Here’s a look back at each game:
March 24, 1967 (Louisville, Ky.): Dayton 76, North Carolina 62
Summary: Arguably the greatest victory in UD history because it came in the Final Four, this game propelled Dayton to a national championship game appearance against UCLA.
Dayton Daily News game story by Bill Clark: In the days of World War II, many souls had nothing to come in on more than a wing and a prayer.
For University of Dayton basketball All-American Donnie May tonight, the word is “a cool head and an Immaculate Conception medal.” May and his Flyer teammates play UCLA at 9:30 p.m. for 1967′s National Collegiate Athletic Association basketball championship.
As they have been since they set foot on the tournament trail two weeks and four victories ago, the Flyers are favored to lose.
But Dayton’s basketball team couldn’t care less.
“We don’t want to get too worked up and nervous about anything,” said May after carrying the guidon with 34 points and 15 rebounds in Friday’s 76-62 victory over North Carolina for the NCAA’s Eastern championship.
Especially May & Co, are trying to keep a cool head about UCLA, which captured Western honors as expected with a 73-58 victory over Houston in Friday night’s second game.
The Flyers will tell you that their ability to relax and take the successively-more-important tournament games with Western Kentucky, Tennessee, Virginia Tech and North Carolina as “just another game” has been an important key to their successes.
Can you really relax while playing No. 1 UCLA for the national championship? May was asked.
“Yes, I think so,” answered May matter of factly. “We’ve gone this far.”
As the man said, “What we have got to lose now?”
May thought he was able to be extra effective Friday “because I was able to hit the outside shot. It gave me more confidence. I didn’t hit that many of them, but the shots I hit kept my defensive man from laying off me. With him (either Larry Miller or Bill Bunting of North Carolina) playing me tight, I was able to get around him for the inside shots.”
After missing his first shot of the game, with it three minutes old, May made 13 straight shots from the floor. The last 17 minutes of the first half and the first four minutes and 30 seconds of the second half, Don didn’t miss a shot although he took them.
May “wouldn’t want to say what effect” the medal, inserted in the waistband of his uniform pants, had on his play. “But it’s going to stay right there for the championship game,” he added with a raising of his voice level.
May had these other thoughts on Dayton’s greatest victory thus far in its 64 years of basketball: “We knew the North Carolina game was an extra special game. But we don’t get all psyched up or go for that razz-ma-tazz stuff. We just try to do our job with a businesslike attitude. And the only time Coach Don Donoher gets excited is when we get a game locked up.
“When we got the NCAA bid, we didn’t think we would make the finals. We just hoped for the best. If you worry about how you’re going to perform, you won’t do well. I know I don’t think Lew Alcindor is going to worry about a guy like me ..
“Am I thrilled? Oh, yes. Beating North Carolina put us in the big show — the biggest show.”
Dec. 31, 2006 (Chapel Hill, N.C.): North Carolina 81, Dayton 51
Summary: After starting 10-1, this was the second of back-to-back 30-point losses on the road to top-10 teams. The Flyers lost 84-54 at No. 7 Pittsburgh eight days before this game against No. 2 North Carolina.
Dayton Daily News game story by Kyle Nagel: Just before the pregame introductions, the Smith Center announcer welcomed “Dayton University.” It didn’t get much better from there.
The University of Dayton men’s basketball team entered North Carolina’s Dean Dome on Sunday against the relatively sloppy Tar Heels, but the Flyers’ shooting woes gave them their second drubbing against a Top 7 opponent in nine days, this time 81-51.
Dayton made just 18 of 59 shots as the second-ranked Tar Heels (12-1) committed 21 turnovers (seven more than their average) and liberally substituted.
”We knew what a challenge this would be coming in here,” said Dayton coach Brian Gregory. “That’s a team capable of winning the national championship, no doubt about it.”
In Dayton’s three road games — against SMU on Nov. 18, No. 7 Pittsburgh on Dec. 23 and No. 2 North Carolina — the Flyers (10-3) have shot 50-of-161, or 31 percent. In going 9-0 at UD Arena, Dayton made 46.1 percent of its shots.
Brian Roberts, UD’s leading scorer, had 14 points on 5-of-17 shooting. Freshman Marcus Johnson added 14 points and Monty Scott had 11.
Roberts scored the game’s opening basket before North Carolina got 10 straight points to go up 12-2 with 14:35 left in the first half. The Flyers got as close as five points (17-12) on a Norman Plummer free throw with 9:03 left, but the Tar Heels outscored UD 17-6 as Dayton continually missed close scoring chances and trailed 34-18 at halftime.
UNC opened with 12 points in the first four minutes of the second half and led 46-25. The Tar Heels kept their lead above 20 for the remainder.
”We’re far from discouraged, and I think that’s a positive,” Gregory said.
April 1, 2010 (New York, NY): Dayton 79, North Carolina 68
Summary: Dayton made the most of a NIT bid after missing out on the NCAA tournament thanks to four losses in the last five games of the regular season and then a loss to Xavier in the Atlantic 10 Conference.
Dayton Daily News game story by Doug Harris: After all his players snipped a piece of the NIT championship net, University of Dayton coach Brian Gregory climbed the ladder, made the final cut and waved it in the air as several thousand red-clad Flyer fans buried the needle of the applause meter.
After a regular season filled with occasional highs but mostly dispiriting lows, UD put together a stunning run of five straight wins - four of them over BCS conference schools - to capture the program’s third NIT title.After building a 13-point first-half lead, the Flyers withstood a mighty charge from North Carolina but held on for a 79-68 victory before a crowd of 9,827 at Madison Square Garden on Thursday, April 1.
”I’m beat up,” an emotionally exhausted Gregory admitted afterward. As his eyes moistened, he added: “I love these guys. They mean so much to me. If you measure the character of a man not by his success, but by how he responds to failure and disappointment, there’s no tool to measure how much these guys have of that.”
Chris Johnson was named most outstanding player and - unlike Bill Chmielewski, the Flyers’ MVP from the ‘62 title run who famously wore the silver cup as a hat - hoisted the trophy over his head. The sophomore star had 14 points against the Tar Heels (20-17) and 36 points and 19 rebounds in the two games here.
”I’m just happy. I got bruised up, but I got to experience a championship,” Johnson said. “I couldn’t let my team down. I had to be here for my seniors.”Marcus Johnson, who also made the all-tourney team, had a game-high 20 points, while Paul Williams added 16 and Chris Wright 14.Clinging to a 62-59 advantage with 7:30 left, the Flyers (25-12) pulled away with a 10-4 surge with eight of the points coming from Chris Johnson. His 3-pointer with 2:50 left made it 72-63.
”We played so well to get to this point, but we didn’t finish the job,” UNC coach Roy Williams said. “Congratulations to Dayton. They’re so active, and their intensity level is so high. We made a nice run, we just couldn’t get over the hump.”
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