Pierre made 1 of 2 free throws, and then Ennis missed a 3-pointer at the buzzer as the Flyers advanced to the Sweet 16 for the first time in 30 years with a 55-53 victory.
Few people outside the Dayton locker room knew it at the time, but Pierre played throughout the NCAA tournament with a hernia. He still managed to average 12.5 points — even better than his season average of 11.2 — and 27.5 minutes in the four games.
The trainers taped Pierre’s groin before the games. He even played with two pairs of spandex to provide extra protection. He borrowed a pair of teammate Scoochie Smith’s spandex for the last game.
“I was able to play through it,” Pierre said Monday. “As soon as I started warming up, I didn’t really feel it because of the adrenaline and all that, especially being in the tournament.”
Pierre had surgery to repair the hernia after the season in April and couldn’t do much of anything for several months. He could lift weights with his upper body. He worked on ball-handling, but only if he was stationary. He couldn’t run up and down the court.
Pierre, now a junior, described it as an up-and-down offseason. One thing that shot up is his weight. He put on 15 pounds, mostly in muscle in his upper body.
Unfortunately, Pierre hasn’t been able to put his new physique to work lately because he sprained his foot last month in practice. He rode a stationary bike during Monday’s practice at the Cronin Athletics Center.
“It’s getting better,” Pierre said. “After the surgery and the foot injury, I’m trying to get my condition back up. The coaching staff has given me a good plan. I’m getting a lot of treatment.”
Pierre said he has no idea when he’ll be able to return to practice. He does expect to be ready for the start of the season in November. He planned to stay on campus this week during fall break instead or returning home to Whitby, Ont., to get extra rehab work done on the foot.
“It’s tough,” he said. “They’ve been doing a good job by themselves and encouraging me to make sure I don’t get too down on myself for not playing right now. I’m excited for the season for sure. I can’t wait for it. I just need to get in shape.”
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