By Paul Gotham
DAYTON, OH — Rumors of Kevin Dillard’s demise proved to be greatly exaggerated. The University of Dayton’s senior point guard looked destined for the sidelines after back spasms sent him to the bench in the final minutes of UD’s loss to Illinois State, Wednesday night.
Saturday afternoon against Murray State, Dillard dominated in the closing moments.
Kevin Dillard scored nine and dished out one of his ten assists in a decisive 14-5 run as the UD Flyers came from behind to beat the Murray State Racers, 77-68 in non-conference action at the University of Dayton Arena.
Dillard’s drive from the top of the key and layup with 6:17 remaining gave the Flyers their first lead of the second half. His three-pointer minutes later all but sealed the victory.
“Kevin just absolutely gave us all the confidence in the world with his play in the last ten minutes,” said Dayton’s head coach Archie Miller. “Obviously, that was a special win.”
His layup came late in the shot clock after Devin Oliver corralled an offensive rebound on a miss earlier in the possession by Dillard. The senior point guard set up a high ball screen with a cross over dribble and got into the lane for the bucket.
“During the course of the game, my teammates did a good job of making shots and stepping up when I needed them,” Dillard said. “In the end, I was able to step up a little bit for them.”
Dillard’s pull-up three in transition gave the Flyers a 67-60 advantage.
“I don’t know if I’ve seen a shot that just absolutely lit up an arena like that,” Miller commented. “If he had missed it, I would have probably been mad at him. When that thing went it, that was a game changer.”
Down five midway through the second stanza, Dillard connected on his first field goal of the day: a catch-and-shoot three from the top of key on a pass from Sanford Vee.
“That took a lot of weight off my shoulders,” Dillard said of the shot.
In a first half which included 10 lead changes and six ties an 8-0 Murray State run gave the Racers a five-point advantage going into the break.
Ed Daniel used the window from the right of the key to start the run. After a defensive stop, Canaan nailed a pull-up three in transition. The Racers stretched the lead to seven at 41-34 when Dexter Fields connected from behind the arc on a catch-and-shoot three from Canaan.
Murray State scored the first two baskets of the game. Brandon Garrett slipped a ball screen on the wing and scored inside. Daniel and Canaan combined on high pick-and-roll for an early 4-0 lead.
Vee Sanford sparked the Flyers. The junior guard hit a trey off an inbound pass. He followed with a steal at the defensive end and fed Devin Oliver for a dunk and UD’s first lead at 7-6.
Moments later, the Flyers grabbed their largest lead of the half at 14-10 when Matt Derenbecker took a Kevin Dillard pass and drained a three-ball.
Dillard handed out eight assists in the first 20. The Flyers connected for 13 field goals before the break.
Canaan led all going into the locker room with 15 points. The senior tallied hit nine-of-nine from the free throw line.
Sanford paced the Flyers with 12 first-half points. The junior guard finished with a career-high 23 points on 7-of-14 shooting from the floor including 2-of-3 behind the arc.
Dillard followed with 18 and 10 assists.
Derenbecker added 14.
Oliver had a team-high 11 rebounds.
Dayton’s bench outscored Murray State’s 26-8.
Canaan led the Racers with 20. Fields chipped in 12. Daniel had a game-high 13 boards.
Dayton’s defense forced 16 Murray State turnovers. At the same time, the Flyers dished out 19 assists while committing 11 turnovers.
The loss ended Murray State’s 16-game road winning streak.
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