UD cracks again under the pressure of a second half street brawl…failure to defend the other team’s only scorer…lose a game they could have won, again.
Lahaina, HI — It would have been easy and understandable if both the University of Dayton and Iowa State went through the motions Tuesday night in the Maui Invitational.
Both endured sleepless nights after both suffered agonizing defeats in the first round Monday night at the Lahaina Civic Center.
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Both constructed big early leads and both suffered agonizing twists of fate at game’s end.
Dayton let a 21-point early second-half lead evaporate to a 92-90 last minute loss to 10th-ranked North Carolina.
Hall of fame writer Hal McCoy covers the UD Flyers/OSU baseball for Press Pros Magazine.com
Fifth-ranked Iowa State constructed a substantial first-half lead over fourth-ranked Auburn, only to lose at the buzzer on a stick-back shot.
So what would happen Tuesday night? A ho-hum, so-what, what-do-we-care game?
To the contrary. The Flyers and Cyclones staged a game that would make any basketball aficionado take notice and applaud in appreciation.
And it was Iowa State surviving a back alley brawl, 89-84, one that ended with an Iowa State player winning the game with a bloody nose.
The score was 81-81 with two minutes to go when Iowa State’s Keshon Gilbert drove for the basket. Dayton’s Zed Key hammered him across the nose, drawing blood.
Officials ruled it a Flagrant One Foul, if not attempted homicide, giving Gilbert two shots and Iowa State the ball after Gilbert’s two free throws.
Malachi Smith pumped in a career-best 22 points in the Flyers loss to Iowa State in Maui Tuesday night.
With blood trickling down his nose, the 6-foot-4 senior guard buried the two free throws. Then, with Iowa State getting the ball, Gilbert drove the basket and banked it in high off the glass over Key to complete the four-point play.
That made it 85-81 with 27 seconds left and the Flyers never got closer than three points the rest of the way.
And by losing, the Flyers are awarded a game Wednesday for seventh place in the eight-team field against No. 2-ranked UConn, which also lost its first two games.
Figure this one out. The Flyers shot 58% (29-50), shot 38.9% from three (7-18), shot 73.1% from the free throw line (19-26), outrebounded the Cyclones 28-25 and committed only 11 turnovers, four in the second half.
And they lost.
Point guard Malachi Smith pumped in a career-best 22 points and passed around nine assists. Enoch Cheeks scored 16, Key scored 15 and Nate Santos scored 12.
And they lost.
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Iowa State shot 51.7 percent from the field (30-58) and only 23.5% from three (4-17), but banged in 25 of 29 free throws. Gilbert made 12 of 14.
And they won.
“This is a loaded tournament, a loaded pool,” said UD coach Anthony Grant after his Flyers fell to 5-2. “I’m proud of our guys after a tough loss last night (to North Carolina).
“To be able to come back today and give that type of effort…a few plays here and there, just a few plays here and there might have produced a different outcome,” he added.
“That’s the nature of it (basketball). and we came up on the short end. We have another opportunity tomorrow.” – Anthony Grant
“But you have to give Iowa State credit because they played a tough game yesterday as well,” he continued. “They, too, had a lead they weren’t able to hold on to. That’s the nature of it and we came up on the short end. We have another opportunity tomorrow.”
The first half was a back-and-forth, forth-and-back affair. A 6-0 mini-run gave the Flyers a 34-27 lead with three minutes left in the half and the Flyers led at intermission 41-37.
Iowa State tied it, 41-41, to open the final 20 minutes and it was a wild barnyard brawl the rest of the way as fouls piled up on both sides.
Santos, Cheeks and key all picked up four fouls midway through the second half, forcing caution on defense that enabled Iowa State to drive the basket over and over and over again.
And Iowa State suffered, too. Its point guard, Tamin Lipsey, averaging 11 points a game, was whistled for three fouls in the first half. He sat for a large portion of the game and quickly fouled out when he entered the game. He played only 12 minutes and scored six points.
But Gilbert, averaging 15 points a game, took over the ball handling duties, which led to his 12 for 14 from the foul line and six for eight from the field en route to 24 points.
From 41-41, neither team could break away as Iowa State mostly maintained a one, two or three-point lead.
From a 51-50 lead, the Cyclones outscored the Flyers, 8-1, to take a 59-51 lead and held it at nine, 63-54, with 11 minutes left.
A pair of baskets by Cheeks helped the Flyers draw to within 66-64 with 8 1/2 minutes remaining.
From there, neither team could push ahead bv more than three and with 3 1/2 minutes left Smith drove for a basket to give UD a 78-77 lead.
Key scored on a fast break, putting emphasis and an exclamation point on it with a dunk, tying the game at 81 with 1:15 left.
That’s when Key bloodied Gilbert’s nose on the Flagrant One and Gilbert’s four-point reaction bloodied every proverbial UD nose to put the game out of Dayton’s reach.
And did I mention…they play UConn, the defending national champs, today!
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