Jalen Crutcher's buzzer-beating 3-pointer in overtime completed a torrid rally for No. 13 Dayton, and the visiting Flyers escaped with a 78-76 win over Saint Louis on Friday.
Crutcher scored seven of his team-high 21 points in the final 49 seconds of overtime, and he contributed to Dayton's raucous comeback in regulation.
The Flyers (16-2, 5-0 Atlantic 10 Conference) faced a 13-point deficit with just under eight minutes remaining before going on a 3-point-shooting barrage. Dayton made six from deep over a stretch of about four minutes, climbing over the Billikens (14-4, 3-2) 64-61 with 2:37 left.
Dayton led by one before the Flyers' Trey Landers made just 1 of 2 free throws with five seconds remaining, setting up Jordan Goodwin's overtime-forcing, buzzer-beating floater.
Goodwin scored 15 points for the Billikens but shot 4 of 9 from the free-throw line. Missed foul shots were vexing for Saint Louis: Hasahn French, who scored 16 points, went 4 of 10 from the stripe, and the Billikens were 20 of 37 as a team.
Saint Louis' Yuri Collins made a pair of free throws with six seconds remaining in overtime, giving the Billikens a 76-75 lead before Crutcher's end-of-game dramatics.
Saint Louis had a prime opportunity to score an NCAA Tournament resume win, but it is still looking for its first win over an AP Top 25 team since topping then-No. 25 VCU on March 17, 2013.
The Billikens built a double-digit-point lead through a stifling defensive effort. They held the Flyers to 25 points first-half points, Dayton's lowest single-half output of the season.
Central to Saint Louis' initial defensive success was holding Dayton's All-America candidate, Obi Toppin, to 2-of-11 shooting in the first half.
Toppin came alive during the second-half rally and finished with 20 points and 10 rebounds. Ibi Watson and Landers added 17 and 14 points, respectively, for the Flyers.
Saint Louis' Javonte Perkins led all scorers with 25 points off the bench. French and Goodwin, who came into Friday's game the nation's only teammates averaging double-doubles, finished with 17 and 13 rebounds, respectively.
--Field Level Media
Dayton | Saint Louis | |
Jalen Crutcher 21 | Scoring | Javonte Perkins 25 |
Rodney Chatman 3 | Assists | Yuri Collins 4 |
Obi Toppin 10 | Rebounds | Hasahn French 17 |
Trey Landers 5 | Free Throws Made | Javonte Perkins 7 |
Trey Landers 3 | Steals | Yuri Collins 3 |
Obi Toppin 2 | Blocks | Hasahn French 3 |
Team | Points | FG% | 3PM-3PA | FTM-FTA | Assists | Rebounds | Blocks | Steals | Turnovers |
Dayton | 78 | 45.2 | 9-25 | 13-19 | 10 | 29 | 3 | 8 | 12 |
Saint Louis | 76 | 45.0 | 2-6 | 20-37 | 11 | 43 | 7 | 7 | 17 |