Dayton forward Nate Santos, left, drives against Duquesne guard Kareem Rozier (32) during the quarterfinals of the Atlantic 10 men’s basketball tournament on Thursday.
Dayton and Akron were the only Ohio teams included in the NCAA men’s basketball tournament pairings when they were announced Sunday.
The Flyers (24-6) are the No. 7 seed in the West Regional and will play No. 10 Nevada (26-7) on Thursday in Salt Lake City.
UD last played in the NCAA tournament in 2017. It appeared to be headed for a No. 1 or No. 2 seed with a 29-2 record in 2020 when Covid shut down the entire tournament.
The winner of the Dayton-Nevada game will play the winner of a first-round game between Arizona and Long Beach State.
Akron claimed the Mid-American Conference tournament championship and the MAC’s automatic bid to the NCAA with a 62-61 win over Kent State.
A huge mental mistake by Kent State’s Julius Rollins sent Akron’s Greg Tribble to the free throw line with 4.8 seconds to play, where he hit two free throws for the game-winning points.
Kent State had taken a 61-60 lead with seven seconds to play before Rollins, apparently thinking his team was behind by one point and needed to foul, intentionally fouled Tribble.
Akron (24-10) is in the NCAA tournament for the second time in the last three years. It is a No. 14 seed in the Midwest Regional and will play No. 3 seed Creighton (23-9) Thursday in Pittsburgh.
