NCAA Tourney - Providence vs. Dayton 9:57 p.m. truTV

[gosports1]

Id like to make up excuses like blaming the refs (they were lopsided) or Dayton having a home game, but the reality is PC played terribly.
They had the opportunity to win ,had they actually shown up for the game. The 1st half was a clinic on how not to play BB by both sides. the BC-Brown losing team showed up last night not the real PC team that IMO was/is capable of beating Oklahoma and going to sweet 16 or beyond

I dont know why the program seems to have so many issues when they appear on the big stage. It happens almost every time. oh well its time to focus on our mens hockey and see if they get a bid.

Good luck Dayton and the Big East. Wait til next year PC

[Bill Marsh]

Id like to make up excuses like blaming the refs (they were lopsided) or Dayton having a home game, but the reality is PC played terribly.
They had the opportunity to win ,had they actually shown up for the game. The 1st half was a clinic on how not to play BB by both sides. the BC-Brown losing team showed up last night not the real PC team that IMO was/is capable of beating Oklahoma and going to sweet 16 or beyond

I dont know why the program seems to have so many issues when they appear on the big stage. It happens almost every time. oh well its time to focus on our mens hockey and see if they get a bid.

Good luck Dayton and the Big East. Wait til next year PC

Last year's BE tournament wasn't a big stage? They didn't play well in this year's Big East tournament?

Yes, they had an opportunity. Yes, they didn't play well. Yes, they didn't overcome the refs. But the fact is that the refs were a huge obstacle that had to be overcome . . . unfairly.

Providence came into this contest with a game plan. Minutes into the game that plan had to be revised because their best player, the one most critical to implementing that plan, was put on the bench due to a B/S flagrant foul call. Meanwhile they were letting all kinds of contact go, allowing Dayton to play the kind of defense they wanted to play. Finally to add insult to injury, they T up the coach over nothing, eliminating any hope of a late rally.

This had figured to be a close game. Little things make a difference in close games. In this one, it was all about match ups, I.e. Dayton getting the game ref'd to suit their style of play. Going into it, we were all focusing on the wrong match up.

[augkash]

According to ken Palm Dayton ranks #2 in country at getting to FT line Providence ranks in the low 250s

[ta111]

According to ken Palm Dayton ranks #2 in country at getting to FT line Providence ranks in the low 250s

Exactly. That is why Shane Battier predicted on ESPN right after the selection show that the Flyers would win. Bottom line- Dayton gets to the line alot because they attck the rim and Providence relies on jacking up putside shots. This really shouldn't be a surprise to anyone who follows basketball. It had nothing to do with the game being in Columbus or any other silly excuse being made.

[R Jay]

Too bad they have to play Oklahoma next. If Oklahoma plays even decently they should win by at least 10.

[HoosierPal]

Dayton had to be tired coming into the game. Why didn't PC have a game plan of pressing and running from the first minute of the game. PC was out coached.

Fifth game in 8 days for the Flyers. Miller can coach.

[Bill Marsh]

One thing to remember about the flagrant- even if it's not called as a flagrant it's still a foul. Dunn got caught reaching into the cookie jar a minute later. Now the question is, would he have done that same thing if he hadn't been called for the flagrant? Very possibly.

About the FT difference- 8 of the FT were shot in the last 80 seconds of the game by Dayton when PC was trying to foul on purpose. So the difference was really 22-7. Still bad, but not crazy.

Bottom line, when Henton and Dunn shoot 11-39 from the field- you aren't going to win many games. I thought PC settled way too much for outside shots.

Oh- the idiot who called the T- I think it's Tom Eades. His 40th T of the season. He's tied for 2nd for the season in most T's called. Don't think he needs to be doing any more games....

In reality, the flagrant on Dunn should have been called the other way according to Doug Gottlieb, who was providing color commentary on the game. So, no, it's not still a foul. If they're going to let the defender get in that tight and make contact with the offensive player, then it's a "play on" as Gottlieb said. If they're going to call it right, then they should have called the foul on the .dayton player before Dunn ever made his move.

A 22-7 FT discrepancy is not crazy? In what world?

I agree that Providence shot poorly, but the refs set the tone early and essentially took Providence's most important player out of the game at a key point. The game was called the way Dayton needed to play their game so they could defend physically and the way the game was called restricted Providence from doing what they normally do. It was Dayton's lucky day.

[ta111]

Luck had nothing to do with it. Dayton has outshot everyone from the FT line this year and Providence is terrible at getting to the line. Did you not see the season stats? I expected thos because Providence is an outside shooting team and Dayton attacks the rim.

[SLUnatic1]

I'm an A10 and Big East fan so I can speak freely. PC played like crap last night and that's not debatable. Dayton played very well. But the story of this game and the failure of the committee to seed properly is the story of the tournament so far in my opinion. Just an awful job overall. Dayton probably shouldn't have been in the PIG to start and then to place them in Columbus was unfair to PC and now Oklahoma.

[Bill Marsh]

According to ken Palm Dayton ranks #2 in country at getting to FT line Providence ranks in the low 250s

Exactly. That is why Shane Battier predicted on ESPN right after the selection show that the Flyers would win. Bottom line- Dayton gets to the line alot because they attck the rim and Providence relies on jacking up putside shots. This really shouldn't be a surprise to anyone who follows basketball. It had nothing to do with the game being in Columbus or any other silly excuse being made.

The problem with that analysis is that it only looks at half the equation.

If we're going to base this on longer trends, please explain why Providence for only 7 FT attempts when they average 23 for the season.

Providence does not rely on "jacking up outside shots." That's a absurd statement and simply shows that you've never seen. Them play before. They're one of the least reliant teams in the BE on 3 pointers. They average only 12 3 point attempts per game. The fact that they put up 26 last night shows just how thoroughly the refs took them out of their game.

The fact is that Dunn's game is built almost entirely on penetration, but he was in foul trouble from the beginning of the game. Henton is a big time offensive rebounder who gets a lot of his points in the paint.

Dayton got lucky that the game was called in a way that favored them. To their credit, they took advantage of it.