Surrounded by a huddle of his players after practice, roughly 24 hours before Duquesne will face No. 24-ranked Rhode Island, first-year coach Keith Dambrot posed a question.
“If you asked 100 reporters who would win, what would they say?” Dambrot shouted to Dave Saba, the team’s media relations contact.
Saba held up one finger.
“One,” Dambrot said, turning back to the team. “That’s an unbelievable opportunity.”
The point being, of course, that comes at noon Saturday, Duquesne (14-7, 5-3 Atlantic 10 Conference ) will be a vast underdog playing in front of a sold-out Ryan Center crowd on a national TV broadcast (NBC Sports Network). Tied for third place in conference standings after going 60-97 the past five years, it’s possible the Dukes have earned a little respect — but they are still rebuilding and embracing the darkhorse role.
“We understand we’re the underdogs going into the game, which is how we’ve been all season,” sophomore guard Mike Lewis II said. “So, it’s going to be fun. We have everything to gain and nothing really to lose. ... As a competitor, this is a game you look forward to.”
The Rams offense returned guards Jared Terrell, E.C. Matthews and Stanford Robinson from their Atlantic 10 tournament championship team, which lost to Oregon, 75-72, in the second round of the NCAA tournament. Terrell leads the team in scoring with 18.2 points per game.
As a team, Rhode Island (16-3, 8-0) is shooting .465 from the field, a percentage Duquesne has topped in four games. Rhode Island (66.3 points per game) ranks second in the conference in scoring defense while Duquesne (66.6 ppg) ranks third.
It’s just another game, Dambrot said, when the Dukes — 11-1 when holding opponents under 70 points — will need to control the pace to win.
“What we have to do is we have to make it a teeth-pulling contest,” Dambrot said. “We have to go in there and try to frustrate them, make them play through possessions, make them play at a slow pace and try to make them get frustrated that they’re not scoring. If the game goes fast, we have no chance.”
What would a teeth-pulling contest look like? The Dukes running a patient offense, aiming to score toward the end of the shot clock, keeping the game close through the 10-minute mark and giving themselves a chance at the end.
In the most recent of three consecutive home overtime games, a 77-73 loss Wednesday night against Richmond, Duquesne trailed by 12 less than seven minutes into the game. They will aim for a stronger start against the Rams.
Tough one at home. Thanks for the support fans. Refs didn’t lose us the game, we will take it and learn from it. 🙏
— Eric Williams Jr. (@ericwilliams708) January 25, 2018
“We have to play the whole game,” Lewis said. “We can’t come out with a start slow in either half. If we get down big, and they’re one of the best teams in the country, then we’ve put ourselves in a terrible position. So Xs- and Os-wise, [Dambrot] wants us to control the pace of the game by our actions. Try to get them moving, try to get them tired.”
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First Published: January 26, 2018, 9:22 p.m.