Rhode Island Rams (9-8) vs. Dayton Flyers (14-2)
January 20, 2024 12:30 pm EDT
The Line: Dayton Flyers -13.5 ; Over/Under: -
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The Rhode Island Rams and the Dayton Flyers meet Saturday in college basketball action from UD Arena. Rhode Island is fresh off a Wednesday matchup with St. Bonaventure. In that one the Rams fell to 9-8 with a blowout loss. As for Dayton, they’re riding an 11-game win streak at 14-2 overall. The Flyers beat Saint Louis in their last matchup. Let’s get into our Rhode Island vs. Dayton prediction. Check back all season long for free college basketball picks at Sports Chat Place.
Rhode Island Rams
The Rams managed to win five of their first seven games this year, but then hit a rough losing streak versus Providence, Brown, Charleston, Delaware and New Hampshire. In the next four however, Rhode Island rebounded with wins over Northeastern, Saint Joseph’s, Davidson and UMass.
In the St. Bonaventure matchup on Wednesday, the Rams were drilled in the first half 51-25. Rhode Island didn’t get any closer on a 48-39 second half and ended up falling 99-64. Leading the way in the losing effort was Luis Kortright with 13 points, five assists and two rebounds.
Dayton Flyers
Over on the Dayton side, they hit a 3-2 stretch over their first five games with losses to Northwestern and Houston. Since then it’s been wins over Youngstown State, SMU, Grambling, Troy, Cincinnati, Oakland, Longwood, Davidson, UMass, Duquesne and Saint Louis.
Matched up against Saint Louis on Tuesday, the Flyers trailed 30-28 at the break. Dayton came back on a 42-35 second-half run though, eventually taking a 70-65 victory. DaRon Holmes did most of the work on 29 points, 14 rebounds, four blocks, two steals and one assist in a great overall effort.
ANDREW’S FREE RHODE ISLAND VS DAYTON PREDICTION
I’ll stay with Dayton. The Flyers are playing great right now despite a spotty game against Saint Louis (minus Holmes’ excellent performance, that is). Dayton shot a rough 15-of-29 (55.2 percent) from the line in that one and hit just 28.6 percent from 3-point range but still got the job done. The Flyers have now scored 70 or more points in eight of their last nine outings.
As for Rhode Island, they ran into a great St. Bonaventure team on Wednesday and snapped their four-game win streak. The Rams will have another tough matchup in this one, and I’m not sure they’ll have the gas to cover.
