DAYTON – Josh Parker is looking forward to a nice, quiet Thanksgiving dinner now that his Dayton Flyers sit at 5-0.
Then again, the redshirt junior has a lot to be thankful for; like the 18 points he had on Wednesday night against Florida A&M to lead the squad to an 80-60 victory.
Just behind the Drake transfer in the scoring column was Chris Wright with 15. Wright, who opted to withdraw from the NBA draft to play one more season under head coach Brian Gregory, also had six rebounds.
Wright has become the undisputed leader of the team, said the coach following Monday’s 61-59 victory over Savannah State. Through the first five games, Chris has averaged just shy of 14 points per game and 8.5 rebounds per game.
Even with a senior leader, however, the Flyers still struggle to find an identity.
“We played two exhibition games two weeks into practice and we’ve played [five] games already,” Gregory said on Wednesday. “We need some practice time.”
But for Dayton, things won’t get any easier as they take on Cincinnati at U.S. Bank Arena this Saturday before welcoming East Tennessee State back to UD Arena for the first time since the Bucs’ 2009 NCAA Tournament loss to Pittsburgh. Following that Wednesday night matchup, Dayton will face the Redhawks in a classic UD-Miami rivalry game at home.
As far as Cincinnati goes, though, Dayton will have its hands full with Yancy Gates, a Queen City native. Gates is averaging just under 13 points per game through four games this season.
Check back for a complete game preview and breakdown on Friday, including our prediction on who will win the 91st installment of the 1-75 rivalry!
