Dayton coach Archie Miller has fumed after some losses in his two years, but he handled the 66-61 defeat to Xavier with unusual stoicism.

He remembers the ache of losing in overtime to the Musketeers last season when the Flyers came within one defensive stop of ending a three-decade losing streak on the road to their rivals. UD showed a willingness to trade blows all night that game, as opposed to the outfit Miller had on the floor Wednesday.

When it came to putting up a fight, these Flyers at times showed no interest in even lacing up the gloves.

“For me, I’m not really down right now,” Miller said afterward. “We didn’t deserve to win the game. Last year, if you sat in here a year ago, it was a gut-wrenching loss. We weren’t able to get it done, but it wasn’t because anything wasn’t in check. Tonight, I think one of the things I’m really disappointed about is why our kids didn’t rebound. We weren’t committed on the boards.

“I thought the physicality of the game was a little overwhelming for our front line in general.”

The Flyers were out-rebounded, 36-18, and were pushed around inside as if they were on roller skates, giving up an astonishing 20 offensive rebounds. The Musketeers converted them into 35 second-chance points, more than half their total.

In 19 previous games this year, the Flyers had never been out-rebounded by more than five. And in their first five Atlantic 10 games, they had a combined plus-60 edge on the boards.

Asked if his halftime speech was a scream session about rebounding, Miller said: “I think I was screaming, ‘Rebound!’ the whole 40 minutes. … Tonight, that was not in order. Whether it was Xavier’s ability to overpower us, whether it was our inability to block out and get balls, we didn’t get it done.

“But we’ve got to keep moving along. I want our guys to be positive. This is going to be a long grind.”

The Flyers will play Saturday at Saint Louis, which was picked to finish second in the A-10. And some lineup changes may be brewing.

Starting senior forward Josh Benson had three points and one rebound in 24 minutes. Freshmen back-up Jalen Robinson (six points, three boards) had a commendable outing. Another freshman forward, Devon Scott, didn’t play and is still somewhat raw, but he’s known for his effort and energy.

“We’ll take inventory of this game. If some things need to be moved around or some guys need to have different roles, we obviously have to go in that direction,” Miller said.