The equipment managers of Dayton might have been forgiven if they were prepared to commence packing their belongings and loading the bus with just 7:39 remaining in Thursday’s game.
Facing a 17-point deficit against Nevada, the Flyers displayed no signs of a comeback or desire to stay in Salt Lake City for the upcoming second-round game on Saturday.
Nevertheless, Dayton erupted with a remarkable 24-4 run towards the end of the game to secure an unlikely victory. Now, the seventh-seeded Flyers (25-7) are set to take on the second-seeded Arizona team (26-8) in a West Region clash with a spot in the Sweet 16 at stake.
Enoch Cheeks executed the crucial layup with 34 seconds remaining, and later sank two free throws in the 63-60 triumph, marking the school’s first NCAA Tournament win since 2015.
“When we get into situations like this, we just show resilience,” Cheeks said. “We just have a great group of guys who just always fight and fight. Being in this situation before, we just know that if there’s time on the clock, we have a good chance to come back.”
Dayton’s shining star Daron Holmes II tallied 18 points, while Koby Brea contributed 15 points through five successful 3-pointers.
Holmes expressed confidence in the Flyers’ victory despite the considerable deficit.
“Was never a doubt in our minds,” Holmes said. “We went down a lot. There might be times where we argue on the floor, but at the end of the day we know we have each other. That’s what matters. If you want to win big games, you got to stick together, just with anything.”
Now, the Flyers will have the opportunity to compete against the Wildcats, who cruised to an 85-65 win against 15th-seeded Long Beach State on Thursday.
Arizona is predicted to make a deep run in the tournament, but they appeared tense early in the game, trailing by five points with less than 4 1/2 minutes left in the first half before picking up momentum.
“Hey, the tournament pressure deal is real,” Wildcats coach Tommy Lloyd said. “Anybody that says it’s not is lying to you. I mean, it’s a real thing. That’s one of the things that makes it such a fun tournament to watch. It makes it really hard to play in.”
Kylan Boswell registered 20 points for Arizona, with Caleb Love contributing 18 points along with 11 rebounds and five assists.
However, Love, the Pac-12 Player of the Year, had a tough shooting night, going 6-of-17, continuing his struggle through a four-game slump where he has only made 25.5 percent of his shots (13 of 51).
“When Caleb is contributing in other ways, it really helps us,” Lloyd said. “Obviously he’s a pretty offensive-centric player. We can all get fixated on that a little bit.”
Oumar Ballo also made an impact with 11 points and 13 rebounds, securing his 19th double-double.
The Wildcats found their rhythm, outscoring their opponents 44-30 in the second half.
“In the second half we were playing really good defense,” Ballo said. “I felt like our defense always dictates our offense. We just did fast breaks. Have stops like that, you have to celebrate. That’s how we’re having fun every game.”
Nonetheless, only one of the teams will find Saturday to be enjoyable.
“It’s a quick turnaround for both teams,” Dayton coach Anthony Grant said. “We’ll try to learn about each other the best we can and we’ll be ready to go on Saturday.”
Arizona has emerged victorious in two out of the three prior encounters with Dayton, with their most recent victory being a 76-59 triumph in the semifinals of the 2000 Maui Invitational.
