Dayton's on another power trip

Dayton basketball coach Archie Miller, center, cheer his players during a NCAA college basketball game against Boston College in San Juan, Puerto Rico, Sunday, Nov. 23, 2014. (AP Photo/Ricardo Arduengo)

FAYETTEVILLE -- Keeping up on the basketball court with teams from the Power 5 football conferences isn't a problem for the Dayton Flyers.

Dayton is 26-9 against opponents from the SEC, ACC, Big Ten, Big 12 and Pac-12 the past eight years, including 2-0 this season with victories over Texas A&M and Boston College in Puerto Rico.

Today’s game

ARKANSAS VS. DAYTON

WHEN 1 p.m.

WHERE Walton Arena, Fayetteville

RECORDS Arkansas 6-2. Dayton 7-1

SERIES Arkansas leads 1-0 RADIO Razorback Sports Network

TELEVISION ESPN2

TICKETS $30. Loft (sections 207-2011) $25.

The Flyers were among six Atlantic-10 Conference teams to play in the NCAA Tournament last season, and they beat Ohio State, Syracuse and Stanford to reach the Elite Eight before losing to SEC champion Florida 62-52 in the South Regional final.

Dayton, led by Coach Archie Miller and with returning starters in senior guard Jordan Sibert and junior forward Dyshawn Pierre, will look to add another victory over a power conference team when the Flyers (7-1) play Arkansas (6-2) at 1 p.m. today in Walton Arena.

"It just tells you that Archie's doing a very good job of preparing his team, especially in big games," Arkansas Coach Mike Anderson said. "They've played well."

The Flyers' only loss this season was to defending national champion Connecticut 75-64 in Puerto Rico.

"They're doing something right with their previous success," Arkansas junior guard Michael Qualls said. "It's all good, but we're not worried about none of that. We're just worried about the next game and coming out focused and doing what we've got to do to get back on track."

The Razorbacks were knocked off course and out of the national rankings last week when they lost road games against No. 14 Iowa State 95-77 and Clemson 68-65 in overtime.

"We have to bounce back from those two losses just to get us back on our feet," Arkansas sophomore forward Bobby Portis said. "I feel as though everyone came in this week ready to go."

Miller, 70-39 in his fourth season at Dayton, is well aware of Arkansas' success at home during Anderson's four seasons as head coach -- 56-6 in Walton Arena, including 5-0 this season.

"Arkansas' home-court record under Coach Anderson is really impressive," Miller told the Dayton Daily News. "The way they play really gets energized at home.

"It's going to be a hostile environment. It's exciting to get another road opportunity."

Dayton is averaging 66.2 points and shooting 43.1 percent from the field and 27.0 percent on three-point attempts, but the Flyers have attempted 228 free throws -- 95 more than their opponents and 42 more than Arkansas in the same number of games.

"They want it be a grinder kind of game and make you work on defense," Anderson said. "They'll have the shot clock run down. I think the thing that stands out to me is they're an attacking team. That's their strength."

Anderson said the Razorbacks won't back off their pressure defense for fear of drawing too many fouls.

"You make an adjustment depending on what they do and how the game's called," Anderson said, "but we're going to be who we are."

Miller said the Flyers have to shoot better and be more confident offensively.

"Right now, we're standing in mud," Miller told the Daily News. "Guys are learning to play with one another. The ball movement isn't as free right now. The player movement isn't as fast as we need it to be.

"We're going to have to start cracking down on guys doing their job offensively because you've got to score points. You can play defense all you want, but good offense can beat good defense sometimes."

Dayton is holding opponents to an average of 56.5 points per game and 37.0 percent shooting.

"They do a good job of really packing it in there and making you take tough shots," Anderson said.

Arkansas is averaging 92.4 points and has outscored opponents 129-62 in points off turnovers at Walton Arena, but keeping that trend up could be a challenge considering the Flyers average 12.2 turnovers.

"If we get after a team, they're going to make mistakes so we're going to be able to speed up tempo," Qualls said. "We haven't been getting a lot of transition buckets. There are a lot of points being left out on the court just by us not pushing the ball.

"Coach has been on us about defense and tempo. If we control the defense, we control the tempo. If we control the tempo, then we control the game."

Miller said he's impressed by the Razorbacks' talent and athleticism.

"They hit you from a lot of levels," Miller told the Daily News. "They're very unorthodox. They don't run a lot of plays. They've got a lot of player movement.

"That's given us a lot of problems, but that's given a lot of people problems."

Sports on 12/13/2014