PITTSBURGH (93.7 The Fan) – The announcement of head coach Keith Dambrot’s impending retirement in the rearview mirror, Duquesne turns focus to the NCAA Tournament. They don’t do it just happy to be there.
It’s not even as much a mantra as it was a command from the school’s president.
“Get the hell out there and get to work,” said Duquesne President Ken Gormley. “We have some big games to win.”
The first one for the 24-win Dukes is the second best three-point scoring team in the nation Thursday afternoon in Omaha. BYU averages 11.2 made threes and 81.8 points per game, scoring at least 90 in a game nine times.
“We play one of the best offensive teams in the country if you look at BYU,” Dambrot said. “If we get caught into their game, we will have problems. If they play our game, they may not have seen much of that.”
Dambrot described their style during the Atlantic 10 Tournament as being in a rock fight. It’s a way of describing a team that wins with defense and it overcomes sometimes inconsistent offense.
“If we keep hanging our hat at the defensive end, keep worrying about getting stops, the offense will take care of itself and I think we can make a run,” said freshman Jake DiMichele from McKees Rocks.
The Duquesne head coach described it as a players’ driven team and they have shown the toughness and resilience. Expectations high for the season, the Dukes started conference play 0-5, were barely over .500 in January. They rallied together, so much so Dambrot, a 24-year head coaching veteran, said he’s never seen it like that. They stuck together.
“After we went 0-5, I remember in the huddle one game and it was coming down to the wire again,” Dambrot said. “Our assistant coach Rick McFadden said you’ve guys have been through it. You guys are winners now act like winners. From that point on we won.”
“I told our guys, we are good enough to continue to win. We are not going into the tournament to be glad to be there.”
“We got it rolling and we are tight knit,” said senior Dae Dae Grant. “We try to continue to do things like that. Us just figuring out each other, how we play on the court. A shout out to the coaching staff, they put us in the right sets. It’s not easy.”
“I told Dae Dae in the locker room, trust me, a lot of people don’t want to play us right now,” Jake DiMichele. “We are hot, clicking at the right time. It’s about who is playing their best basketball in March, everything that happened before that doesn’t really matter.”
“I’ve never won an NCAA Tournament game other than Division 2,” Dambrot said. “I want to win a Division 1 tournament game and two and three and four. I want to be Florida Atlantic or George Mason or VCU. That’s what we are in for. We will see what happens. We have to stay relaxed and keep throwing rocks.”
“We feel like we can advance and play against anyone in the country,” Grant said.