“I’m just disappointed we weren’t tough enough to win the game,” Miller said. “That’s a shame because we had a huge nugget in the bag earlier this week with (a victory at) Vanderbilt and let one slip. But there’s a lot of games left. … They have to get up off the mat, and we have to get better in a week. Academics come first. We’re going to take it slow.”
The Flyers have exams this week and don’t play again until Saturday against Furman at UD Arena. Miller said the team needs the break.
“It’s been a grueling stretch,” Miller said. “We were in Florida, and then you come back and play North Florida, who’s good. Then you go to Vanderbilt, and you get home at 3 o’clock in the morning Thursday, and then you’ve got this one Saturday night. It’s a tough grind. Our guys are in the midst of it like everybody is in college basketball.”
Here are three points to take from this game:
1. Final play: Dayton didn't call a timeout after Chattanooga's Greg Pryor hit two tie-breaking free throws with 5 seconds remaining. Scoochie Smith caught the in-bounds pass and drove the length of the floor. He missed a shot near the rim in heavy traffic as time expired.
“He caught the ball on the run, which is what we wanted,” Miller said. “Steve (McElvene) was able to pick his guy off, and (Smith) got around the bend. I think their big guy did a really good job at the rim, protecting it. That’s something we’ve practiced a lot.”
2. Hot Mocs: Chattanooga has now beaten Illinois, Georgia and Dayton. The Mocs won, in part, by making 7 of 15 3-pointers (46.7 percent), while the Flyers made 3 of 13 (23.1).
Three-point defense continues to be a weak spot for the Flyers, though they did better against Vanderbilt. The Commodores made 6 of 17 (35.3).
3. Depth issue: Dayton's bench accounted for seven points. All five starters played between 30 and 37 minutes. Darrell Davis played 15 minutes. Sam Miller, John Crosby and Xeyrius Williams combined to play 16 minutes. Ryan Mikesell did not play for the second straight game.
“Our bench has got to get better,” Miller said. “We need some guys to come off that bench and help us. Those guys logged a lot of minutes. We didn’t sub much. We needed to probably do that a little bit more.”
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