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Richmond-Dayton Preview

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Dayton coach Archie Miller is more concerned about his team's progress than its ranking.

With their eight-game winning streak in the past, the No. 22 Flyers look to get back on track while trying to continue their home success and hand Richmond a 10th straight road defeat Saturday night.

Dayton's first stay in the Top 25 this season could be limited to one week after it fell 77-60 at Davidson on Tuesday, but that doesn't seem to bother Miller.

''I don't pay attention to the Top 25,'' he said. ''People make a big deal about getting ranked and then at the end of the day you have 12 more games. Our guys are fine.''

Miller has little reason to get worked up about his team's first defeat since falling at Arkansas on Dec. 13.

The Flyers (15-3, 5-1 Atlantic 10) shot 48.9 percent and matched the Wildcats in rebounds but committed 16 turnovers and couldn't keep the hosts from hitting 12 of 23 3-point attempts. Dayton allowed Davidson to shoot 51.7 percent overall after holding its previous seven opponents to 38.2 percent.

''You take one between the eyes on the road to a really good team, you just have to stick your chest out and get back up,'' Miller said.

The Flyers expect to do that at home, where they've won 15 in a row and held their 10 visitors this season to an average of 55.6 points and 37.6 percent shooting.

"Coming off a loss, they want to get back on track," Richmond guard ShawnDre' Jones said. "Everybody knows what the environment is like there."

A loser of two straight and 10 of 11 at Dayton, Richmond certainly does. The Spiders (10-8, 3-2) were held to 19 first-half points en route to a 60-48 loss there last season.

That's one of nine consecutive road defeats Richmond has suffered since a 75-58 win at Duquesne on Feb. 12. The Spiders came close to ending that slide Jan. 15, but fell 73-70 in double overtime at George Washington.

Richmond also looks to end a 13-game road skid against ranked opponents that dates to a 69-68 victory at No. 12 Kansas on Jan. 22, 2004.

"Dayton is a nationally ranked team that we have an opportunity to go play a game with, so that's always exciting," Richmond coach Chris Mooney said. "Hopefully, we can come out of there having played very well."

The Spiders boast one of the league's top scorers in 5-foot-8 senior Kendall Anthony, who averages a team-leading 16.3 points and has totaled 45 in the last two games. He matched a career high with seven made 3-pointers in last Saturday's 89-63 win over Davidson, joining T.J. Cline (23) and Terry Allen (21) with 20-plus points.

''I know I can't take days off, especially because of my size,'' he said. ''I have to do things that most players can't or aren't used to because of their size. I think, for me, I just have to work hard every day because of my size and because of my will and wanting to be good.''

Anthony, who scored 20 at Dayton last season, has averaged 15.8 points in four games against the Flyers.

Dayton leading scorer Jordan Sibert (16.1 points per game) had 12 in that contest. He scored 23 at Davidson.