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NCAA Tournament: Dayton Wins Controversial First Four Home Game

By Chris Godfrey

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Those who follow the sport have been waiting for it to happen, and this year it actually did. Dayton, an almost perennial bubble team, finally landed in the First Four — an event that is, of course, held at the University of Dayton’s UD Arena.

Honestly, many of us expected this to happen last year. The Flyers were on the cusp of being left out of the field, and the committee responded by giving them an 11-seed, but steered them clear of the First Four. This year, most projections had Dayton seeded nowhere near the cut line, but the NCAA Selection Committee had differing views. The Flyers were tabbed as the last at-large entry into the field, subsequently landing them in the First Four, to play an NCAA Tournament game on there home court.

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Dayton’s opponents, the Boise State Broncos, took the high road all week. Head coach Leon Rice and his players almost refused to acknowledge the unusual circumstance of playing a true road game in a tournament that normally takes various measures to ensure neutrality.

Once the game started, it seemed that the strategy was the right move. The Broncos were clearly the more dialed in team. Dayton’s leading scorer, Jordan Sibert, glued himself to the bench with three fouls. The Broncos subsequently took advantage, leading by nine at the half, and even inspiring a smattering of boos from the Dayton faithful towards their home team.

However, as home teams often do, Dayton rallied in the second half. When the Flyers trailed by two with under a minute left to play, Jordan Sibert recorded the first lock for the 2015 “One Shining Moment” montage. Sibert knocked down a dagger three to give Dayton the lead. After empty possessions by both Boise State and Dayton. The Broncos, led by senior Derrick Marks, had a final chance to win. A knock away gave Boise the ball on the sideline near the corner with four seconds to play. Marks, the man that everyone in the free world knows is getting the ball, gets the ball in a bad area near the wing. As he runs out of time, this happens:

  • A Dayton defender leaves his feet to lunge at him. The defender’s feet hit the ground before he makes any contact with Marks.
  • Marks reads the lunging defender and attempts to draw a foul be leaning into him. Therefore Marks was the initiator of the contact.
  • As Marks releases the ball, he comes into contact with the defenders arms, which are not extended vertically. The defenders arms are extended at a near 45 degree angle.
  • Marks misses the shot. There is no foul called. The game is over. Dayton wins.

We have images as well…

AND THEN TWITTER EXPLODED

I offered my thoughts…

Allow me to offer a bit of perspective…well, my perspective. My perspective is usually good, though. I promise.

  • Dayton had a huge advantage by playing at home. Anyone who tries to downplay that is silly. Most importantly, as Rice finally admitted after the game, Boise having to play a true road game was not in the spirit of the NCAA Tournament. It was in the spirit of the NIT where higher seeds play at home in the first round (Dayton wasn’t the highest seed).
  • Boise State did not lose the game because it was a road game. They lost because they relied too heavily on their star player and made themselves to easy to guard down the stretch of the game.
  • According to the letter of the law in college basketball, DERRICK MARKS WAS FOULED. It’s really not even debatable. Marks initiated contact with a defender who did not extend himself vertically. The body contact was PERFECTLY LEGAL. The contact between the shooter’s arms and the defender’s arms was illegal because the defender’s arms were extended at an angle when the contact was made. It’s a cheap foul, but it is a foul. It is definitely debatable as to whether or not it should have been called. Many people have an issue with giving a player potentially game-winning free throws in a situation where no attempt was made to make the shot.
  • BASKETBALL GAMES ARE NEVER OFFICIATED STRICTLY BY THE LETTER OF THE LAW. Andy Glockner, at one point during his Twitter tirade, starting tweeting screenshots of the NCAA rule book. The problem with this is that referees react to situations differently based off of time, score, situation, and environment. They aren’t supposed to, but they’re humans, and when asked to perform under split-second circumstances, biases cannot be avoided. This is why it was a travesty to have this game played in Dayton’s home gym. In that situation, Marks would have had to endure a stabbing during his release to get a foul called in his favor. That’ a home court advantage, and that’s OK. However, that was not an advantage that Dayton should have been afforded on this stage.
  • At a truly neutral site, there is a good chance that the call still isn’t made. It’s a cheap call, and refs don’t like to make it. However, the neutrality takes away the controversy. That being said, I would almost guarantee that if the First Four where in Boise, Idaho — that foul would have been called. That sentiment is what disturbs me the most about allowing the First Four to happen at the UD Arena where this is a possibility after every season. The call was not an egregious error, but the circumstances that the call was made under was an egregious error.
  • None of this controversy should take away from Dayton. They had every reason to fold before the game was even close. Their resiliency as a team, and the heart of Sibert is what carried them to the next round, not the officials.

Next: 2015 NCAA Tournament: Bracket Denters of the Midwest

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