It was somewhat of a surprise Hyland showed no rust, scoring 22 of his 30 points in the first half to lead No. 2 seed VCU to a 73-68 victory against No. 7 seed Dayton in the quarterfinals of the A-10 tournament. Hyland scored 77 points in three victories against Dayton this season.
“I just wanted to do my best and whatever I could to help my teammates,” Hyland said. “It’s a great feeling for sure.”
Hyland left the game in the final minutes with a cramping issue and said he’ll be ready when VCU plays No. 3 seed Davidson or No. 6 George Mason in the semifinals at 9 p.m. Saturday at the Siegel Center.
VCU coach Mike Rhoades said the way Hyland started the game, it was as if he was shot out of a cannon.
“He looked fresh,” Rhoades said. “He had great energy. It was great to have him back. He gives us so much.”
Recruiting news: Former Belmont center Shawn Phillips, the 61st-ranked recruit in the class of 2022, according to Rivals.com, listed Dayton among his final seven choices this week.
The 6-foot-10 Phillips, who now attends Ypsi Prep in Michigan, is also considering Ohio State, Indiana, Florida, North Carolina State, West Virginia and Cincinnati. Dayton offered Phillips a scholarship in September 2020.
Quarterfinal games: No. 1 seed St. Bonaventure (14-4) built a 40-19 halftime lead and rolled to a 75-59 victory against No. 8 Duquesne (9-9) at the Siegel Center in the first quarterfinal game Friday. The Bonnies will play in the semifinals for the third straight tournament.
• No. 4 Saint Louis (14-5) led from start to finish and beat No. 5 Massachusetts 86-72 at the Robins Center in the second quarterfinal game.
Semifinal preview: St. Bonaventure will play Saint Louis at 6 p.m. Saturday at the Siegel Center. Saint Louis beat St. Bonaventure 70-59 on Feb. 6 in St. Louis. The team last met in the A-10 tournament in the championship game in 2019. Saint Louis won 55-53.
Ticket info: With Ohio allowing indoor arenas to be filled to 25 percent capacity, the University of Dayton put more tickets on sale Friday for the Atlantic 10 Conference tournament championship game, which will be held at UD Arena on March 14.
Tickets can be purchased on Ticketmaster.com. UD Arena can seat 13,407 fans, so there could be as many as 3,351 fans at the championship game or at the Ohio high school boys and girls final four and state championship games that will take place at UD Arena this month.
“Earlier this week a limited number of upper arena (300 and 400 level) tickets were put on sale,” UD announced. “Due to recent changes in the Ohio Department of Health’s COVID-19 guidance, and with the approval of the Atlantic 10, we have been able to further expand capacity. Additional tickets in the upper arena will be made available for purchase to the general public today (March 5) at 1 p.m. Tickets will be $40 each and can be purchased online. The remaining tickets for the championship final will be allocated to the participating schools.”
For more information on tickets, contact the UD Arena Ticket Office by email at FlyerTickets@udayton.edu or by leaving a voicemail at (937) 229-4433.
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