RICHMOND, Va. – Kendall Pollard tallied 19 points and seven rebounds as the Dayton Flyers lost on the road to the VCU Rams, 73-68.

In a matchup of two Top-50 RPI programs, Dayton dropped to 15-5 overall and 6-2 in the Atlantic 10. VCU is now 16-5 and also 6-2 in the league. The Flyers and Rams are tied for first in the A-10.

Charles Cooke added 11 points, Scoochie Smith had 10 points and seven assists, and Kyle Davis had nine points in his first game back from an ankle injury three games ago.

FIRST HALF – Dayton 33, VCU 31

• The Flyers went on a 7-0 run closing at the 8:09 mark after Kyle Davis sank his second three of the game, giving UD a 23-16 lead.
• VCU rallied and cut the UD lead to 31-27 with 2:55 to play after Smith picked up his second foul.
• The Flyers did not hit a field goal in the final 5:22 of the half. UD still ended the first 20 minutes of action shooting 52 percent from the field.
• Dayton started the first half 12-of-17, but finished 0-of-6.

SECOND HALF – VCU 73, Dayton 68

• VCU came out strong and earned its first lead of the game at 44-41 with at the 12:46 mark.
• The Rams extended its lead to 55-49 with 4:45 to play after limiting the Flyers without a field goal for more than four and a half minutes.
• After Pollard cut the deficit to six at 57-51 with 3:55 to go, VCU enjoyed its largest lead of the night 61-51 with 2:44 to go.
• Xeyrius Williams hit a three to cut the VCU lead to 65-57, but the Rams countered with a three-point play to extend the lead back to 10 at the 55-second mark.
• John Crosby got a field goal to cut the Ram lead to 67-62 with 33 seconds to play.
• After two VCU converted free throws, Kyle Davis sank his third three of the game to cut it to a 69-65 VCU lead with 14.6 seconds to play.
• The Rams hit two more free throws to extend the lead to 71-65. Pollard, with five seconds to go, hit a field goal and free throw to cut the VCU advantage to 71-68. It wasn't enough as the Flyers dropped their second game in league play.

BY THE NUMBERS

• VCU had 18 offensive rebounds, while Dayton had 24 total boards in the game.
• This was Dayton's first loss when leading at the half. The Flyers entered the game with a 12-0 record leading after the first 20 minutes of play.
• The Flyers limited the Rams to 2-of-15 from three-point range. In the past four games, opponents are shooting 10-of-75 from beyond the arc (.133).
• UD is now 4-1 against A-10 teams with a winning record in league action.

UP NEXT

• Dayton closes its two-game road trip in the Bronx against the Fordham Rams on Tuesday, Jan. 31 at 9 p.m. ET.