plays a zone or hasn’t double-teamed me, I’m going to take advantage and put up the three. I try to keep putting doubt into the defenders’ minds that regardless of what you do, you still can’t stop me.“

The Flyers didn’t have much success last season against Canaan, who made five 3-pointers and scored 21 points in a 75-58 home win. He has 243 career treys and is averaging 21.3 points this season, eighth in the nation. But he’s not the only concern for UD coach Archie Miller.

The Racers went 31-2 last season, were ranked seventh nationally and won an NCAA tourney game. Despite losing three starters, they were picked again as Ohio Valley Conference favorites and are off to a 9-1 start.

Canaan made the six-player preseason Associated Press All-American team along with Indiana’s Cody Zeller, Creighton’s Doug McDermott, Ohio State’s Deshaun Thomas, Michigan’s Trey Burke and Lehigh’s C.J. McCollum.

Racers forward Ed Daniel made the preseason OVC first team, and another starter, guard Dexter Fields, had a productive two years at UAB before transferring in.

Miller called the Racers a “high-octane team with great guards. Canaan’s capable of getting 30 on anyone. (They play) pressure, pressure defense. We’re going to have to take care of the ball. Going into the game, a lot of it is going to be, how tough are we going to be? They beat teams because they’re tougher than them.”

The Flyers are coming off a dispiriting 74-73 home loss to Illinois State. They trailed early in the game by 12, rallied for a four-point lead midway through the second half and fell behind again by seven with two minutes to go before a furious rally came up short.

“That was a big shocker to me early in the game,” Miller said. “We weren’t tough enough, we weren’t ready to play. We got off to rocky start. That can’t happen with Murray or it’s going be a long day.”

UD could be without star point guard Kevin Dillard, the team leader in scoring, assists and steals. He’s considered questionable after leaving the Illinois State game with back spasms.

“Hopefully, he’s OK. If he’s not, we’re going to make some adjustments. We’re more than capable of replacing that spot,” said UD forward Josh Benson, who scored 17 points and made 8-of-8 shots at Murray State last year. “We’ve got a lot of great guys — like Vee Sanford. And Khari Price is an excellent defender. But we’re going to have our hands full.”