By PAUL GOTHAM
DAYTON, OH — It was a fitting end. The senior, getting an extra sendoff, hitting the game-winner, and the Dayton Flyers ending the game playing defense.
Jordan Sibert drilled a three-pointer with 35 seconds left on the clock, and Kyle Davis spearheaded the game-winning defensive stand as Dayton defeated the Boise State Broncos, 56-55 and advanced to the second round of the 2015 NCAA Tournament.
Sibert came off a down screen and took a Scoochie Smith pass for a catch-and-shoot three-pointer from the top of the key.
Saddled with foul trouble, the senior guard logged just 24 minutes-10 under his season average.
“It was kind of difficult with four fouls trying to get into the rhythm of the game,” Sibert said. “But my teammates, they do a great job of believing in me…When you’ve got a group of people like this around you who, no matter foul trouble, shots going in or not, they just keep telling you to shoot the ball and believe in yourself. It’s easy to go out there and catch a good rhythm and shoot it.”
The basket capped a wild second half that saw the Flyers rally twice from nine down.
“They may be the most together group in the country right now,” Dayton’s Archie Miller said. “They really, really fight through it. There’s no fracturing. And we got through probably about as much foul trouble and sort of tough going out there as we’ve dealt with all season. And they just stayed with it.”
Derrick Marks connected on a three-pointer with 6:32 remaining to give Boise State a 50-41 lead.
Dyshawn Pierre followed with a jump hook in the lane. Kendall Pollard came off a cross screen on an inbound play and added two when he forced a goaltending call.
After the teams exchanged baskets and free throws, Pierre made it a one-possession game at 53-50 with a baseline drive and finish.
“They made big, big shots in the last four minutes,” Boise State’s Leon Rice said. “We just couldn’t get a stop.”
Davis, though, stopped Marks, the Mountain West Conference Player of the Year, on consecutive possessions.
Looking to push the advantage back to seven points, Boise’s senior guard attempted to back Davis down in the lane twice on the same possession. With Davis keeping Boise’s leading scoring from getting to the rim the first shot found iron. The Broncos Rob Heyer grabbed the offensive rebound and gave Marks a second chance, but the result was the same.
“You win tough games with tough people,” Miller said of the sophomore guard. “Make no mistake about it, they don’t make them any tougher than him.”
Davis created turnovers on the next two trips when he stopped Marks in the lane. Smith grabbed a loose ball when Marks went to the floor, and Pollard converted one of two free throws. When Davis forced Marks into an off-balance pass, Sibert stepped in for a steal. Sibert’s two free throws tied the game.
After picking up two fouls in the game’s first two minutes, Davis, who played 24 minutes, led the charge as UD held Boise State without a field for the last four minutes of the game.
“Kyle is a warrior,” Miller said. “We’re not where we’re at right now without him. And in particular if he’s not on it or on the floor, our team changes specifically because of our style of defense.”
Dayton held the Broncos, who usually shoot 46 percent from the floor, to 38.5 percent in the second half. Boise State also came in averaging 70.9 points per game and ranked 16th in the country with a three-point field goal percentage of 39.4. The Broncos hit just 6-of-23 (30 percent) Wednesday night.
“The one thing we really believe in is our defense, though,” Miller stated. “I think one thing that we hang our hat on, we found a way in every game to turn the tide at times with our defense.”
Boise State had one last opportunity to win the game, but Marks could not connect from behind the arc with Davis in his face. Marks looked to draw contact on the play, but no call was made.
“I caught in the corner and I saw number 24 (Sibert) coming to double, so I held it for a couple of seconds,” Marks explained. “Then when he went away. I made a move, and I missed a shot.”
Montigo Alford sparked a 19-4 Boise State first-half run.
Trailing by three, the redshirt junior, averaging 3.8 points per game, took an inside out pass from Jake Ness and connected from the top of the key. His catch-and-shoot trey moments later gave Boise their first lead of the game at 18-17.
“I just wanted to come out and put it on the floor for my teammates and just be a leader, that second leader, and just try to help my teammates as much as possible,” Alford said. “I just was feeling pretty good tonight.”
Marks drilled a three in transition and pushed the lead to six at 23-17 with a baseline drive. Marks pushed the lead to double digits with a bucket in the lane, and Chandler Hutchison gave Boise its largest lead of the night when he took a Marks feed into the open court for a layup.
Boise led 29-17.
Pollard converted a traditional three-point play for the 29-20 score at halftime.
Sibert’s game-winner put bookends on his career at UD. The Cincinnati native hit a game-winning three-pointer in his debut at UD Arena versus IPFW (Nov. 9, 2013) and in his last game vs. Boise State (March 18, 2015). He finished with 13 points on 4 of 7 shooting for the night.
The double-digit effort was the 52nd of his career. Sibert’s 24 minutes played was his second fewest of the season. He went to the bench with his third with 7:33 to go in the first half. Boise State took a 19-7 run into the locker room from that point.
Pollard led Dayton with 17 and Smith added 11 and a game-high six assists.
Dayton improved to 9-2 when three players score in double figures and 14-1 on the season when holding opponents under 60 points. UD improved to 18-17 all-time in the NCAA Tournament.
Marks led all scorers with 23. Alford had 11. His three three-pointers is a career high. James Webb III grabbed a game-high 13 rebounds.
Boise State is now 0-7 all-time in the NCAA Tournament. Wednesday night’s game was Boise State’s second appearance in the First Four. The Broncos lost to La Salle, 80-71 in the 2013 NCAA Tournament.
Marks finished his career with 1,912 points – third all-time in Boise State history and fourth all-time on the Mountain West scoring list.
Dayton advances to the second round of the NCAA Tournament to play the No. 6-seed Providence Friars. A 9:30 pm tipoff is scheduled Friday at Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio.
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