Colorado
10-2,0-0Pac-12
Dayton
9-2,0-0Atlantic 10
Buffs Rally To Topple No. 13 Dayton In Overtime
December 21, 2019 | Men's Basketball, Neill Woelk
CHICAGO — Colorado junior D'Shawn Schwartz calmly drained a 3-pointer at the buzzer Saturday to lift the Buffaloes to a heart-stopping 78-76 win over No. 13 Dayton in overtime at the United Center.
While the calendar said December, the game had every bit of a March Madness feel to it, as the Buffs erased a 14-point first-half deficit to take a second-half lead, only to see the Flyers rally to tie it up in the final seconds of regulation.
But the Buffs then outscored Dayton 12-10 in the extra period to improve to 10-2 while Dayton dropped to 9-2.
Schwartz's game winner — his fifth 3-pointer of the game — came after the Flyers had taken a 76-75 lead with 10 seconds remaining. CU point guard McKinley Wright IV quickly pushed the ball down the floor and found Tyler Bey underneath, who immediately drew a double team inside. Bey then whirled and found a wide-open Schwartz near the top of the arc, and he nailed the 3-pointer just before the buzzer to set off a wild Buffs celebration.
"I didn't feel anything," said Schwartz, who also had five 3-pointers in a win over Dayton in last season's NIT. "It was literally like in a dream."
Schwartz finished with a season-high 20 points while Wright was a standout all night for the Buffaloes, finishing with 29 points and 10 rebounds for his sixth career double-double. Evan Battey was once again a force inside, finishing with nine points and 12 rebounds and Bey added 12 points and six rebounds and two assists.
Jalen Crutcher led Dayton with 19 points.
The Flyers (No. 13 AP, No. 12 coaches poll) became the highest-ranked team the Buffs have beaten away from home since knocking off No. 6 Missouri in the 1990 Big Eight tournament, and it broke a four-game losing streak against ranked teams.
Colorado shot just 39.7 percent from the floor (27-for-68) while Dayton finished shooting 50 percent (32-for-64). But the Buffs hit 17 of their 21 free throws, held a 42-32 edge in rebounds and finished with a 16-11 edge in second-chance points. The Buffs also finished with just 10 turnovers — their second-lowest total of the season — while forcing 14 Dayton miscues.
"The toughness and grit that our guys showed down the stretch was amazing," coach Tad Boyle said. "We talked a lot about trusting each other. That last possession, McKinley trusted Tyler in the post and he gets the double team and he throws it out to a wide-open shooter and D'Shawn steps up and knocks it down. I just can't say enough about this group. This is a big-time win against a big-time program in a big-time environment."
While the game was technically a neutral floor affair, the United Center had far more Dayton fans than Buffs fans.
"It's gonna go down as a neutral court win," Boyle said. "But everybody in America knows this was a road win."
HOW IT HAPPENED: Dayton threatened to turn the game into a blowout early, using an 11-0 run to jump out to a 19-5 lead less than six minutes in.
But Boyle called a timeout before the game got out of hand, and the Buffs responded with a 15-2 surge to pull within one, and still trailed by only four at the half, 36-32. Battey fueled the comeback with some big offensive rebounds and four points, Daylen Kountz added five points in the surge and Wright had four.
"Coach just told us to stay calm," Schwartz said of the timeout after Dayton's big run. "He said they were going to start missing some shots."
Indeed, Colorado's defense then stepped up. After the Flyers hit eight of their first nine field goal tries of the game, they were just 8-for-19 the rest of the half.
Wright, who originally committed to the Flyers in high school but then signed with Colorado after then-coach Archie Miller left the program, was greeted with boos by the partisan Dayton crowd virtually every time he touched the ball.
But the CU junior had the last laugh, as he helped fuel a 15-4 run early in the second half that finally gave Colorado the lead. Wright hit a driving layup to tie the score at 40-40 and seconds later, Battey hit two free throws to give the Buffs their first lead of the game with 14:41 to play.
