Dayton basketball: Season ends for Flyers with loss to Illinois State in NIT quarterfinals

The Dayton Flyers trailed from start to finish and saw their season end at UD Arena for the first time in 24 years.

Dayton fell into a 13-0 hole in the opening minutes and trailed by as many as 19 points in the second half. A late comeback fell short in a 61-55 loss to Illinois State on Wednesday in front of a crowd of 10,444 in the quarterfinals of the National Invitation Tournament.

Here’s a quick recap of the game:

What it means: Dayton finished the season 25-12. The Flyers finished a season with a home loss for the first time since 2002 when they fell 68-59 to Tennessee Tech in the second round of the NIT.

Dayton fell short of reaching the NIT semifinals for the first time since 2010, when it won its third NIT championship.

Illinois State (23-12) advanced to the NIT semifinals for the first time.

Star of the game: Johnny Kinzinger led all scorers with 16 points. He hit the game-winning 3-pointer in Illinois State’s second-round victory at Wake Forest,

Bryce Heard scored 12 points off the bench for Dayton.

Stat of the game: Illinois State shot 37.5% (6 of 16) from 3-point range.

Dayton shot 12% (3 of 25), its second-worst mark of the season. It’s the worst 3-point percentage Dayton has posted at home since it made 1 of 15 in a 56-52 victory against Bowling Green on Dec. 9, 2014.

Key moment: Dayton trailed 40-30 with 14 minutes, 51 seconds to play. Illinois State outscored Dayton 9-0 in the next two-plus minutes to take its biggest lead, 49-30 at the 12:30 mark.

Comeback: The Flyers trailed 53-34 with 8:41 to play and then began a 14-0 run that lasted nearly eight minutes. A basket by Ty’Reek Coleman at the 1:53 mark ended Dayton’s run and gave the Redbirds a 55-48 lead.

Dayton twice missed layups in the final 90 seconds that would have cut the deficit to three points.

Injury news: Dayton guard Javon Bennett left the game at the 11:29 mark with an injury and didn’t return. Coach Anthony Grant said after the game Bennett might have suffered an oblique injury.

Looking ahead: Illinois State will play Auburn or Nevada in the semifinals at Hinkle Fieldhouse in Indianapolis on April 2.

One semifinal will match two No. 1 seeds, Tulsa and New Mexico, who both won quarterfinal games at home Tuesday. Tulsa beat No. 3 seed Wichita State 83-79. New Mexico beat Saint Joseph’s 84-69.

The semifinal winners will play in the NIT championship game at 8 p.m. April 5 at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis.

HALFTIME RECAP

Dayton fell into a 13-0 hole, trailed by as many as 17 points in the first half and faced a 33-23 halftime deficit.

Here’s a quick recap of the first half:

Key players: Johnny Kinzinger scored 11 points on 4-of-7 shooting for Illinois State. He made 3 of 5 3-pointers.

Amaël L’Etang scored five points for Dayton on 2-of-6 shooting.

Key stat: Illinois State shot 44% (4 of 9) from 3-point range. Dayton shot 7% (1 of 14). The Flyers missed their first 12 attempts before L’Etang got one to drop with 1:44 to play.

Big runs: Illinois State outscored Dayton 13-0 in the first five minutes. The Flyers missed their first seven shots before De’Shayne Montgomery scored at the 14:50 mark.

Dayton cut the deficit to 19-14 but then gave up a 12-0 run.

Comeback: Illinois State didn’t score in the last 4½ minutes after taking a 33-16 lead. Dayton ended the half on a 7-0 run.