Dayton posts worst 3-point percentage in six years as VCU wins A-10 title

No. 1 seed Virginia Commonwealth ended No. 2 seed Dayton’s NCAA tournament dreams with a 68-56 victory. The Rams ended the game on an 8-0 run. Dayton didn’t make a field goal in the last 10 minutes. DaRon Holmes II scored the last six points of the game for Dayton at the free-throw line.

Here’s a quick recap of the game:

What it means: Dayton (22-12) failed to capture its first A-10 championship since 2003. It still has never won the tournament outside UD Arena. It also fell to 0-4 against VCU in the A-10 tournament with two losses in the championship game.

Now Dayton waits to see if it will receive a NIT bid for the third straight season and fourth time in coach Anthony Grant’s six seasons. John Templon, who predicts the NIT bracket, wrote on Sunday, “Flyers wouldn’t be a particularly surprising team to end up in the bracket.”

VCU (27-7) won its second A-10 tournament title and first since 2015 when it beat Dayton 71-65. It earned its third NCAA tournament bid in coach Mike Rhoades’ six seasons.

Star of the game: DaRon Holmes II scored 28 points on 9-of-12 shooting for Dayton.

Stat of the game: Dayton made 3 of 22 3-pointers (13.6%). It made 1 of 13 in the second half. Koby Brea missed all five of his attempts. R.J. Blakney was 0-for-4.

VCU made 8 of 17 3-pointers (47.1%) and shot better than 40% in each of its three A-10 tournament games.

Turning point: Dayton had a chance to tie the game after R.J. Blakney grabbed an offensive rebound with 4:55 to play. His dunk attempt was blocked. VCU went the other way and scored on the fast break to take a 58-54 lead.

Big shot: After Holmes cut the deficit to four points with two free throws at the 3:16 mark, Jamir Watkins made a 3-pointer to give VCU a 63-56 lead with 2:53 to play.

HALFTIME RECAP

Mustapha Amzil and Holmes combined for 29 points to lead Dayton to a 36-30 halftime lead

Here’s a quick recap of the half:

Key players: Amzil scored 15 points on 4-of-5 shooting from the field. He made 6 of 6 free throws. Holmes had 14 points on 6-of-9 shooting and grabbed seven rebounds.

Key stat: Each team committed 10 fouls. Dayton made 10 of 13 free throws. VCU made 9 of 12.

Big run: Dayton trailed 18-15 at the 7:44 mark and outscored VCU 11-2 over the next three minutes. A wide-open fast-break dunk by R.J. Blakney capped the run.

Foul trouble: Dayton’s Toumani Camara picked up his second foul midway through the half and did not return to the game in the half. He had two points in eight minutes.

VCU’s Brandon Johns was limited to six minutes after picking up his second foul.