After two wild overtimes, DePaul fans in Chicago can catch their breath.
The Blue Demons dodged an upset attempt by No. 10 seed Dayton, but only after winning what turned out to be the NCAA tournament’s opening day’s wildest game.
Drake Diener scored 10 of his career-high 28 points in the second overtime, propelling DePaul to the second round for the first time in 15 years.
Delonte Holland added 13 points and 14 rebounds in sparking the Blue Demons’ 76-69 victory over Dayton on Thursday night.
The seventh-seeded Blue Demons (22-9) advanced to play second-seeded Connecticut on Saturday in the Phoenix Regional. The game will pit DePaul coach Dave Leitao against his former mentor Jim Calhoun, whom he served as an assistant under for the Huskies and played for at Northeastern.
DePaul ended a four-game tournament losing streak and won for the first time since beating Memphis State 66-63 in 1989.
Diener put DePaul ahead for good when he hit two free throws with 2:13 left in the second overtime to give the Blue Demons a 64-63 lead.
After Dayton’s Mark Jones hit a running jumper with 33 seconds left to cut the lead to 71-69, Diener sealed the victory by hitting two free throws with 31.4 seconds remaining.
Ramod Marshall led Dayton with 17 points, but the Flyers (24-9) were hurt by their poor performance at the free throw line, where they went 12-for-23. Dayton lost its fourth straight tournament game. They haven’t won since beating Illinois in 1990.
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Edited by Chris Malcolm (ccmalcolm@tribune.com) and Chris Courtney (cdcourtney@tribune.com)
