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March Madness is here.
Boise State and Dayton played a back-and-forth game that came down to the very end with the Flyers winning, 56-55. The Broncos had the ball down 56-55 with 24 second left and everyone in the arena knew the ball would go to Derrick Marks who had 23 points, but the ball went to Montigo Alford who drove to the hoop and missed a potential game-winner.
The Broncos immediately fouled Kendall Pollard who proceeded to miss both free throws giving Boise State a break. Boise State moved the ball down court and Marks dribbled to the corner and was double-teamed, but he lucked out when Dayton knocked the ball out of bounds.
Boise State inbounded the ball to Marks -- who still stayed in that corner -- where he proceeded to hold the ball and then take a terrible looking three-point shot and trying to draw foul, oh and he missed the shot miserably. Even had that shot gone in for Boise State it still would have been a dumb decision.
While a foul could of been called against Dayton due contact, but Kyle Davis landed on the ground as Marks leaned in to draw the foul. This play was just about trying to draw a foul. The play call itself was not very good as he was stuck in the corner.
However, all of that could have been avoided as Boise State held a seven-point lead with 4:15 left on a Mark Webb dunk. That slam would be the final field goal that Boise State would make and only three free throws were made.
Marks played a terrible last four minutes. He turned the ball over twice, missed a free throw going 1 of 4 on the night and missed a pair of layups prior to that last shot. Marks did end up with 23 points but the rest of the Broncos offense failed to show up.
The Broncos were 6 of 20 from beyond the arc and then there is the poor performance from Nic Duncan who scored just one point. Alford did have 11 points but the Broncos needed one other player to step up offensively, or go better than 5 of 10 from the free throw line.
There is also a lot to be made about Dayton playing at home who was 16-0 this year and won 22 in a row, but the game was called fair and Boise State blew their lead late in the game against Dayton.