If the ball had touched Key, possession would have been awarded to UConn. Key didn’t have time to do anything other than scoot on his butt to get out of the way and then roll over. The ball just missed his arm as he moved it at the last second.
Dayton led 60-55 at that point. With a second chance thanks to the heads-up play by Key, the Flyers added to their lead as Nate Santos made two free throws. It was one small play in a game that turned into a rout, but it played a part in Dayton putting its season back on the right course.
One victory in one of the greatest Maui Invitational fields in history could pay big dividends on Selection Sunday in March. Dayton (6-2) won the seventh-place game but outperformed UConn and at least one other team, Colorado, which beat UConn but lost by double digits to Iowa State and Michigan State.
Dayton also will go home with the same number of victories as North Carolina, which lost to Auburn and Michigan State after beating Dayton.
After the game, Dayton Athletic Director Neil Sullivan talked about what the victory means for the program after close losses to No. 12 North Carolina and No. 5 Iowa State in the first two rounds.
“It’s easier to say this when you win, but we think we belong in these types of tournaments,” he said. “This is where we want to be — with the best. We want to play with the best. The first two didn’t go our way. So I’m just thankful for the players and coach (Anthony) Grant and everything that they gave in those first two games. They came up a play or a whistle short. It’s really, for me, about the players and about the staff and all the work they put in to come here. I thought that they played at an elite level in all three games.”
Sullivan was asked if he ever thought, after the first losses, if maybe the field was just a bit too strong for Dayton.
“I’m realistic,” he said. “But we think we can win every game we play. We’ve taken on teams like this before. ... We run to expectations, not from them, and sometimes you’ve got to do that on a public scoreboard and in front of a lot of people. You’ve got to put yourself out there.”
Credit: David Jablonski
Experience factor
Dayton ranks seventh in the nation in experience, according to KenPom.com. UConn is No. 193. Two-time national championship coach Dan Hurley talked about that difference after the game.
“We just looked so young compared to them,” Hurley said.
UConn (4-3) lost to Memphis, Colorado and Dayton in Maui. It fell to No. 5 to No. 28 in the Pomeroy ratings with those three losses, while Dayton climbed from No. 38 at the start of the tournament to No. 25.
“This UConn team that has lost three in a row out here is not the UConn team that we’ve been,” Hurley said. “It’s the UConn team that we are right now that I think is going to get a lot better. We’re relying on a lot of young players. The burden of wearing the uniform after back-to-backs right now looks like it’s weighing heavy on the group. I think right now we’ve just got to try to focus on becoming a good team and becoming a tougher team. ... Right now we’re a shell of what we’ve been.”
New champions
Auburn (7-0) beat Memphis 91-76 in the championship game Wednesday, becoming the ninth different Maui champion in the last nine years. It’s the first Southeastern Conference team to win the championship since Kentucky in 2020, though Texas, which is now in the SEC, won the title in 2020 when it was in the Big 12.
Auburn’s Johni Broome was named tournament MVP. Joining him on the all-tournament team were: Auburn’s Chad Baker-Mazara; Memphis’ PJ Haggerty and Tyrese Hunter; Iowa State’s Keshon Gilbert; and North Carolina’s Seth Trimble.
Credit: David Jablonski
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