Dayton, as always, treated this as a business trip, eeping to its hotel but still appreciating the weather.
“I was happy to be in the sun,” Montgomery said. “I missed that for sure.”
On the second day of spring, thanks in part to 20 points from Montgomery, Dayton kept its vacation in the National Invitation Tournament alive. It dominated the second half and beat North Carolina Wilmington 80-61 at Trask Coliseum to reach the quarterfinals for the first time since 2010.
“I thought it was a good team win,” Dayton coach Anthony Grant said. “The guys played with purpose in a hostile environment here. We were able to sustain good effort throughout the second half.”
No. 2 seed Dayton (25-11) will play No. 1 seed Wake Forest (18-16) or Illinois State (21-12) on Tuesday or Wednesday in the quarterfinals. Those teams play at 4:30 p.m. Sunday in Winston-Salem, N.C.
If Wake Forest loses, Dayton would play at home in the quarterfinals. If Wake Forest wins, Dayton will play on the road.
Here are three takeaways from Dayton’s 35th game:
Credit: David Jablonski
1: The Flyers spoiled a big night for the Seahawks: This was the first postseason home game in UNCW history. In two previous NIT appearances, UNCW lost at Wake Forest in 1998 and at Dayton in 2001.
With Dayton unable to host games in the first or second rounds because of the First Four and the Ohio High School Athletic Association boys basketball tournament, UNCW welcomed the Flyers to Trask Coliseum.
A sellout crowd of 5,038 fans, many of them students filling the sections behind the bench, tried to will the Seahawks to a victory. It worked for the first 10 minutes as UNCW built a 24-14 lead. From that point forward, the Flyers controlled the game.
“We just stayed level headed,” Montgomery said. “Coach told us they were going to be playing with a lot of emotion. A whole bunch of people came out to support them and got loud. But we trust one another and stayed with each other and just won the game.”
Wilmington (27-7) couldn’t build on a 68-67 victory at Yale on Tuesday.
“Give Dayton a lot of credit,” UNCW coach Takayo Siddle said. “That’s a good team. We jumped out on them, and they had the poise and maturity to just settle in and not get rattled and end the half with a four-point lead. They’re very sound. We knew that. Very solid. Good basketball team. I think it’s an NCAA (tournament) team. All the credit to them. They showed us a lot. We can learn a lot from them. And we will. We’ll use it as fuel to go into the offseason and build our roster and get ready for another hell of a year.”
Credit: David Jablonski
Credit: David Jablonski
2: Dayton turned up the pressure in the second half: Dayton led 37-35 after UNCW scored the first basket of the second half. The Flyers outscored the Seahawks 16-2 in the next six minutes and led by double digits the rest of the way.
During the key stretch, UNCW committed five of its nine turnovers. Dayton’s full-court pressure played a big part in that. The Seahawks also missed six straight shots and two free throws. The Flyers stretched their lead to 53-37 with 13 minutes to play.
“It slowed them down,” Montgomery said. “When they got in the half court, they were playing with a low shot clock, and that’s what we want.”
3: Dayton’s bench contributed: Dayton’s reserves outscored UNCW’s reserves 27-15.
Bryce Heard scored 10 points after scoring 12 points Wednesday in an 80-66 victory at Bradley.
“It’s big,” Heard said. “We just have so many different weapons on our team. It’s been hard to guard us recently. Coming off the bench, playing my role, doing what I can do, it opens the doors for us.”
Jacob Conner and Derkack each scored seven points. Derkack added 13 rebounds. Malcolm Thomas had three points.
Heard, Conner, Derkack and Thomas combined to make 4 of 8 3-pointers.
“That’s what you want to see,” Grant said. “You want to see guys understanding the opportunities and taking advantage of those opportunities.”
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