Boise State, Dayton’s opponent at 9:10 p.m. Wednesday, looked much happier to be headed to Dayton. In a video posted by the team’s twitter account, the Broncos players jumped up and down as they heard the news.
Like Dayton, Boise (25-8) made the tournament as an at-large team. It lost 71-66 to Wyoming in the Mountain West semifinals on Friday after winning the conference’s regular-season title.
Like Dayton, Boise plays what is largely a seven-man rotation. Its top scorer is Derrick Marks, a 6-f00t-3 senior guard from Chicago.
Boise State is 0-6 all time in the NCAA tournament and lost to La Salle in the First Four two years ago in its last appearance.
“Dayton in Dayton?” Boise State coach Leon Rice told reporters in Idaho on Sunday. “Well, I think our travel is going to tougher than theirs. We had such a neat experience in our first time in the First Four. I know they’re 16-0 in their building, and Archie (Miller) does such a good job coaching them.”
Extra help: The Flyers brought an extra trainer with them to Brooklyn to help them cope with the rigors of playing three games in three days. Chrissy Crowe, a physical therapist with the Premier Health Network, works with Dayton student-athletes on campus but doesn't typically travel with the team.
Dayton assistant coach Eric Farrell said Crowe played a pivotal role throughout the A-10 tournament, and he hoped she would be able to work with the team during the NCAA tournament.
Tournament honors: Dayton's Jordan Sibert and Kendall Pollard made the all-tournament team along with VCU's Treveon Graham and Mo Alie-Cox and Davidson's Tyler Kalinoski.
Graham was named most outstanding player of the tournament. He scored 20 against Dayton.
Bench scoreless: Freshman guard Darrell Davis missed all seven of his shot attempts, four from long range, and had no points and three rebounds in 17 minutes.
Dayton’s other bench player, Bobby Wehrli was also held scoreless. He had three rebounds and a block in 15 minutes.
“Darrell did a great job in this tournament,” Miller said. “Darrell had some really good looks, and I would tell him to shoot that ball every single time. Bobby did a tremendous job in this tournament. We wouldn’t have played for the championship without him. … We are not that team that’s built with the productivity or firepower off the bench. Their job is to come in, hold serve, stick to the script, and they did that.”
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