Dayton Flyers (22-5) vs. Loyola-Chicago Ramblers (19-8)
March 1, 2024 9:00 pm EDT
The Line: Loyola-Chicago Ramblers +2; Over/Under: 137.5
(Get latest betting odds)
The Dayton Flyers and the Loyola Ramblers meet Friday in college basketball action from Gentile Arena. Dayton beat Davidson in their last game, improving the Flyers to 22-5 so far. As for Loyola, they’re 20-8 overall and coming off a loss to St. Bonaventure. Let’s get into our Dayton vs. Loyola prediction. Check back all season long for free college basketball picks at Sports Chat Place.
Dayton Flyers
The Flyers managed a 16-2 stretch over their first 18 games, taking losses to only Northwestern and Houston. Dayton would lose to Richmond and VCU over the next five, but since then it’s been a 3-1 run with wins versus Duquesne, Fordham and Davidson (and a loss to George Mason).
In the Davidson game on Tuesday, the Flyers got off to a big lead 40-21 in the first half. Dayton was outscored 45-40 from there on the way to an 80-66 victory. All five starters finished in double-figures in the win, while Koby Brea led the team off the bench with 17 points.
More College Basketball Picks: Fresno State vs Nevada Prediction!
Loyola Ramblers
Over on the Ramblers’ side, their year kicked off on a 13-7 run over their first 20 games. Loyola then hit a seven-game win streak over Saint Louis, Davidson, George Mason, George Washington, Saint Joseph’s, Rhode Island and George Mason before another loss to St. Bonaventure.
Back on Tuesday versus St. Bonaventure, the Ramblers were down 41-26 after a rough start in the first half. Loyola was able to keep the pace on a 38-38 run the rest of the way but ended up losing 79-64. Leading the team in the losing effort was Philip Alston on 12 points and three boards.
ANDREW’S FREE DAYTON VS LOYOLA PREDICTION
I’ll try Loyola here, but you could argue it either way. The line’s a little too thin to mess with anyhow. The Ramblers do need a solid bounce-back effort after a sketchy road loss to St. Bonaventure. In that one Loyola started slowly, eventually shooting 38.2 percent from the field with 19 turnovers that led to 24 Bonnies points. The Ramblers had scored 76 or more points in six of seven games prior to that, however.
As for Dayton, they’ve lost three of their last four road games and aren’t scoring very well away from home (67 or fewer points in each of the three losses). If the Flyers aren’t totally on point here I could see Loyola powering out a cover/win, but it’ll be an interesting matchup regardless.
