By PAUL GOTHAM
LAKE BUENA VISTA, FLA. — For the second time in as many nights the Dayton Flyers needed late-game heroics, and Scoochie Smith was again up to the task.
With a double-digit lead about to evaporate, Smith delivered a pair of baskets to secure the Flyers a spot in Sunday’s Advocare Invitational championship with a 73-71 victory over the Monmouth Hawks.
Clinging to a one-point edge and late in the shot clock, Smith used a crossover dribble at the top of the key to get into the teeth of Monmouth’s zone.
“Eyes up and getting through the gaps and looking for my teammates,” Smith explained. “If they’re not open I got to worry about taking a tough shot because I know there are a lot of guys down there.”
The 6-2 junior point guard slipped past the back line of the Monmouth zone and finished at the rim with his left.
“It’s just something I work on,” Smith said referencing the Mikan drill he uses for work around the rim. “Just take pride in making layups.”
He followed with the eventual game winner – a three-pointer on the next possession to give the Flyers a 71-67 advantage with 1:31 left in the game.
Smith converted a pair of layups in the closing moments of Dayton’s 82-77 victory over Iowa, Thursday night.
“He has a knack right now to be able to finish around the rim that he’s never had before, and he got off the three-point line again tonight,” Dayton coach Archie Miller said. “He’s one of the best point guards I think out there. He runs our show.”
For a while it appeared Monmouth was destined for a second dramatic win. Thursday night, Justin Robinson netted 17 of his game-high 22 points in the second half as Monmouth rallied from nine down to upset No. 17/18 Notre Dame, 70-68.
Against Dayton, Robinson finished with 28 – 17 coming in the second stanza. After Dayton took its largest lead of the night at 59-43 with 10:16 on the clock, Robinson responded with eight points including back-to-back three pointers. His second, a pull-up jumper on the break, made it a 60-51 game. The 5-8 point guard connected on five of seven from long range repeatedly hitting over the outstretched arms of taller defenders.
“I’m proud of my kids because we kept fighting, and we’re standing there, straight up, with the ball, against Dayton and down 3, and they were shook,” Monmouth head coach King Rice said. “Everybody can say there weren’t. They were shook. And we’re getting a lot better.”
Smith finished with 19 hitting six of 10 from the field and three of four on three-ball attempts. Miller knows his point guard bailed out his team after an uneven performance.
“To find a way to win and be in the final I’m really happy for our guys,” Miller stated. “We have a day to regroup and sorta clean some things up. We obviously have a lot of mistakes right now in terms of our defensive identity. From an offensive perspective we’re nowhere near where we’re gonna have to be to play against the best teams on our schedule and that includes Sunday’s game.”
If he didn’t already know it, Miller found his guy on whom to lean in late-game situations.
“You don’t get those type of victories without great point guard play when you need it,” he said after Thursday’s victory.
Smith has gone from a freshman filling the role as the third of fourth option on an Elite Eight team, to the focus in crunch time. And he calmly handles it.
“It’s what you hope for from a guy who goes through the grind of a freshman and he earns the right to get the ball as a sophomore,” Miller said. “I thought the way he finished the season last year should have given him great confidence. He worked hard in the off-season. He’s a much different player at the beginning of his junior year than he’s ever been at the beginning of his other two years… He’s a lot more mature right now in terms of understanding the game. He’s going to have to be good for us almost every game for us to have a chance.”
Dayton will play Xavier in the finals. The I-75 rivals have met 160 times in the past with UD holding an 86-74 edge. Outside of Ohio, Dayton and Xavier have played against each other in Philadelphia (Spectrum), Atlantic City (Boardwalk Hall) and at Madison Square Garden and now Florida. A 4:30 pm tip time is scheduled.
Leave a Reply