Duquesne is among a handful of teams the Atlantic 10 is pushing for inclusion into the National Invitation Tournament’s 32-team field, which will be revealed Sunday night.
Coach Dru Joyce III welcomes the opportunity.
“I haven’t talked to the players, but I spoke to each of our coaches, individually, and it was a unanimous ‘Yes,’” Joyce said Saturday, a day after the Dukes dropped a 71-66 decision to VCU in the A-10 Tournament quarterfinals at PPG Paints Arena. “I know the spirit of our guys, and I feel sure they feel the same way.”
The A-10 is hoping to advance three teams into the NCAA Tournament, and that might happen if Dayton (23-10) prevails against VCU (26-7) in Sunday’s A-10 Tournament championship game at PPG Paints Arena to earn the conference’s automatic bid.
The NCAA Tournament field of 68 teams will be announced at 6 p.m. Sunday, with the NIT selections to follow.
If the Flyers fall, they’ll likely be offered an NIT spot, while a VCU loss would leave the Rams on the fence.
Meanwhile, Saint Louis (28-5), which shared the A-10 regular-season title with VCU and spent most of the season in the AP Top 25, is regarded as a lock for the 68-team NCAA Tournament field despite losing to Dayton, 70-69, in Saturday’s semifinals.
Duquesne (18-15) joins George Mason (23-9), Saint Joseph’s (22-11), Davidson (20-13) and George Washington (18-15) as other A-10 teams under consideration for an NIT bid.
“It’s another opportunity to play a game, and I’m sure our guys would welcome that opportunity,” Joyce III said. “If the Atlantic 10 wants a team to represent the league the right way, we’re ready to fill that role.”
With a growing number of schools declining invitations to the NIT, it offers an enhanced opportunity for Duquesne.
“Regardless of what your opinion is on the NIT these days, we understand the importance of playing in March Madness,” Joyce said. “The NIT is a part of that. Basketball purists understand the history of that tournament and what it means.”
Thank you, fellas
When it was time for Joyce III to address reporters following Friday’s loss, the second-year coach went against his tradition of foregoing an opening statement during postgame news conferences.
His heart was heavy, and he wanted to speak.
“Well,” Joyce started slowly while choosing his words carefully. “First and foremost, I think that it’s important to give praise to my guys.”
Sure, Joyce was unhappy with a loss — the Dukes were within two points of tying the score with 37 seconds left and trailed 69-66 with 15 seconds to go — but his agenda called for first things first.
“No matter what the results show,” he said, “I think they deserve the storyline. They deserve the accolades. They deserve the credit. Because they put the time, the energy and the effort into making this thing work. And not just them. Our staff, too. I just think it’s important for me, as I sit here, to make sure that I give them their thanks. Because it’s not possible without their commitment.”
In his second season as Duquesne’s coach, the Dukes rebooted with a new lineup and turned around a rough year in Joyce’s first year to put up another winning season, their third in the past four seasons.
Joyce panned his audience before continuing.
“It’s tough to commit to things, right?” he said. “We’re adults. We know that. It’s tough. It’s tough to buy in. It’s tough to give your all and wake up and go at it every day, especially when you don’t know how things are going to play out, right? You don’t know necessarily where the journey is going to take you.”
He then turned to two players who joined him on the podium, paused to gather his emotions and said: “Guys like (seniors) Dave Dixon and Alex Williams. It’s just that you’ve got to love them. You’ve got to appreciate them. … Regardless of the win or loss, that’s the special part of my job, that I get to stand in front of those guys, work with them, partner with them. I get to get on them and push them and motivate them.
“I get to love them, too.”
Flying high
For all of Dayton’s success as one of the marquee programs in the A-10, the Flyers have just one conference tournament championship in five title-game appearances to show.
Make that six trips come Sunday.
No. 4 Dayton advanced to the title game at PPG Paints Arena with a 70-69 victory over top-seeded Saint Louis on Amael L’Etang’s last-second tip-in.
Outside the Dayton locker room in the aftermath, Dayton associate head coach Ricardo Greer, the former Pitt star, was glad-handing anyone in his path. Nearby, coach Anthony Grant stood nearly motionless against a wall and stared at the floor.
“Unbelievable!” Greer shouted before heading to a jubilant locker room.
While at Pitt, Greer compiled 1,753 points and 888 rebounds while earning two All-Big East awards.
Winning an A-10 championship with Dayton in his adopted hometown would be a joyful occasion for Greer.
“That’d be like a dream come true, being able to go back to what I call my hometown,” he told TribLive earlier in the week. “I was born and raised in New York. But so many unbelievable memories of Pittsburgh. Just everyone who was able to help me grow as a man, walking in there as a young boy. It would be great to cut those nets down on Sunday.”
Basketball in the city
A total of 30 players have scored at least 25 points in a college basketball game at PPG Paints Arena, formerly known as Consol Energy Center, since the facility was opened in 2010.
The list has grown by five this week at the A-10 Tournament.
Dayton’s Javon Bennett scored 27 points on Friday against St. Bonaventure, and teammate Jordan Derkack hit for 28 in Saturday’s semifinals victory against Saint Louis.
In Wednesday’s first round, Joshua Ola-Joseph scored 26 for Loyola Chicago against Richmond and Rob Dockens of La Salle went for 33 in a loss to St. Bonaventure.
The tournament’s single-game points leader this season through Saturday’s semifinals is Rhode Island’s Tyler Cochran, who scored 34 in a quarterfinals loss to Duquesne on Thursday.
Only Oregon’s Jermaine Couisnard, who scored 40 in an NCAA Tournament game on March 21, 2024, has scored more in a game at the arena.
Also, with the completion of Sunday’s A-10 Tournament championship game, a total of 94 basketball games will have been played at PPG Paints Arena/Consol Energy Center. The 79th City Game between Pitt and Duquesne on Dec. 1, 2010, represented the first.