By PAUL GOTHAM
COLUMBUS, OH — Dyshawn Pierre led three in double figures as the Dayton Flyers outlasted the Providence Friars, 66-53 in second round NCAA Tournament action at Nationwide Arena late Friday night.
The junior forward sparked a decisive 11-2 run midway through the second half with a pair of buckets and an assist.
“Our shots weren’t falling in the first half,” Pierre said. “The second half a lot of us stepped up and made big-time shots.”
With the game tied at 33, Jordan Sibert capped a great possession with a catch-and-shoot three-pointer. The Flyers went inside out before moving the ball from one side of the floor to the other finding the senior guard in the right corner as the shot clock wound down inside ten seconds.
“Just moving the ball around,” Pierre added. “We have a lot of confidence in each other and just making the extra pass and knocking down shots.”
Pierre drove the lane for a layup and set up Darrell Davis for trey. By the time, Pierre knocked down a three ball near the top of the key, Dayton led 44-35 and never trailed again.
“Really proud of our guys,” head coach Archie Miller said. ” They continue not only to defy the odds, but they just have an incredible toughness about them.”
LaDontae Henton connected from long range and scored in transition to pull the Friars within three at 44-41, but it was not to be. The Flyers held Providence scoreless for the next 4:50. By the time, Kris Dunn hit a three, Providence trailed by 11 with less than two minutes remaining.
“They did a good job on us,” Dunn stated. “They played great defense the whole game. We tried to get it going. We just weren’t making shots. Credit them.”
Sibert and Pierre stretched the lead with back-to-back three-balls. Smith found a clear lane to the basket with the shot clock running down for an easy deuce, and UD had a double-digit lead.
“We’ve really improved our defense, and our offense has evolved,” Miller noted. “Our guys believe in what we do. We know if we’re not getting the job done, there’s not a hole lot of change. We’ve just got to do it better. I think figuring out how to win big games started a year ago, and it went all the way through tonight.”
UD scored ten straight early in the first half to take the lead. Trailing by two, Bobby Wehrli tapped in a Scoochie Smith three-point attempt. Smith converted one of two from the free throw line for a 6-5 Dayton lead. The sophomore guard penetrated the lane and dropped a feed to Darrell Davis filling behind for a catch-and-shoot trey and a 12-5 Dayton lead.
Smith went end-to-end for back-to-back baskets giving UD its largest lead of the half at 16-7.
After starting 2-of-12 from the floor, Providence finished the half going 5-of-10 from the field.
Playing with two fouls, Dunn drew contact on a layup. One free throw later, and the Friars trimmed the deficit to three. Ben Bentil hit a jump hook in the lane. Henton took an inside-out pass from Dunn and hit from behind the arc to knot the game at 25.
“You’ve got to credit Dayton,” Providence’s Ed Cooley said. “I thought they played well. When the game got tight they made a couple of big plays. We had some errors. We had some uncharacteristic turnovers, an uncharacteristic technical foul. I don’t know where that came from. It didn’t cost us much other than emotion in the building.”
After missing his first four shots of the night, Sibert drilled a catch-and-shoot three to give UD 28-25 edge going into the break.
At the under-four timeout during the second half, Cooley was assessed a technical foul. Sibert converted one of two free throws pushing the UD advantage to 51-42.
The following statement was issued by John Adams, the NCAA’s national coordinator of officials:
“The technical foul called on Providence Coach Ed Cooley in Friday night’s game against Dayton, in Columbus, OhioRule 10, Section 3, Article 2. Bench personnel committing an unsportsmanlike act. Additionally, the penalty is supported by Appendix III, Officiating Guidelines, Section I a. 4: A negative response to a call/no-call including, but not limited to, approaching/charging an official in a hostile, aggressive or otherwise threatening manner, emphatically removing one’s coat in response to a call/no-call or throwing equipment or clothing on to the floor.’’
Peter Roby, the NCAA selection committee member on site and the athletic director at Northeastern, talked to the officials afterward and gave this explanation:
“It was a violation of one of the rules regarding unsportsmanlike conduct,’’ Roby said, citing the rule Adams cited. “He threw the chair out of the huddle, which precipitated the call.”
“Honest, I didn’t even know I hit the chair,” Cooley said. “You’re coaching your team. You’re trying to put some emotion into your team. You know, puts the official in a tough spot. And I was conversating with him and it was one of those things, it was more emotion, trying to fire my team up. I actually moved the chair out, I don’t know how it looked on tape or whatever. But I’m just trying to coach my team. That’s what that was about.”
Led by Kyle Davis with five steals, UD forced 16 turnovers and converted those into 17 points.
Sibert finished with 15 points. Sibert has scored in double figures in 28 of the last 31 games.
Davis and Sibert corralled nine rebounds apiece.
Smith had 11 points and three assists.
The Flyers held Dunn and Henton to 11-of-39 shooting. The rest of the Friars shot 9-of-20.
Jalen Lindsey had 12 points.
Henton finished with 18 points on the night and moved to second on the all-time scoring list at Providence with 2,059. The senior forward grabbed a game-high 11 rebounds for his sixth double-double of the season and 33rd of his career.
Dunn handed out four assists running his season total to 247 placing him second in school history to Ernie DiGregorio (267).
Dayton leads head-to-head series, 6-2. The teams last met in 1984-85 when UD won 68-65.
This was Providence’s 17th NCAA Tournament and second consecutive.
The Flyers are appearing in their 16th NCAA Tournament. Under Miller, Dayton is 5-1 in the tournament.
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