The Duquesne men’s basketball team just roasted the best defensive team in the Atlantic 10 on Saturday afternoon.
Three nights later, they are tasked with doing the same thing again.
Virginia Commonwealth University comes to UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse at 7 p.m. Tuesday atop the A-10 with a 24-5 record overall and a 14-2 mark in conference play.
“I just tell the guys to go out there and play with confidence every single game. Just treat it like any other game,” leading scorer Tre Dinkins said Saturday. “We know we have a tough stretch ahead of us. But it’s just basketball. So as long as we just stick to what we do best and pay attention to the scout and execute things like that, we’ll be fine.”
The Dukes (13-16, 8-8) just beat George Mason, which entered the game at 22-6, 13-2 in the A-10. The Patriots arrived in Pittsburgh only a half-game behind VCU in the conference standings. They took the floor as the best team in field goal percentage defense in the conference (37.3%), the best defense against 3-pointers (29.2%) and tied for first in points-per-game allowed at only 62.4.
The Dukes proceeded to drill the Patriots by hitting 15 3-pointers while shooting 52% from the floor en route to an 85-68 win.
“We are playing free, playing confident. We are getting guys in the right positions,” point guard Kareem Rozier said Monday. “Tre and I have done a good job of getting guys involved in the right places, getting them open shots. Then you’ve got other people like Max (Edwards) stepping in (with 14 points). That’s huge for us.”
Now the Dukes welcome the Rams, who currently lead the conference at 62.2 points per game allowed. They are second behind GMU (now up to 30%) in 3-point defense at 30.5% and second behind only the Patriots (now up to 37.8%) in field goal defense at 39.1%
Coach Ryan Odom’s team is also second in both steals per game (9.2) and blocks per game (5.6) while leading the A-10 in forced turnovers at 14.2 per game.
“They played really disciplined and great basketball all season,” coach Dru Joyce III said about VCU. “It starts defensively with their ball pressure. It ignites them at times. It gives them energy to go on runs.”
Not only do the Rams boast all of those numbers, but they are also the conference’s best-scoring team. So the Dukes need to bottle whatever it is that has been allowing them to shoot at a 52% clip in each of their last two wins over George Mason and La Salle if they are going to crack VCU’s defense and if they’re going to outscore the Rams equally potent offense.
After all, offensive acumen hasn’t exactly been Duquesne’s calling card this year. They are the second-lowest scoring team in the league at 69.1 points per game.
“They are highly efficient on the offensive end. A lot of drive and kick. A lot of dribble-drive scenarios,” Joyce said. “It’ll be a challenge. Can we match up? Can we contain the dribble?”
The 3-point accuracy of Tre Dinkins and Cam Crawford sure has helped. They are 15-27 (55.6%) from outside the arc over their last two games.
“When 3s are falling, it’s kind of contagious. One person sees a few go in, and everybody gets pretty hyped about it,” Crawford said after the win over GMU. “My first one fell. Normally when my first one falls, it’s going to be a good night for me.”
Expect an emotional push from the Rams as well. Duquesne upset VCU on their court 69-59 a year ago and 57-51 in the finals of the A-10 Tournament. That gave the Dukes an automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament and sent the Rams to the NIT.
“They are going to come in hungry. We beat them last year in the championship, and they haven’t won here (since 2019),” Rozier said. “I don’t want to make the same mistake we made against Dayton — not understanding what that meant to them after beating them in the quarterfinals.”
In that game, Dayton shot 58% from the floor and won 82-62. This year’s Rams team is certainly capable of similar results with Joe Bamisile and Max Shulga on the floor. They both average over 15 points a game.
While revenge may be on the mind of the Rams, repeating history is on the mind of the Dukes, who also beat La Salle, GMU and eventually George Washington to end the season on a four-game win streak en route to their historic run through the A-10 and into the NCAA tournament for the first time since 1977.
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The third step of rewriting that script Tuesday night may be the toughest chapter of the bunch.