UD Executes Late to Roll 85-67 over UConn

Two gut-wrenching losses in the Maui Invitational to a pair of Top-15 teams left no time to contemplate self-pity as Dayton took on #2 UConn in the 7th place game on Wednesday night at the Lahaina Civic Center.  The Flyers once again battled for 40 minutes against a national contender, but this time made all the important plays down the stretch to win 85-67 to make the long flight home far more enjoyable. Dayton's record improves to 6-2 while UConn falls to 4-3.
Dayton and UConn rekindled Maui history as the teams battled in the 2000 tourney, a 80-66 upset Flyer victory over the nationally-ranked Huskies. The teams last met in the Puerto Rico Tip-Off in 2014 when UConn prevailed 75-64 and the only other meeting was an NIT game hosted at UD Arena in 1982 that resulted in a 76-75 Flyer win.  Going into Wednesday's battle of red-headed stepchildren, the teams were facing similar adversity but for different reasons. Dayton whiffed on two outstanding resume'-building opportunities in losses to #12 North Carolina and #5 Iowa State -- games tied or sporting a Flyer lead in the final three minutes. The Huskies were the tournament favorites and trailed only Kansas in the national rankings. ...