Former Flyer hopes to show famous clutch touch Sunday at UD Arena

Despite the new lights, new seats, new scoreboard, etc., at its heart, UD Arena is the same place Sibert called home. He gets the chance to add another memory to his scrapbook Sunday when he participates in the TBT’s 33-Point Contest. Eight players will compete in a shooting contest that will award $33,333 to the winner.

The contest takes place between the noon and 2:30 p.m. semifinals and will air on ESPN. Sibert will face Jeff Ledbetter, of the Money Team, in the first round. Tickets are available at Ticketmaster.com.

“Hopefully, I make history again,” Sibert said. “I’ll get on that wing and do what I do best. I need the fans to come out with support and make it just like a home game.”

Sibert qualified for the event while he was in Columbus with the Red Scare, the Dayton alumni team that played in the TBT. He was one of two shooters to advance from that regional. The Red Scare lost in the second round of the TBT on Sunday, failing to advance to Saturday’s quarterfinals at UD Arena.

Dayton fans at UD Arena on Sunday will see a player with the same shooting stroke he had six years ago but one sharpened by years in professional basketball. Sibert made it to the NBA in 2019 with the Atlanta Hawks and has spent time in the NBA G League and has played overseas in Germany and Greece. He doesn’t yet know where he will play this season but expects to know soon.

As long as Sibert plays, he may always be known for the big shots he made in college. Here’s a look back at the three biggest.

Nov. 9, 2013: Dayton vs. Indiana Purdue Fort Wayne

Sibert’s 3-pointer with one second left — in his UD debut — gave the Flyers an 81-80 victory over IPFW, now known as Purdue Fort Wayne, at UD Arena in the season opener for both teams. A frustrating game for the Flyers ended with a crazy sequence.

With 6 seconds left, IPFW attempted a long inbounds pass to midcourt. Dayton guard Khari Price outjumped teammate Vee Sanford and IPFW’s Michael Kibiloski. Price caught the ball and then fell near the Dayton logo.

Price pushed the ball forward to freshman Kyle Davis, who passed to Sibert. Nine seconds earlier, Sibert had missed the first of two free throws when he needed to make both to tie the game.

Without that shot and victory, Dayton may not have made the NCAA tournament that season, and the Elite Eight run would have never happened. Here’s what Sibert remembers about his game-winning shot now:

“First of all, Dyshawn (Pierre) had an amazing game,” Sibert said. “He was keeping us in that game. I remember (coach) Archie (Miller) just hounding us. The game was so up and down. We had good practices before it, and it just turned into a blah game. One thing I will say, the whole coaching staff, even with us being down, never lost faith in us, and we never questioned if we could come back and win. That’s what gave us the energy to commit so hard to that last play.”

As Sibert jogged back down the court after the shot, he looked into the stands across the court and saw his brother, Logan Brogden, who also was at UD Arena with Sibert for a TBT press conference Thursday.

“I knew exactly where he was sitting,” Sibert said. “I knew that he knew how I was feeling. I had a rough game, and when I made it, I just looked up like, ‘Bro, can you believe this?’ As bad as I was playing, I was able to at least come out with that. I think I may have had seven points that game. But people remember that last shot. That’s what I hold on to.”

March 22, 2014: Dayton vs. Syracuse

Later that season, in the second round of the NCAA tournament, two days after Dayton beat Ohio State on a bank shot in the final seconds by Vee Sanford, Sibert made a key 3-pointer in the final minute. The shot with 49 seconds to play gave Dayton a 52-46 lead.

Tyler Ennis, of Syracuse, scored seven points in the last 41 seconds, but Dayton held on for a 55-53 victory thanks to Sibert’s shot and three free throws by Pierre in the final 30 seconds.

The main thing Sibert remembers about this shot is Syracuse defender Michael Gbinije tried to block it with his shoe after losing it seconds earlier and picking it up just before the shot. Sibert took the shot from 3 to 4 feet behind the 3-point line.

“I remember talking to Griff (assistant coach Allen Griffin),” Sibert said Thursday, “and he was like, ‘J, you’re going to have to take some deep 3s. Shoot them high and hope they drop.’ I was able to give us that extra cushion.”

Credit: David Jablonski

Credit: David Jablonski

March 18, 2015: Dayton vs. Boise State

Sibert’s final game at UD Arena came a year later in the First Four. He made a 3-pointer with 35 seconds left to give Dayton a 56-55 lead. The Flyers advanced to a second-round matchup with Providence in Columbus when Boise State’s Derrick Marks missed a 3-pointer at the buzzer.

Kendall Pollard set the screen that freed Sibert for his shot, and Scoochie Smith threw him the pass.

“That was another just amazing play,” Sibert said. “That year I actually had some wrist problems, and I hadn’t been practicing, so to have Archie have enough faith in me to call that play, to give me that shot, it’s just a testament to our team and the coaches to believe in me. The year before when Vee made the shot against Ohio State, he subbed me out. I wasn’t even on the court when he made that shot. But coach had faith in me. That was the story of our team, believing in each other, being together and taking it day by day.”

Many fans say the arena has never been louder than in the moments after Sibert’s shot.

“That’s the loudest I’ve heard it,” Sibert said. “Especially in the tournament, to advance. I wasn’t here. Maybe it got louder when Obi (Toppin) dunked through the legs or something, but as far as shots go, I think I might hold that title.”

Competitors in the 33-Point Contest

• Mike Daum (House of ‘Paign): He’s the seventh-leading scorer in NCAA Division history. He finished his career at South Dakota State in 2019 with 3,067 points.

• Ot Elmore (Herd That): He played two seasons at Marshall and was one of the standout players in the TBT in 2020.

• Conner Frankamp (AfterShocks): He made 164 3-pointers in three seasons at Wichita State.

• Jeff Ledbetter (The Money Team): He shot 45.4 percent from 3-point range at Idaho as a senior in 2010-11.

• Anthony Mathis (The Enchantment): He scored 1,244 points in four seasons at New Mexico and one at Oregon.

• Chris Moore (Primetime Players): He scored 1,106 points in four seasons at Charleston Southern.

• Jordan Sibert (Red Scare): He scored 1,030 points in two seasons at Dayton and appeared in one game with the Atlanta Hawks in 2019.

• Omar Strong (B1 Ballers): He averaged 15.1 points in two seasons at Texas Southern (2011-13).