Caleb Love, Arizona Advance to Sweet 16, Fans Credit Dayton's March Madness Upset Bid

Caleb Love's 19 points helped Arizona outlast Dayton 78-68 in the NCAA tournament on Saturday to earn its second trip to the Sweet 16 in three years.

The Wildcats looked like they were going to cruise to an easy victory after taking a 17-point lead on Motiejus Krivas' dunk with 2:43 remaining in the first half.

Instead, Arizona closed the half by turning the ball over on four of its final five possessions. Dayton took advantage by going on a 10-0 run that got the deficit down to seven points.

The Flyers carried that momentum into the second half, eventually getting within three at 52-49 after Koby Brea's three from near the March Madness logo with 11:40 left in regulation.

Love's jumper on the ensuing possession helped slow down Dayton's momentum. It also propelled the Wildcats on a 14-2 run that gave them some breathing room.

Jaden Bradley had one the best moments of the game with a layup on a drive to the basket that saw him do a spin move that left Kobe Elvis wondering what happened.

Arizona head coach Tommy Lloyd was able to make adjustments in the second half. Love scored 13 points in the first 12 minutes, but was held to just six for the rest of the game.

Jaden Bradley picked up a lot of the scoring slack for the Wildcats in the second half. The sophomore guard had nine points, three steals, two assists and two blocks over the final 20 minutes.

Despite coming up short against a tough opponent, Dayton and head coach Anthony Grant earned a lot of love from fans for its effort on Saturday.

The biggest difference in the game was the benches for both teams. Bradley, KJ Lewis and Motiejus Krivas combined for 23 points on 7-of-11 shooting. The Flyers only got two points off the bench from Davon Bennett.

It didn't help that the Flyers connected on just 29.2 percent of their three-point attempts. This was a disappointing finish for the program, but they won 25 games for the first time since 2015-16. This was their first tournament appearance since the 2016-17 season.

Arizona will advance to the Sweet 16 next week where it will take on the winner of Sunday's matchup between No. 3 Baylor and No. 6 Clemson.