Duquesne men top DePaul for rare victory against Big East opponent

When any errant shot caromed off the backboards Wednesday night at the UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse, Duquesne took charge so completely that coach Keith Dambrot gushed, “Our big guys beat their brains in.”

The rebounding advantage was just one factor that led to the Dukes’ 66-55 victory against DePaul (6-5). A margin of 48-32 speaks for itself.

But you can’t ignore the players’ attempts to share the basketball (13 assists), steal it (five times) and block shots (four).

All those numbers added up to Duquesne’s first victory against a Big East team since 2002.

But Dambrot was especially pleased by something else his players did after losing their second game in a row Sunday, 73-60, to New Mexico State.

They listened.

“They took what we told them,” Dambrot said. “(He told them): `You’ve been relying on offense the whole year, and we have a couple below-average offensive nights and we lose. So, when are you going to listen and trust us and get better defensively and really make it matter to you?’ ”

They responded, led DePaul without trailing and held the Blue Demons to 21 points in the first half and 30.9% shooting (17 of 55) for the night.

“That tells you a lot about the group,” Dambrot said.

“The last couple days coach pushed us and put the emphasis on defense. Today, it showed,” said Joe Reece, who shook off an ankle injury to share scoring honors (15 points) with Dae Dae Grant. Jimmy Clark III added 13 points, eight rebounds, two assists and two steals and Quincy McGriff had eight points and eight rebounds.

Practice in the two days leading up to Wednesday was a bit different, at least for Dambrot.

“I never worked a team in 40 years of coaching harder after a game than I did after the last game,” he said.

“I give our guys credit because we didn’t play very well the last game. But they had a lot on their plate, in fairness to them.”

He pointed out that the Dukes lost two games last week while players were taking final exams.

“We played way too many games over exam week than we should have You shouldn’t even play any.”

It’s also important to note that the Dukes won without point guard Tevin Brewer, who injured his right shoulder Sunday. That allowed more playing time for McGriff, a 6-foot-6 sophomore, and 5-9 freshman Kareem Rozier.

McGriff, who has a tender Achilles, recorded a near double-double with eight points, eight rebounds and three assists.

“If McGriff plays to his capabilities, we can withstand a little bit with Tevin being out,” Dambrot said. “If he played like he did the two games before, we’re in trouble. But I give him credit because he rallied himself back. He’s been battling some things.”

Rozier had four points and three assists, but contributed in other ways.

“The one thing that guy is, he makes winning plays,” Dambrot said. “He doesn’t dazzle you with anything, but he’s a winner. That’s important, especially when you’ve gone through what we went through last year.

“You hit that point (when DePaul whittled an 18-point lead to eight in the second half), either you’re going to win or you’re going to cave in. Guys like him help you win.”

He added, “He’s our best on–the-ball defender. That’s a crazy statement that a freshman is your best on-the-ball defender.”

Duquesne has a long way to go, but the Dukes (8-3) already have won two more games than last season.

“I’m upset we didn’t win the other two games, quite honestly,” Dambrot said. “But by the same token, with all the adversity (injuries) we’ve hit, this was a huge game for us. I’ve been impressed with them all year, really.

“I’m just happy that we stopped the bleeding and got the win so we can get our mojo back a little bit.”