No. 3 seed Oklahoma held No. 11 seed Dayton scoreless for a nine-minute stretch in the second half and pulled away for a 72-66 victory Sunday at Nationwide Arena.
“I’ll remember this season for as long as I live, regardless of how long I coach,” Miller said. “There will never be a team of seven people duplicate what we did: win 27 games with six scholarship players, a freshman, three sophomores. It will never been done again.”
The Flyers (27-9) fell one victory short of tying the school record for victories. Their quest to become the first Dayton team to reach the Sweet 16 in consecutive seasons since the Don Donoher era in the 1960s ended when they missed seven straight shots during the key stretch and committed five turnovers.
“Oklahoma’s a good team,” Dayton guard Kyle Davis said. “We couldn’t get nothing going offensively. I don’t think my team played bad. We played how we wanted to play. We played hard to the end. They were just a good team.”
The Sooners (24-10) trailed 56-49 at the 10:23 mark and scored the next 13 points. A turnover by Dayton freshman Darrell Davis led to a layup by Buddy Hield at the 5:56 mark. Oklahoma took a 57-56 lead and never trailed again.
“We couldn’t make shots toward the end of the game,” Dayton forward Kendall Pollard said, “like we were at the beginning of the second half or the end of the first half. Toward the end, we couldn’t get a rebound or a stop, and they kept making free throws.”
Oklahoma made 12 of 14 free throws in the final three minutes, stifling Dayton’s comeback hopes.
Jordan Woodard led Oklahoma with 16 points. Hield added 15.
Dayton guard Scoochie Smith matched his career high with 16 points. Guard Darrell Davis ended his freshman season on a high note with 15 points on five 3-pointers.
The Flyers overcame a torrid start by the Sooners, who led 9-0 on three 3-pointers in the first 3:09. The Sooners made 8 of 13 3-pointers in the first half, but Dayton responded by making 6 of 12. The Flyers trailed 34-32 at halftime.
Dayton caught fire itself early in the second half. It took a 49-40 lead at the 13:13 mark on a 3-pointer by Dyshawn Pierre. That was the third 3-pointer by the Flyers in a two-minute stretch.
Dayton looked on its way to a date in Syracuse, N.Y., with No. 7 seed Michigan State, but the run and the fun of a season to remember ended there.
“I felt the start of the game, the wind, the legs, they kind of shocked us a bit,” Miller said. “But once we sort of get our feet on the ground a little bit, we became ourselves and quite frankly we were right there. But we just had a couple of plays not go our way. And give them credit for making them. But it won’t take away from the season.”
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