Preview: Dayton vs. Butler

Where: UD Arena

TV/Radio: NBC Sports Network Ch. 323 and 1323/WHIO 95.7, 1290

Dayton starters

Butler starters

About Dayton

The Flyers are coming off a 74-62 defeat at VCU in their A-10 opener and haven't dropped their first two conference games since starting 0-4 in 2005-06. … Oliver leads the league in rebounding at 8.8 per game. … Dillard is ninth in scoring, but his floor game has been inconsistent. He was second in the league last season in assists at 6.0 per game and assist-turnover ratio at 2.1-1.0, but he's averaging 4.7 assists this year, while his assist-turnover ratio has dropped to 1.3-1.0. … The Flyers are 11th in the league in 3-point percentage defense (33.6 percent) and will be facing one of the top 3-point shooters in the nation in Clarke, who makes 3.9 per game.

About Butler

The Bulldogs reached the NCAA title game in 2010 and ’11, but sixth-year coach Brad Stevens may have his best team. They’re ranked 14th in the AP Poll and 17th in the coaches Top-25. They’re 5-1 against power conference teams, beating Marquette, North Carolina, Indiana, Northwestern and Vanderbilt and losing to Illinois. Their only other defeat was at Xavier. … They’ve won 10 straight games and are a rugged rebounding team, easily leading the A-10 in rebound margin at plus-8.3 per game.

Miller time

UD coach Archie Miller called today’s clash a huge game “for a lot of reasons. No. 1, it’s a home game. We’re already coming off a defeat in our opener. Only one team in our conference won their first (league) game on the road, and that’s Butler. Holding serve at home is so paramount in the conference race. Whether it’s Butler or La Salle, this is home base, and we have to find a way to protect that.”