Nevada coach Steve Alford, shown during the regular season, is 0-2 in NCAA Tournament games with the Wolf Pack.
Nevada Appeal file
A 17-point lead seemed like more than enough to send Nevada to its first win in the NCAA Tournament since 2018.
Dayton had other ideas.
The Flyers stunned the Wolf Pack with a 24-4 advantage down the stretch to pull out a 63-60 win in a first-round game Thursday at Salt Lake City.
The No. 7-seeded Flyers move on to face Arizona on Saturday.
Nevada’s season ended at 26-8 — not to mention in horrific fashion. The Wolf Pack looked tentative and played some of its worst basketball of the season in the final 7:30 of Thursday’s game.
DaRon Holmes II, the Atlantic 10 player of the year, finished with 18 points, including a three-point play with 2:01 left that put Dayton back into the lead.
The Flyers (25-7) trailed 56-39 with 7:36 remaining but responded with a 17-0 run.
Dayton picked up its first NCAA Tournament win in nine years.
Jarod Lucas scored 17 points, and Kenan Blackshear and Nick Davidson added 15 apiece for the Wolf Pack (26-8). Nevada initially took control by closing out the first half with a 16-0 run.
Nevada has lost five straight Mountain West or NCAA Tournament games.