First Four returns to UD Arena for 10th time in March

The decibel level at UD Arena reached new heights in 2015 when the Dayton Flyers played in the First Four for the first time. Many of those same fans threw their support behind another Atlantic 10 Conference team, St. Bonaventure, three years later, cheering the Bonnies to a 65-58 victory against UCLA.

“It felt like the Reilly Center on steroids,” St. Bonaventure coach Mark Schmidt said in January, referring to the team’s home arena in St. Bonaventure, N.Y. “After that game, I thanked the Dayton fans for what they did for us. They were a big, big part of the reason why we had success. They were on our side. I was at Xavier for seven years, and I never heard cheers in that place ever. But on that night, it was a special night, and kudos to the Dayton fans who really supported an Atlantic 10 team.”

Until the past two seasons, four teams every year enjoyed special nights at UD Arena in the First Four, which returns March 15-16 after a two-year absence. Only the pandemic prevented Dayton from playing host to the first games of the NCAA tournament in 2020, when the entire event was cancelled, and in 2021, when the NCAA decided to play all NCAA Tournament games in Indiana.

The two-year gap between games has not hurt UD Arena’s stature. No arena in the country has hosted more NCAA tournament games. The number reached 125 in 2019 and will grow by four every season through at least 2026. The next group of eight teams will be announced two weeks from today. Selection Sunday is March 13.

This will also be the 10th year for the First Four, which replaced the play-in game or opening round game, in 2011. That makes this a good time to look back on the first nine years and 36 games of the First Four.

Best performance in a loss: Texas Southern senior Aaric Murray scored 38 points in an 81-69 loss to Cal Poly in matchup of No. 16 seeds in 2014. The 6-foot-10 center made 11 of 18 2-point shots and 3 of 5 3-pointers.

That’s the most points scored in the First Four, and it marked a career high for Murray, who hit the milestone in his final game. He started his career with two seasons at La Salle and then spent a season at West Virginia. He averaged a career-best 21.6 points at Texas Southern.

Best performance in a victory: Darnell Edge, a 6-2 senior guard, scored 33 points in Fairleigh Dickinson’s 82-76 victory against Prairie View A&M in 2019. He made 7 of 9 3-pointers.

Fairleigh Dickson won its first NCAA tournament game after losing 96-65 to Florida Gulf Coast in the First Four three years earlier.

“It was just a great feeling for me, being here three years ago and losing by over 30 points,” Edge said after the game. “And then coming back this year and being able to get a win. It’s a great feeling. It’s history. I wouldn’t have wanted to do it with any other team.”

Biggest blowout: Florida Gulf Coast’s 31-point victory is the most lopsided of the 36 games played in the First Four. Florida Gulf Coast had only one player remaining on that roster from its team that made the Sweet 16 in 2013, and it was unable to sustain its tournament magic this time, losing 83-67 to North Carolina in the next round.

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Best performance by a future NBA player: As a senior at Saint Mary’s in in 2013, Matthew Dellavedova made 5 of 7 3-pointers and scored 22 points in a 67-54 victory against fellow No. 1 seed Middle Tennessee State. Dellavedova played six seasons with the Cleveland Cavaliers and was a key reserve in 2016 when they won the NBA championship.

Biggest shot: Of course, Dayton Flyers fans will never forget the 3-pointer Jordan Sibert made in the final minute in 2015. The Flyers beat Boise State 56-55 in their first and, so far, only appearance in the First Four.

“That was another just amazing play,” Sibert said last summer. “That year I actually had some wrist problems, and I hadn’t been practicing, so to have Archie (Miller) have enough faith in me to call that play, to give me that shot, it’s just a testament to our team and the coaches to believe in me. The year before when Vee (Sanford) made the shot against Ohio State, he subbed me out. I wasn’t even on the court when he made that shot. But coach had faith in me. That was the story of our team, believing in each other, being together and taking it day by day.”

Best game: In the first First Four game in 2011, North Carolina-Asheville beat fellow No. 16 seed Arkansas-Little Rock 81-77 in overtime. Asheville junior guard Matt Dickey hit a game-tying 3-pointer with 10.5 seconds left to send the game to overtime. He finished with 22 points.

“I honestly didn’t know how much time was on the clock,” Dickey said, “but I don’t want to tell Coach B (Asheville coach Eddie Biedenbach) that.”

Best overtime performance: Tennessee outscored Iowa 14-1 in overtime to win 78-65 in 2014.

The game was an emotional one for Iowa coach Fran McCaffery, who flew to Dayton with his team on Monday, left on Tuesday night to be with his 13-year-old son, Patrick, who underwent surgery on the morning of the game on Wednesday, and then returned in time for the game.

“It was a day, needless to say, that has been very difficult,” he said. “It puts wins and losses in perspective.”

Patrick is now a sophomore guard at Iowa and averages 11.1 points per game.

Best coaching matchup: Jim Boeheim, of Syracuse, beat Bobby Hurley, of Arizona State 60-56 in 2018. Bobby’s brother Dan Hurley coached Rhode Island to the NCAA tournament the same season.

“They’ll never be as good as their father,” Boeheim said, “but they’re pretty good. Bob Hurley is one of the great coaches that ever coached basketball anywhere.”

Best tournament run that started in First Four: Virginia Commonwealth beat fellow No. 11 seed Southern California 59-46 in the first First Four in 2011 and then upset Georgetown, Purdue, Florida State and Kansas to reach the Final Four.

Every year until 2019, one First Four winner had won at least one more game in the tournament. VCU was the only First Four winner to win another game in the tournament in 2011. South Florida was the only one to win another game in 2012. In 2013, La Salle advanced to the Sweet 16 with two-point victories against Kansas State and Ole Miss after beating Boise State 80-71 in the first round.

Other teams that started in the First Four and won games in future rounds are: Tennessee (Sweet 16 in 2014); Dayton (second round in 2015); Wichita State (second round in 2016); Southern California (second round in 2017); and Syracuse (Sweet 16 in 2018).

Most famous fans: In 2012, President Barack Obama, British Prime Minister David Cameron and Ohio Gov. John Kasich watched from the front row as Western Kentucky rallied from a 16-point deficit to beat fellow No. 16 seed Mississippi Valley State 59-58.

“Hopefully, I’ll get to take the ball out next to him so I can get to say, ‘Hey, Wassup?’” Mississippi Valley State senior Paul Crosy said the day before the game. “But probably, if I did find myself right there by him, I might just freeze up and only be able to wave or something. But I want him to know I’m grateful to have him as our president and I appreciate it that he’s taken time to come watch us.”