"I expected the boos," Wright said. "I told my teammates before we came to Chicago that it was going to happen. I was getting messages on Instagram about how much they hated me or whatever because I left. I kind of knew it was coming. I talked to my teammates this morning, told them I needed this one personally."
Battey also took the game personally, as he and Bey were matched against Dayton star Obi Toppin for much of the game. While Toppin did hit a 3-pointer for Dayton at the end of regulation to force overtime, the Buffs still held him to 17 points and 7 rebounds, both under his season averages.
"The job that Tyler and Evan both did on Toppin was big," Boyle said. "We really wanted to go at him on the other end. He expends a lot of energy on offense. We wanted to make him work on the defensive end because we know how good of an offensive player he is."
Battey was once again particularly effective on the offensive boards, collecting eight offensive rebounds to give the Buffs some much-needed second-chance opportunities.
The Buffs pushed their second-half lead to as much as eight, taking a 59-51 edge with 7:51 remaining on a Schwartz 3-pointer.
But the Flyers slowly chipped away at the cushion, finally pulling to within one, 64-63, with 1:56 to play on a Toppin dunk. Battey then hit one of two free throws after an offensive rebound to push CU's lead to 65-63 with 35 seconds remaining before Wright added one of two free throws after a Dayton miss with 13.8 left.
But Toppin, who had missed five straight 3-point attempts, finally hit his first trey of the night with six seconds remaining in regulation to tie the game at 66-66 and force overtime.
Schwartz then took charge in the overtime, scoring eight of Colorado's 12 points in the five-minute extra period. He hit a 3-pointer with 3:18 to play that gave the Buffs a 71-68 lead, then drove to the basket for a layup with 27 seconds remaining for a 75-74 lead.
Then, after Crutcher gave Dayton its final lead of the night, the Buffs delivered the game-winner.
"I just took my time," Bey said of finding Schwartz open on the wing. "I just passed it.
He was wide open. He was the only person open, so I just passed it to him. It was like slow motion. It was great."
TURNING POINT: While the game had plenty of twists and turns throughout, the decisive factor for the Buffs was their early 15-2 run in the first half that erased most of a Dayton 14-point lead. That got the Buffs back in the game and gave them the necessary confidence for the remainder of the night.
WHAT IT MEANS: Colorado could creep back into the nation's top 25 on Monday, but more importantly, the game will be a huge boost to their NCAA NET ranking. The Buffs were ranked No. 29 in the latest NET ranking, but a win over the Flyers (who were 10th going into Saturday) could push CU up into the top 25.
CU STANDOUTS: The Buffs had a long list of big plays at big moments … D'Shawn Schwartz finished with a season-high 20 points, including the game-winning 3-pointer (he was 5-for-7 from beyond the arc) … McKinley Wright IV recorded his sixth career double-double with 29 points and 10 rebounds … Evan Battey had nine points and 12 rebounds, including eight offensive boards … Tyler Bey added 12 points and six rebounds ... Shane Gatling did not score but had a team-high four assists and just one turnover.
KEY STATISTICS: The Buffs had 17 offensive rebounds, which they converted into 16 points … Colorado held a 42-32 overall lead on the boards … While Dayton did shoot 50 percent on the night (32-for-64), the Flyers were just 24-for-55 after their initial 8-for-9 surge … The Buffs committed just 10 turnovers, their second-lowest total of the season … CU also hit 17 of 21 free throw tries while the Flyers attempted only seven free throws all night and made five.
QUOTEWORTHY: "Dayton's a good basketball team. We beat a really good team tonight. A well-coached team. These guys are legit. But you know, I think we are, too. I think we showed it tonight for really the first time all year." — CU head coach Tad Boyle
NEXT UP: The Buffs will take a few days off for the holiday break before reconvening in Boulder to begin preparation for their final non-conference game, a Dec. 29 noon matchup with Iona at the CU Events Center.
Contact: Neill.Woelk@Colorado.edu
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