Dayton vs. Syracuse: Score and Twitter Reaction from March Madness 2016

The 10th-seeded Syracuse Orange avenged a 2014 NCAA tournament loss Friday by defeating the No. 7 Dayton Flyers 70-51 in a Midwest Region first-round clash at the Scottrade Center in St. Louis.

Cuse was a one-point favorite despite being the lower seed, according to OddsShark, and it proved the bookmakers right by advancing to face the winner of the game between No. 2 Michigan State and No. 15 Middle Tennessee State.

The Orange were led by freshman guard Malachi Richardson, who led all scorers with 21 points to go along with four rebounds and three assists. Junior forward Tyler Roberson also dominated with 10 points and 18 rebounds, which was one short of the school's single-game rebounding record in the NCAA tourney.

Per Chris Fallica of ESPN's College GameDay, Syracuse continued a trend of low-seeded ACC teams doing damage in the first round of the NCAA tournament:

While Dayton boasted the more experienced team in terms of NCAA tournament success, the advantage was firmly in Syracuse's favor on the sidelines, as head coach Jim Boeheim has led the Orange since well before Flyers head coach Archie Miller was born, according to ESPN's Darren Rovell:

The first half was extremely tight but also sloppy, as neither team was able to get into a good rhythm on offense. Syracuse outshot Dayton 42.3 percent to 34.5 percent, but the Orange also turned the ball over 11 times, which is why they didn't lead by more.

Syracuse began shooting the three ball much better as the opening half progressed, which allowed it to seize a 30-28 lead entering the locker room.

The Flyers led for much of the first 15 minutes, though, by virtue of plays such as this dunk by freshman center Steve McElvene:

Their shooting was quite spotty overall in the opening frame, but they were able to break down Syracuse's 2-3 zone at times by getting into the paint, as they did on this alley-oop dunk from junior guard Charles Cooke to make the score 14-8:

Richardson was able to keep Cuse in it, however, as he led all scorers with 10 points in the first half, including a pair of trifectas on four attempts.

His most dazzling play came with just over eight minutes remaining in the half when he faked a behind-the-back pass and converted a layup to pull the Orange within two points of the lead:

Junior guard Scoochie Smith was Dayton's top offensive contributor, as he led the Flyers with nine points on 3-of-3 shooting from downtown, including this deep three to tie the game at 23-23 with under four minutes left:

Syracuse took the advantage back and led by as much as five, but Dayton had a chance to tie it or take the lead entering the break. Cooke missed a three-pointer, though, which kept the score 30-28 in favor of the Orange.

As pointed out by Joe Rexrode of the Detroit Free Press, defense and the clash of styles between the two teams in that regard was the story of the first half:

While it wasn't an ideal opening half for Cuse by any means, Salvatore Maneen of WSYR-TV pointed out that it was an improvement from the Orange's struggles against Dayton in a loss to the Flyers two years ago in the second round of the tourney:

"

'Cuse leads Dayton 30-28 at half on 42% shooting. 2 years ago this team, SU trailed Flyers 20-18 at half on just 30% shooting. #Progress?

— Salvatore Maneen (@SalManeenNC9) March 18, 2016"

Dayton found itself very much in the game despite a woeful shooting performance over the first 20 minutes, but it didn't take advantage of the situation, as the Orange opened the second half on a 15-3 run to seize a commanding 45-31 lead.

Richardson's strong play carried over into the second half, and CBS Sports suggested that his flashy footwear may have had something to do with it:

Perhaps more importantly, though, Richardson's production started to open things up for some of Syracuse's other stars, namely senior guard Michael Gbinije.

Cuse's leading scorer on the season ended up with 10 points on the day, and much of that was due to mismatches Richardson helped create in the second half, per Jesse Dougherty of the Daily Orange:

A trey from senior guard Trevor Cooney gave the Orange their biggest lead of the game with just over nine minutes left at 53-33, and it broke the heart of at least one young Flyers fan, as seen in this photo courtesy of Rocky Top Insider's Will Boling:

Things got even worse for Dayton on the ensuing possession when Richardson went hard to the rack and drew both the hoop and the harm:

Roberson continued to pour it on late as well with this dunk, which essentially served as an exclamation point for the Orange:

Syracuse looked much better and more fluid on the offensive end during the second half, but as pointed out by Mike Waters of Syracuse.com, it was Boeheim's signature zone that made the difference with the Flyers getting held to just 23 second-half points:

Great shooting teams are often able to handle Syracuse's system, but Dayton shot just 27.3 percent from beyond the arc, which prevented it from making any type of comeback in the closing minutes of the game.

The loss was an especially disappointing one for the Flyers since they made the Elite Eight in 2014 and managed to win a pair of tournament games last year.

Coupled with Archie's brother—Arizona head coach Sean Miller—getting ousted by Wichita State in emphatic fashion Thursday, it was a rough couple of days for the Miller family, according to Jeff Eisenberg of Yahoo Sports:

Friday's win gave Syracuse some level of vindication after an up-and-down season that saw the Orange go just 19-13. Many questioned if Cuse deserved to be in the tournament field, but it removed any doubt against Dayton.

The Orange have a chance to do some damage if they continue to play at the level they displayed Friday, but it certainly won't be easy, especially if Michigan State advances as their second-round opponent as expected.

Syracuse is battle-tested with a championship-winning coach, though, which makes it a very dangerous No. 10 seed regardless of who it faces.

Postgame Reaction

After a dominant victory in the first round of the NCAA tournament, Boeheim was in no mood to lend credence to the notion that Syracuse was fortunate to be included in the field of 68, according to Dan Wolken of USA Today:

Boeheim acknowledged that his team had some struggles offensively, but believed the primary difference was Cuse's effort on the glass, per Syracuse Basketball:

Miller agreed that rebounding played a major factor, and pointed toward Roberson as the biggest difference-maker in that regard, according to Waters:

Boeheim was extremely impressed with Roberson as well and noted his importance moving forward in the tournament:

Meanwhile, Miller bemoaned the fact that his Flyers didn't take advantage of the opportunities they were given by making shots against the 2-3 zone:

Dayton is a team that has typically risen to the occasion on the big stage, but that certainly wasn't the case Friday.

Check out Bleacher Report's live updating bracket to track your picks along the road to the Final Four. 

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