‘Just grateful;’ Dayton plays Nevada today in 1st NCAA Tournament game since 2017

SALT LAKE CITY, UT — The University of Dayton men’s basketball team will take the floor later today in the first round of the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament.

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The Dayton Flyers will play the Nevada Wolfpack at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City, Utah.

This is the Flyers’ first NCAA Tournament game since 2017 when they lost in the First Round to Wichita State.

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UD is the No. 7 seed in the West Region and Nevada is the No. 10 seed.

The winner plays either Arizona or Long Beach State on Saturday.

The Flyers arrived in Utah on Tuesday and practiced on the University of Utah’s campus.

The team took the court at the Delta Center on Wednesday for practice in front of the public.

Dayton coach Anthony Grant met with reporters and discussed the opportunity in front of them.

“Just grateful. You know, just happy for our guys, happy for our program,” he said. “There’s a lot of work that got put into trying to make this happen. So, just grateful.

UD was going to make the 2020 Tournament as a No. 1 seed, but the tournament was canceled due to the Covid pandemic.

Several players also met with the media on Wednesday.

Junior forward DaRon Holmes II said, “It’s a blessing to be here.”

“We’ve gone through a lot of adversity, a lot of things that prepared us for these type of moments,” he said. “We’re just going to do what we do. I think that’s going to prepare us pretty well.”

He was joined by guards Kobe Elvis and Koby Brea. They were asked about what makes UD unique. Elvis spoke about the team’s resiliency.

“I think throughout the course of the year, we find different ways to win. That’s just something that’s going to be huge for us in this process.

Brea talked about the team’s diversity.

“We also have a lot of players that can play at different positions and excel at that position,” he said. “Just how united and together we are helps us on the court. The things we do off the court, we’ve seen how it helps us grow on the court. I think we have a really, really good team and we’re going to make some noise in March Madness.”

>>How to listen to today’s Dayton Flyers NCAA Tournament game on WHIO Radio

The Dayton Flyers are 24-7 overall this season.

They will play Nevada this afternoon in the First Round of the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament.

Tip-off is at 4:30 p.m. from the Delta Center in Salt Lake City, Utah.

The game will be broadcast on WHIO Radio. Pre-game coverage begins at 3:30 p.m.

Larry Hansgen and UD Hall of Famer Keith Waleskowski will have the call.

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