Rhode Island's Archie Miller plays some accidental defense in return to Dayton

Over the course of basketball fandom, you're going to see some coaches drift onto the court while yelling directions and what not.

Usually, it's a subtle step or two that doesn't harm the flow of play. That wasn't the case with Rhode Island coach Archie Miller on Saturday.

Facing his old team at Dayton, Miller played some accidental defense during a transition play, when Dayton guard Javon Bennett found Koby Brea right in front of the coaching box. Brea was theoretically wide open, with no Rhode Island players within 10 feet of him at the time of the pass, but Miller then ran onto the court and was within reaching distance of Brea when the player came to a stop.

Unfortunately, the defense was for naught, as Brea found DaRon Holmes II under the basket for an easy two points.

Another look at the play, which only resulted in a warning from the officials:

Hey, at least he wasn't walking onto the court in a national championship game.

You couldn't have blamed Miller for wanting to help out, as that play was part of a 91-62 blowout at the hands of Dayton. The Flyers shot 55.9% from the field and a staggering 16-of-27 (59.3%) from 3-point range, with only two turnovers total.

Miller was the head coach at Dayton from 2011-17, leading the team to four straight NCAA tournaments and an Elite Eight berth in 2013-14. He left the team in 2017 for Indiana, where he lasted four years and never made the NCAA tournament. He took the Rhode Island job in 2022 and now holds an 18-31 record through a season and a half.

Dayton fans gave Miller a fairly warm welcome Saturday. The Dayton players, less so.

"[I'll] always be in debt to this place, but it makes you rethink things on the way out today after you get your ass kicked," Miller said after the game, per WDTN's Joey DeBerardino.