No. 2 seed Dayton (21-11) escaped with a 60-54 victory against No. 10 seed Saint Joseph’s (16-17) in the quarterfinals and will play in the semifinals for the second straight season as it seeks its first championship game appearance since 2015.
“These guys played a game that was in a lot of ways just a tough game to play in the opening round of the tournament in their first time on the court,” Dayton coach Anthony Grant said. “We’re excited that we get a chance to continue to play at this time of year. We know this is March Madness, and it’s survive and advance. We’re excited that we get to continue to play here and get a chance to continue to compete here on Saturday.”
Here are three takeaways from Dayton’s 32nd game:
1. Saint Joseph’s zone defense troubled Dayton: The Flyers struggled the entire game to get good shots in the paint. They shot 40.6% (13 of 32) from 2-point range. That’s their worst percentage in a victory this season.
“I think it kind of took us off guard,” Dayton point guard Malachi Smith said. “Just having a week break and then we kind of thought they were going to go man. We worked on some zone, but they packed the paint.”
Dayton did not shoot the 3-pointer well either, making 29.2% (7 of 24), though they fared better after missing their first nine attempts.
“We worked on the 3-2 a lot,” Saint Joseph’s guard Erik Reynolds said. “Specifically to Dayton, we made sure we identified where their shooters were on the court, and I think we contained that pretty well.”
Credit: David Jablonski
2. Dayton survived a scare in the final minutes: Dayton went more than seven minutes without a field goal in the second half — it scored five points at the line during the stretch — before getting a dunk by DaRon Holmes with 1:51 to play and then a jumper by Koby Brea at the 1:10 mark. That pushed the lead to 57-49 and proved to be just enough, though the Hawks had one last run in them.
In a five-second span. Reynolds, who led the Hawks with 19 points, made a 3-pointer. After a turnover by Mustapha Amzil, Reynolds scored on a layup. The Hawks trailed 57-54 with 39 seconds to play. There was another scare ahead for Dayton as it nearly committed a turnover with 15 seconds to play only to retain possession on a jump ball.
Dayton finally clinched the victory when Amzil made two free throws with 11 seconds remaining to push the lead to five points.
“I thought our guys tonight show great heart, great togetherness and resiliency,” Grant said. “It was one of those games where things weren’t going well offensively. I thought our defense carried the day for us, and that’s the thing about this team. We have a variety of different ways that we can win. When we’re flowing well offensively, this team is tough to beat, but we struggled offensively. Our defense has been outstanding all year.”
3. Dayton played short-handed again: Guard Kobe Elvis, who injured his knee on the final play of the game Friday at Saint Louis after running into Amzil, did not play Thursday and has been ruled out for the tournament, Grant said after the game.
Guard Mike Sharavjamts, who also was hurt Friday at Saint Louis, was in uniform and warmed up while wearing a brace on his right knee but did not play.
Grant was hopeful the extra day of rest Friday before the semifinals would help Sharavjamts.
“With every day, he’s been getting a little better,” Grant said. “He has not been able to practice at all, do anything on the court. He tried a little bit, and there’s some discomfort.”
Dayton’s five starters all played between 34 and 39 minutes with walk-on Brady Uhl seeing seven minutes of action and R.J. Blakney playing only four minutes.
“When you have got to play the minutes that our guys played today in this hard-fought game, I think certainly the extra day will help,” Grant said.
STAR OF THE GAME
Toumani Camara scored 17 points on 5-of-11 shooting. He made 4 of 6 3-pointers. He matched his career high with 18 rebounds, the highest total in an A-10 tournament game since 2017.
STAT OF THE GAME
Dayton grabbed 16 offensive rebounds and outscored Saint Joseph’s 15-7 in second-chance points.
LOOKING AHEAD
Dayton (21-11) will play No. 3 seed Fordham at 3:30 p.m. Saturday. Fordham beat La Salle 69-61 Thursday night.
In other Thursday games, No. 1 seed Virginia Commonwealth beat No. 8 Davidson 71-53, and No. 4 Saint Louis beat No. 5 George Mason 82-54. VCU and Saint Louis will play at 1 p.m. Saturday.
All the semifinalists get Friday off and will practice at the Barclays Center and take part in press conferences to talk about Saturday’s games.
SATURDAY’S GAME
Dayton vs. Fordham, 3:30 p.m., USA Network, 1290, 95.7
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