Trailing by two late in the game, the University of Dayton basketball team put the ball in the hands of playmaker Kevin Dillard. But the junior point guard, who has supplied plenty of crunch-time highlights this season, couldn’t deliver against Rhode Island.

Dillard threw a soft pass that was intercepted with 1:15 to go. And after the Rams pushed the lead to four with 46 seconds left, Dillard was tied up on a drive, and the possession arrow was pointing in Rhode Island’s direction.

He had 12 points and a career-high 13 assists in the 86-81 loss, but he was still dwelling afterward on the two plays that went awry.

“On the turnover, I saw Luke (Fabrizius) there. I should have gotten it there, and I didn’t. I’m kicking myself,” said Dillard, who had six turnovers. “Coming down the next time, I was trying to draw contact, and I didn’t get it.

“But you have to move on.”

The Flyers surrendered 53 second-half points to Rhode Island, which has won five straight games against UD.

“It wasn’t a lot of their actions or set plays. We broke down and gave up rebounds and second chances, and that killed us,” Dillard said.

“We didn’t match their intensity in the second half. We had big turnovers, and I had the biggest one in the game.”

Slumping: Senior guard Paul Williams, a three-year starter, went just 1-for-6 from the field and is 1-for-15 in his last two games. He also was the primary defender on the Rams’ Billy Baron, who had 25 points.

The Flyers have more problems than just Williams’ slump. They allowed URI quick starts in each half — 8-0 to start the game and 8-2 after halftime — and that kept the crowd of 13,147 from getting too engaged.

They also are over-reliant on 3-pointers, taking 29 against the Rams and making 11.

Recruiting update: Dayton had four top junior prospects at the game, including 6-foot-10 Springboro center Maverick Morgan, who attended with his father, Jeff.

Also at the game were a trio of junior guards: E.C. Matthews and Wes Clark from Romulus High School in Detroit (former Flyer Devin Searcy’s alma mater) and Jaylon Brown of Fishers, Ind.

Matthews made the Rivals.com ratings of top 150 players in the 2013 class at No. 94 and is ranked as the 17th-best shooting guard nationally. The Romulus teammates are drawing attention from major schools.

Brown is being recruited by Butler, Iowa, DePaul, Cincinnati and Xavier. He came to the UD game with a fractured nose, which occurred in his prep game the night before.

“At first I thought I probably wouldn’t feel like going, but I didn’t know it wouldn’t hurt that bad,” he said. “It looks weird, but it’s not bad.”

Morgan has scholarship offers from UD, Xavier, West Virginia, Iowa State and Southern Cal.

He said of the Flyers: “It’s good to see their development. It’s good to see how everyone is getting better. Players who haven’t really shown it in the past ... are really stepping up. Matt Kavanaugh is a great example. With (Josh) Benson being hurt, he played great against Xavier.”

Morgan also is being recruited by Big Ten schools. “I’ll probably get up to Ohio State pretty soon and maybe over to Illinois,” he said.

But Jeff Morgan, who played on the Middletown Middies’ No. 1-ranked team in 1974-75, said: “He told me, ‘I really like Dayton.’ I said, I know, son.’ I just want him to take his time.”

The Mohawk-sporting Morgan said he likely won’t commit until the early signing period in November of his senior year. As for the hair style, he shrugged: “I’ve had it pretty much all season. I just got it trimmed up tonight. I’m just rolling it with it, going with it. Why not?”