Dayton @ Rhode Island preview

Last Meeting ( Jan 20, 2018 ) Rhode Island 88, Dayton 74

Rhode Island has Jeff Dowtin to thank for it owning a share of the Atlantic 10 title heading into Friday's conference game with visiting Dayton. Dowtin scored a career-high 25 points, including critical free throws in the final seconds of regulation and overtime, and contributed seven assists and five rebounds as the No. 18 Rams held off La Salle 95-93 on Tuesday to lock down their 14th conference victory of the season.

Dowtin, a sophomore guard from Maryland, atoned for missing a game-tying free throw with 14 seconds remaining in last week's loss to St. Bonaventure by making 11-of-12 overall and 4-of-4 in overtime against La Salle. "He was shooting free throws in the Ryan Center, witnesses said until sometime around 3:30 in the morning and was in there all day Saturday," coach Dan Hurley told the media of Dowtin. "He's that type of kid - he's a winner." Anthony Grant's first season as coach at his alma mater has been a bit of a struggle, but the Flyers can get to .500 for the 11th time this season with a win over the Rams. Josh Cunningham came up big in the first meeting against Rhode Island with 32 points and 12 rebounds, but the junior could only muster 18 total points as the Flyers defeated Fordham and Saint Louis to win consecutive league games for the second time this season.

TV: 7 p.m. ET, ESPN2

ABOUT DAYTON (13-14, 7-8 Atlantic 10): Brought along slowly by Grant after playing sparingly as a freshman under former coach Archie Miller, sophomore Trey Landers has become a difference-maker over the past month for the Flyers. The Dayton native broke out with a then career-high 22 points in a win over Massachusetts and then registered his first career double-double with 16 points and 11 rebounds in an overtime loss to VCU. Landers upped his career high to 26 points against Fordham and has 39 points, 12 rebounds and seven assists in the last two games for the Flyers, who have won six of eight against the Rams.

ABOUT RHODE ISLAND (22-4, 14-1): Stanford Robinson does a lot of things well for the Rams, including grabbing rebounds and coming up with steals and blocks, but it's rare when he scores like he did against La Salle. The former Indiana recruit notched 20 points for the first time this season and the third time in his two seasons with the Rams before fouling out for the first time in 124 career games. The Rams saw their fifth different combination of five players score in double figures as the team totaled 95 points, its most since putting up 97 against Maine in November 2013.

TIP-INS

1. Dowtin is third nationally in assist to turnover ratio (4.48) and 35th in assists per game (5.7).

2. Dayton, which won the Atlantic 10 regular season title in each of the past two seasons, has earned 74 conference victories since 2012-13, 17 more than Rhode Island.

3. The 14 wins in the Atlantic 10 for Rhode Island matches the program record set by the Sweet 16 team of 1987-88.

PREDICTION: Rhode Island 79, Dayton 72