The Dayton Flyers will try for the third time to play their Atlantic 10 opener on Wednesday when VCU comes to town.

What was supposed to be a very challenging three-game stretch to open the Atlantic 10 season has diminished to a single challenge after Dayton’s first two conference games were postponed.

The VCU Rams are 7-4 on the season and have seen their last four games postponed due to health and safety protocols. Reportedly, the Rams are ready for Wednesday night after seeing less than a handful of players be able to practice the past couple of weeks.

Going back to the middle of December, VCU has now won four straight including a 20-point win against Florida Atlantic in their last outing that will be a total of three weeks between games on Wednesday.

As of now, there is no indication on who will and won’t be available for Mike Rhoades.

Toledo native and starting forward Vince Williams Jr. continues to be an outstanding player for VCU, leading them in both points (10.7), rebounds (5.6), and assists (2.6). Although just a 30% shooter from deep this season, he lit up Dayton for 19 points and 5-8 from three-point range in his return to Ohio last season.

Guards Jayden Nunn and Ace Baldwin are tied for second in scoring at 10.0 points per game. Ace is the defensive ace with almost 3.5 steals per game. He’s missed eight games and is still within 13 steals of the team’s lead. Nunn is the team’s top three-point threat at 35.5% from the arc.

Wing Keyshawn Curry is the team’s third leading scorer at 9.1 points to go with 2.3 rebounds. He scored a season-high 13 in their last outing against Florida Atlantic.

Kansas State transfer Levi Stockard is averaging 7.9 points and shoots 53.6% from the floor but does not stretch the floor at all. He scored a season-high 16 points in the win over Old Dominion.

The rotation sees five guys coming off the bench led by Marcus Tsohonis (5.3 ppg), Hason Ward (4.8 ppg, 4.9 rpg), Jalen DeLoach (3.5 ppg, 3.3 rpg, 58.1% FG), Nick Kern (2.5 ppg, 2.2 rpg), and Josh Banks (2.4 ppg).

Just like Dayton, the Rams are very sloppy with the basketball as they’ve turned it over 45 more times than the assists they’ve distributed.

The Flyers struggled against full court pressure applied by Southern and you know Mike Rhoades has reviewed the tape. The only issue is how much depth will he have at his disposal after the recent COVID setbacks.

Dayton and VCU are scheduled to tip-off from UD Arena at 7:00 p.m. on Wednesday and the game will be televised nationally on CBS Sports Network.