Dayton’s Brea, nation’s best shooter, comes up big in NCAA tournament

“We try to look past things like that,” Dayton forward DaRon Holmes II said. “It can slow the game down. You have to tap the ball out of the net, take it out. Those seconds do matter. At the end of the day, we try to play through everything.”

No. 7 seed Dayton played through one of its worst stretches of the season in the first round of the NCAA tournament against No. 10 seed Nevada. In an 18-minute stretch that started with the last five minutes of the first half, Nevada outscored Dayton 35-14. That included a 16-0 run to end the first half.

The Flyers escaped a 17-point hole in the second half and won 63-60 in part because they have the nation’s best 3-point shooter. Koby Brea, a fourth-year guard from Bronx, N.Y., made a 3-pointer to give Dayton a 3-0 lead in the opening minute and made 3 of 3 3-pointers during second-half comeback.

“Honestly, my teammates looked at me,” Brea said. “They were like, ‘We don’t care if you shoot it contested. We need you to shoot the ball.’ When I had that kind of confidence from my teammates, that trust and belief, I feel like the only thing I can do is just pay it back to them.

“It’s really easy for me to do those things when I have that kind of trust from my teammates. They make it really easy for me.”

Credit: David Jablonski

Credit: David Jablonski

Brea, the A-10 Sixth Man of the Year, took the place of Javon Bennett in the starting lineup in this game. He improved his 3-point percentage from 49.2 to 49.7 (96 of 193) by making 5 of 8. He scored 15 points. He leads the nation in 3-point accuracy.

Brea made a 3-pointer with 6:26 to play to cut Nevada’s lead to 56-43. He made another at the 4:23 mark to cut the deficit to 56-50. Then with 2:45 to play, he made another to tie the game at 56-56.

“In the second half, I thought we started off a little tentative,” Dayton coach Anthony Grant said. “I thought our defensive intensity picked things up. We were able to get out in transition. When you see the ball go in, obviously that helps everything. That helps your energy.

“I thought the guys did a really good job of sharing it. Koby Brea made the point that his teammates did a really good job of making the extra pass and finding each other, whether it was for 3s, layups, opportunities to get to the free-throw line.

“I thought the team found a way to put themselves in position to have a chance. Then we made some plays down the stretch on both sides to win the game.”