“What did you think of the flagrant foul?” Grant was asked.
Grant paused before saying, “I’d rather not comment.”
With 44 seconds remaining in a tie game, Dayton forward Zed Key came down with two arms on the face of Iowa State guard Keshon Gilbert. Key appeared to be trying to knock the ball out of Gilbert’s hands but hit him in the face instead.
The officials reviewed the play and called a flagrant foul on Key. Gilbert hit both free throws. Then Iowa State got the ball back, and Gilbert scored on a layup.
The four-point possession carried Iowa State (4-1) to the victory and left Dayton (5-2) looking at the possibility of leaving Maui winless if it doesn’t upset No. 2 Connecticut (4-2), which lost to Memphis and Colorado in the first two rounds, in the seventh-place game Wednesday.
“Obviously, a hard-fought game,” Grant said. “I thought our guys gave a great effort tonight. A quick turnaround from last night. A disappointing ending to last night and a disappointing ending tonight. But proud of our guys for the fight they showed. We knew how talented a field this was coming in and how challenging it would be for us. We’re just going to continue to try to control the things we can control and continue to get better. And we’ve got another opportunity tomorrow.”
Credit: David Jablonski
Credit: David Jablonski
Here are three takeaways from Dayton’s second loss:
1. Dayton could not stop Iowa State for a long stretch in the second half: The Flyers twice led by nine points in the first half and owned a 41-37 halftime lead. It did not last long in the second half.
Iowa State scored the first four points of the second half to tie the game. Then the Cyclones scored on 11 straight possessions in an eight-minute stretch.
Dayton did a good enough job on the offensive end to not fall too far behind. It trailed 64-58 when a turnover finally ended Iowa State’s run.
Dayton had similar troubles getting stops Monday in a 92-90 loss to No. 12 North Carolina.
“That’s two games in the second half defensively we weren’t able to capitalize on what we were doing offensively,” Grant said. “I thought we were really, really good both games, both halves from an offensive standpoint. We were able to exploit some things there, but you’ve got to be able to get stops. You’ve got to be able to get rebounds. You’ve got to keep them out of transition.
“You want to try to learn through winning, and sometimes you learn through taking tough losses. For us, I think from an offensive standpoint, we were able to have some success against the No. 1 ranked defensive team in the country. And so we have to be better defensively. If we can do that, we’ve got a chance to really take our team to another level. It’s hard in the moment to see opportunities slip through your fingers, because we had two great opportunities here. We’ve got another one tomorrow. We’ve got to have a short memory.”
Credit: David Jablonski
Credit: David Jablonski
2. Dayton showed a strength from 3-point range for the second straight game: The Flyers made 7 of 18 3-pointers (38.9%), while Iowa State made 4 of 17 (23.5%). Against North Carolina, Dayton shot 43.8% (14 of 32)
Enoch Cheeks made 3 of 6 3-pointers after making 3 of 8 against North Carolina. His tie-breaking 3-pointer with 5:12 to play gave Dayton its final lead of the game, 74-72.
Malachi Smith made 2 of 2 in the first game and 2 of 3 against Iowa State. Nate Santos made 2 of 6 in both games.
3. Gilbert was the difference for Iowa State: After North Carolina’s All-American guard, RJ Davis, scored 30 points against Dayton, Iowa State’s top player, Gilbert, scored 24 points on 6-of-8 shooting. Like Davis, who made 10 of 11 free throws, Gilbert did a lot of his work at the free-throw line, making 12 of 14.
“He’s an absolute warrior,” Iowa State coach T.J. Otzenberger said. “He’s the ultimate competitor, a tremendous worker. I’m really proud of him. He puts the work in, and it showed up for him here today.”
STAR OF THE GAME
Gilbert, a 6-foot-4 senior guard, followed up a 23-point performance Monday in an 83-81 loss to Auburn with his season-high points total. He played his first two seasons at UNLV and scored 16 points against Dayton in a 60-52 victory in Las Vegas, Nev., in 2022.
STAT OF THE GAME
Iowa State made 25 of 29 free throws (86.2%), while Dayton made 19 of 26 (73.1%).
In the last four minutes, Dayton made 2 of 5 free throws, and Smith missed the front end of a 1 and 1. Iowa State made 10 of 10 free throws in the same stretch.
LOOKING AHEAD
Dayton (5-2) will play No. 2 Connecticut (4-2) in the seventh-place game on Wednesday. The game will start at midnight in Ohio and 7 p.m. in Maui. It will air on ESPN2. UConn lost 73-72 to Colorado on Tuesday.
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