The Atlantic 10, in a virtual tie with the American Athletic and within arm’s length of the SEC and ACC, ranks eighth among 32 Division I basketball leagues in the NCAA Evaluation Tool (NET) and Ratings Percentage Index (RPI).
Indeed, the A-10 is a quality conference this season.
It might explain why Fordham, one of the A-10’s bottom-feeders and Duquesne’s opponent Sunday at Rose Hill Gym in New York, doesn’t always prove to be a pushover, despite the Rams’ poor record (7-16, 1-10).
“They’re going to make it hard for us to get into our offense,” Duquesne coach Keith Dambrot said Friday. “They’re going to play both man or zone, whichever goes better for them. They’re going to make it like going to the dentist and you’re getting six teeth pulled.”
In their first meeting Jan. 15, Duquesne (17-6, 7-4) escaped PPG Paints Arena with a 58-56 overtime victory against Fordham, thanks largely to sophomore guard Lamar Norman Jr.’s game-high 20 points on 7-of-11 shooting (6 for 10 from behind the arc).
Duquesne could use Norman Jr.’s help again at Fordham, where the Rams, who lead the A-10 in scoring defense (57.6 ppg), are 6-8 overall but just 1-4 in the conference.
“They’re one of the better defensive teams in the league and probably one of the most diversified defensive teams in the league,” Dambrot said as the Dukes wrapped up a week in which they spent time healing following a bruising seven-day stretch of three games.
Duquesne went 2-1 during the period, losing their most-recent test, an 83-80 decision to St. Bonaventure on Feb. 8 at UPMC Events Center at Robert Morris. It followed a 14-point victory at Saint Louis — the Billikens’ first home loss to an unranked team — and a two-point victory over La Salle at PPG Paints.
“We gave them Sunday off,” Dambrot said. “Monday, we practiced really hard. Tuesday, we did nothing but meet with the sports psychologist. (The rest of the time was) hard and short.”
Junior guard Tavian Dunn-Martin, who tied a career high with seven 3-pointers in the loss to St. Bonaventure, was optimistic about the Dukes’ bounce-back.
A rare off-day for leading scorer and rebounder Marcus Weathers, who was hobbled and finished with just seven points on 0-for-6 shooting and five rebounds, didn’t help the Dukes’ cause.
“Most of the guys talk about what we could’ve done better, and what to do to fix it,” said Dunn-Martin, who came off the bench to lead Duquesne with 25 points. “At the end of the day, you’ve just got to get out there and practice harder and try to move on.”
Weathers (14.7 ppg, 7.8 rpg) appeared to be on the mend this week after battling fatigue and soreness in his legs. He had been wearing elastic therapeutic tape, but that was not evident Friday, and Dambrot said Duquesne’s medical staff has been working with the 6-foot-5 junior.
“We have relatively good health right now,” Dambrot said. “Marcus was really banged up after the last game, but the trainers did a good job of getting him back on his feet a little bit. Other than that, knock on wood, we’re pretty good.”
The Dukes will need a healthy Weathers to team with 6-8 shot-blocker Michael Hughes and 6-11 Baylee Steele, to help offset the rebounding of Fordham sophomore Onyi Eyisi, who grabbed 14 boards in the first meeting.
