Dayton falls to Arizona in second round of NCAA tournament

DaRon Holmes II recorded his 29th career double-double (23 points, 11 rebounds) for No. 7 seed Dayton, which dropped a 78-68 decision to No. 2 Arizona on Saturday at the Delta Center.

Koby Brea (14 points), Kobe Elvis (13) and Enoch Cheeks (10) also reached double figures for the Flyers, who finished 25-8.

Caleb Love scored 19 points for Arizona, which improves to 27-8 and advanced to the Sweet 16 to face the Clemson-Baylor winner on Thursday in Los Angeles.

The Flyers trailed by 17 in the first half and trimmed the deficit to seven (40-33) by halftime. Dayton got as close at 3 points (52-49) with 11:40 to play, but Arizona pulled away from there.

First half recap

Key players: Dayton forward DaRon Holmes II led all scorers with 14 points on 5-of-7 shooting.

Arizona’s Caleb Love made 3 of 5 3-pointers and scored 13 points.

Key stats: Arizona shot 64% from the field (16 of 25). Dayton shot 33.5% (11 of 31).

Arizona had 11 turnovers to Dayton’s six.

Big run: Arizona took control with an early 8-0 run, turning a 9-8 lead into a 17-9 advantage. Arizona twice led by 17: 37-20 with 4:15 to play and 40-23 with 2:44 to go.

Turning point: Dayton got back into the game with a 3-pointer by Holmes, a dunk by Enoch Cheeks, two free throws by Holmes and a 3 by Koby Brea. Javon Bennett had a 3-pointer go in and out at the buzzer.

Looking ahead: Arizona will play No. 3 seed Baylor or No. 6 Clemson in the Sweet 16 on Thursday at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles, Calif.