Dayton stages huge rally, overcomes Nevada late in second
DaRon Holmes II and seventh-seeded Dayton staged a huge March Madness rally, closing with a 24-4 run to erase a 17-point deficit and beat 10th-seeded Nevada 63-60 in the West Region on Thursday.
Holmes, the Atlantic 10 player of the year, scored 18 points, including a three-point play with 2:01 remaining that gave Dayton its first lead since the first half.
The Flyers (25-7) trailed 5639 with 7: 36 left but responded with 17 unanswered points. The run included three 3-pointers from Koby Brea, who finished with 15 points.
“In those situations, it’s easy for somebody to try to, like, just get a home run play, try to make it happen by themselves,” Brea said. “In the situation we were in, I think we did a good job of just staying together and doing it together, taking it one possession at a time.”
Enoch Cheeks’ layup with 34 seconds left put Dayton ahead for good, and he made two free throws for the final margin. He scored 12 points as the Flyers picked up their first NCAA tournament win in nine years.
Jarrod Lucas scored 17 points, and Kenan Blackshear and Nick Davidson scored 15 apiece for the Wolf Pack (26-8), who took control by closing the first half on a 16-0 run. Nevada appeared to have the game well in hand when it held Holmes without a basket for nearly 14 minutes during the second half.
Other West Region
Michigan State 69, Mississippi State 51: Tyson Walker scored 19 points and Michigan State coach Tom Izzo picked up his 20th win in the first round as his ninth-seeded Spartans beat eighth-seeded Mississippi State. Michigan State improved to 20-6 in March Madness openers under Izzo, who is making his 26th straight NCAA tournament appearance — an
NCAA Division I record for a coach at one school.
Arizona 85, Long Beach State 65: Arizona scored 16 straight points over a fiveminute stretch to pull away for a victory in the first round and snuff out coach Dan Monson’s tenure at Long Beach State. Kylan Boswell had 20 points for the second-seeded Wildcats, who made 13 3-pointers, the program record for March Madness.
North Carolina 90, Wagner 62: Armando Bacot had 20 points and 15 rebounds, and No. 1 seed North Carolina beat 16th-seeded Wagner in an opener for the West Region’s headliner. Jae’Lyn Withers had a season-high 16 points and matched his best rebounding work with 10 boards.
Midwest Region
Gonzaga 86, McNeese 65: Graham Ike scored 16 points and Anton Watson added 13 points, 13 rebounds and nine assists to power fifth-seeded Gonzaga over No. 12 seed McNeese State in the Midwest Region. Ike made all six of his field goals and all four free throws while grabbing 10 rebounds.
Texas 56, Colorado State 44: Milan Momcilovic looked nothing like a freshman while pouring in 19 points, Tamin Lipsey had 17 with seven assists, and No. 2 Iowa State used big runs to start each half to beat No. 15 seed South Dakota State to help avenge an embarrassing first-round loss to Pittsburgh last season.
Tennessee 83, Saint Peter’s 49:
Dalton Knecht had 23 points and eight rebounds, Jonas Aidoo added 15 points and six rebounds as Tennessee moved on to the second round with a win over Saint Peter’s. The Peacocks were paced by Latrell Aidoo with 17 points.
East Region
Iowa State 82, South Dakota State 65: Max Abmas and Dylan Disu each scored 12 points, and No. 7 seed Texas held Colorado State to 11 points in the first half en route to a victory. Isaiah Stevens and Joel Scott paced the Rams with 10 points each. The Rams shot 29% from the field.