DAYTON, Ohio — Trailing most of the game, Dayton squeezed every last little bit out of its home-court advantage to get an NCAA Tournament win.
DAYTON, Ohio — Trailing most of the game, Dayton squeezed every last little bit out of its home-court advantage to get an NCAA Tournament win.
Kendall Pollard scored 17 points on Wednesday night, and Dayton — cheered on by the deafening home crowd — went on a closing run for a 56-55 win over Boise State in the First Four.
The Flyers (26-8) will play sixth-seeded Providence on Friday in Columbus, Ohio. And they recognized that their 80-mile trip to the middle of the state had a lot to do with the place they were leaving.
“They were electrifying,” senior guard Jordan Sibert said of the crowd. “I don’t think we would have won that game without them.”
It was the first time since 1987 that a school has played an NCAA Tournament game on its home court, an anomaly resulting from Dayton hosting the opening games.
The Flyers went 16-0 at home during the regular season and have won 22 straight at UD Arena, seventh-longest active streak in Division I.
They needed a big finish to keep it going.
The Flyers trailed by as many as 12 points in the first half and by seven with 3:43 to go. Encourage by the crowd of 12,592 — the largest for a First Four game — Dayton closed with a 10-2 run.
“It’s a great feeling to be in the tournament still,” Sibert said.
Derrick Marks’ leaning 3-pointer at the buzzer was far off the mark, finishing it off. Marks had 23 points on 10-of-21 shooting.
The Broncos had already snapped San Diego State’s 29-game home-court streak this season, and came up just short of another big road win. The Broncos missed seven of their last eight shots.
“They hit a few shots down the stretch that were back-breakers,” Boise State coach Leon Rice said.
Robert Morris 81, North Florida 77
DAYTON, Ohio — Even down by six points at half and by 13 early in the second half, Robert Morris never forgot that the NCAA Tournament was supposed to be fun.
Lucky Jones scored 21 points, including a key free throw, Rodney Pryor had 20 and Marcquise Reed 19 to lead the Colonials to a victory over North Florida on Wednesday night in the First Four.
“We made sure coming into halftime that we remembered this is a blessing to be out here, to enjoy the moment,” Pryor said with a wide grin. “Guys had their heads down and things like that, but we reiterated going out and having fun and enjoying it.”
Part of the reason they had so much fun was a second half without a turnover, plus completely stifling the high-scoring, perimeter-minded Ospreys down the stretch.
“At halftime we let (the players) be for about 5 or 6 minutes, and I think they figured it out,” said coach Andy Toole, avoiding a fire-and-brimstone speech. “As we came in as coaches in the locker room, you know they looked like they understood what they needed to do.”
The Colonials (20-14), who won the Northeast Conference Tournament to get into the field as a 16 seed, now meet top-seeded Duke in the second round on Friday in Charlotte.
They failed to score for 4:31 of the first half, putting themselves in a hole. Down by 13 early in the second half after a pair of Beau Beech 3s, they turned the tables by shutting out North Florida for 4:44 to get back in the game.