Many Saint Louis fans stuck around for the ceremony, and even some UD fans in attendance waited to applaud the Billikens, who clinched their second straight Atlantic 10 regular-season title and the top seed in the conference tournament despite the loss because Saint Joseph’s lost to George Washington.
“Extremely classy move by the Dayton fans to stick around to applaud our seniors,” a Saint Louis fan wrote on Twitter. “It’s proof of what a special senior class we have.”
This was a night to celebrate the Saint Louis seniors — but also for the Dayton freshmen. Kendall Pollard (nine points), Scoochie Smith (six) and Kyle Davis (four) combined for 19 points. That’s the highest total for the group in one game this season. They did it by hitting 9-of-12 shots.
Pollard’s contributions especially came out of nowhere. He had a total of three points in the previous 11 games and had seven points in the first half of this game alone and finished with nine points in 10 minutes. His basket at the end of the first half cut Saint Louis’ lead to 39-32.
“I was just trying to bring some energy to the team,” Pollard said.
Smith had three assists and one turnover in 20 minutes. Davis played 12 minutes and had one of the big baskets of the game, a layup that tied the score at 57 with 6:47 left. Pollard assisted him on that play.
“Those kids are terrific kids,” Dayton coach Archie Miller said. “Kyle didn’t even get in against UMass, and he doesn’t blink an eye. He just shows up. Kendall hadn’t been playing a lot lately. I don’t think Devin (Oliver) was as sharp as he’s been, and we needed (Pollard) and he came in and gave us a big boost. Scooch played long minutes most of the game. Those three guys are program guys. They’re about the right things. They’re a reason why we’re 21-9 now, and we couldn’t have won any of the games without them.”
Robinson's 3-pointers: Jalen Robinson had made 2-of-5 3-pointers all season and he didn't attempt any as a freshman. But he made 2-of-2 Wednesday, both big ones in the second half.
The first 3 cut the Saint Louis lead to 57-55 with 7:20 left. The second extended Dayton’s lead to 63-59 with 4:40 to go.
“I work on it,” Robinson said. “Tonight I just stepped up and made plays for my team. I was just feeding off the team’s energy. It was a great team win. I couldn’t be more proud of my brothers.
Oliver's night: Oliver missed all five of his shots in the first half Wednesday. At that point, he was 0-of-17 this season against Saint Louis.
But Oliver was 3-of-4 from the field in the second half and made all three of his free throws to finish with nine points. His acrobatic layup with 3:36 to play turned out to be Dayton’s last made field goal. He was fouled on the shot and sank the free throw to give Dayton a 68-59 lead.
Oliver fouled out with 1:37 to play.
“You’ve got to stick with it,” Oliver said. “I think I started to find my shot a little bit in the mid-range game. You’ve got to keep fighting through to the end.”
Big picture: The Flyers are now 4-5 against top 50 teams in the RPI with consecutive wins over top 20 teams: No. 13 Massachusetts and No. 16 Saint Louis.
According to the Live RPI on RPIForecast.com, Dayton jumped to 43rd with this victory
Next game: Dayton hosts Richmond at 7 p.m. Saturday. It will be the last regular-season home game for seniors Devin Oliver, Vee Sanford and Matt Kavanaugh and also walk-on Brian Vonderhaar.
Richmond (18-11, 8-6) plays its final home game at 9 tonight against crosstown rival Virginia Commonwealth (22-7, 10-4).
The Spiders beat Dayton 73-64 on Jan. 18 and then beat Massachusetts 58-55 and Saint Joseph’s 77-62. They’re 4-5 since then and have lost their last two games to two teams in the bottom half of the standings, George Mason (69-60) and Rhode Island (66-43).
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