THE BASICS
Rhode Island (17-9, 6-8 A-10) vs. Dayton (18-9, 8-6 A-10)
Tip-Off: Wednesday, Feb. 26, 7:05 p.m. EST
Coverage: Watch: CBSSN | Listen: Varsity Network | Live Stats | Game Notes

RHODE ISLAND VS. DAYTON - SERIES NOTES

• Rhode Island and Dayton are meeting for the 46th time.
• Dayton holds a 26-19 edge in the series and has won four of the last five meetings.
• Rhode Island leads it 11-8 when hosting the Flyers.
• The teams have split the last two meetings. Dayton won at home last season, 96-62. In 2023, Rhody won in the Ryan Center, 75-70.
• Rhode Island head coach Archie Miller led Dayton to a record of 139-63 from 2011-17. 
• He won Atlantic 10 titles with the Flyers in 2016 and 2017, and made a run to the Elite 8 in 2014.
• Rhode Island is 13-2 at home this season, while Dayton is 3-4 on the road.
• Both teams are coming off losses. Rhode Island fell 81-66 at Saint Louis on Saturday and Dayton lost 76-72 at Loyola Chicago on Friday night.
• Dayton is the top 3-point shooting team in the Atlantic 10 at .356 as a team.
• Rhode Island allows the opposition to shoot .308 from the arc, which is fourth best in the league.

CBSSN TO CARRY GAME NATIONALLY

• Rhode Island will be on national television for the second straight game, with CBS Sports Network carrying Wednesday's contest.
• Tom McCarthy will handle the play-by-play, while Chris Walker will be the color analyst.
• McCarthy is making his second visit to the Ryan Center this season, as he also had the game against VCU on Jan. 21.
• Steve McDonald and Chris DiSano have the audio call on the Varsity Network.

POSTSEASON IMPLICATIONS

• Both teams have four games left in Atlantic 10 play and are fighting for differing levels of a postseason bye at the Atlantic 10 Championship.
• Rhode Island is in a three-way tie for ninth place, along with Davidson and Duquesne.
• The Rams need to finish between fifth and ninth place to avoid playing on the first day of the league tournament.
• The Rams are currently two games out of fourth place. The three teams tied for fourth place are Dayton, Saint Joseph's and Saint Louis.
• Rhode Island still plays at Saint Joseph's on March 5.
• While still mathematically possible, URI's chances of earning a double bye took a significant hit with Saturday's loss at Saint Louis. 
• Besides trailing the fourth spot by two games, Rhode Island lost head-to-head to four of the eight teams it trails in the standings, and it split with George Mason.
• Rhody's remaining games are against fourth-place Dayton Wednesday, at 12th-place Massachusetts on Saturday (URI won the first meeting), at fourth-place Saint Joseph's next week and then home against last-place Fordham in the regular-season finale.
• URI was picked to finish 11th in the A-10's preseason poll.

THOMAS CLOSING IN ON 150 ASSISTS

• Point guard Sebastian Thomas had nine assists in Saturday's loss at Saint Louis, giving him 20 over his last two games.
• He tied the Ryan Center record and set a career best with 11 assists in a win over La Salle on Feb. 15.
• Thomas became the fifth URI player with 11 in one game, and the first since Dustin Hallenga had 11 against Richmond on Feb. 25, 2004.
• Tyson Wheeler holds Rhode Island's single-game record with 13 against Penn on Dec. 30, 1997.
• Thomas now has 147 assists on the year and needs just three more to become the sixth player in program history with 150 or more in a season.
• Wheeler did it three times (205 in 1997-98; 203 in 1995-996; and 169 in 1996-97).
• Jeff Dowtin (189 in 2017-18); Carlton "Silk" Owens (187 in 1987-88); Parfait Bitee (156 in 2007-08) and Herb Dixon (153 in 1988-89) are the others to reach 150 in a season.
• Thomas leads the Atlantic 10 in both total assists (147) and assists per game (6.1).
• He has 10 or more assists four times this season.
• Despite playing his junior season at UAlbany, Thomas has 297 career assists with Rhode Island.
• He needs 36 more to crack the top 10 for career assists at URI.
• During his freshman and sophomore seasons with the Rams, Thomas had 150 assists combined.
• Stan Wright (333 from 1975-78) currently stands in 10th place in Rhode Island history.
• Wheeler is the program's all-time leader with 712, more than 200 more than anyone else in URI history.