The tournament won’t return to Brooklyn until 2019. After Pittsburgh hosts it in 2017, it moves to the Verizon Center in Washington, D.C., in 2018.
“Congratulations to St. Joe’s,” Dayton coach Archie Miller said. “Fantastic team. Really, really difficult to defend, especially from a front-court perspective with the way they shoot the ball. They made 10 3s and some timely ones, especially at the end of the game. …
“I was proud of our guys, though, in terms of what we’ve been doing here the last couple weeks. We really wanted to play for the championship. I think this Atlantic 10 championship at Barclays is something special, and it’s great for our league. Unfortunately, we’re going to have to wait a couple more years to get back here to try it again.”
Here are three key points from this game:
1. Seeding at stake: The Flyers are expected to land anything from a No. 6 to a No. 8 seed today when the NCAA tournament bracket is announced. They ranked 19th in the RPI on Saturday but didn't rank as high in other metrics, such as the Ken Pomeroy ratings, where they ranked 53rd.
"Unfortunately, we get punished for playing in the Atlantic 10," Miller said. "We don't get enough credit for playing against a team like St. Joe's, who in my opinion can beat anybody if they get hot."
"We're going to prepare as hard as we can, get ready to go compete and play," Miller said. "I know we have some guys who understand how to play in that tournament. They shouldn't be nervous at all. That's also a big thing."
"It's very disappointing," Pierre said. "We definitely wanted to win as many games as possible and make it to the championship and see what happens. Things happen. We can't do much about it right now but move on. Hopefully, we'll look forward to Sunday and see if our name is called."
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