Atlantic 10 Tournament sends Duquesne onto Richmond turf — to play Richmond

In an effort to minimize the effects of the coronavirus, the Atlantic 10 moved its tournament from the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, N.Y., to Richmond, Va., where two league schools — VCU and Richmond — this week will be the hosts for 12 of the 13 games.

No. 9-seeded Duquesne (8-8, 7-7) drew No. 8 Richmond (13-7, 6-5) for its first opponent Thursday after an unusual season in which teams played as many as 17 conference games, as few as eight and several amounts in between.

Duquesne coach Keith Dambrot was expecting either Dayton or Saint Louis for an opponent, but two upsets Monday — Dayton defeated St. Bonaventure and St. Joseph’s beat Richmond — slid Richmond into the 8/9 game. It’s a matchup of two coaching veterans: Dambrot and Richmond’s Chris Mooney, who have combined for 782 victories in 40 seasons. Mooney is 1-4 against Dambrot in A-10 play.

Dambrot (477-255 in 23 seasons) has said the opponent doesn’t matter because he’s confident his team can compete with any in the league. But he did smile at the matchup with Richmond.

“It’s only Duquesne’s luck that the tournament gets (moved) into Richmond and we play one of the two home teams that doesn’t have to travel,” Dambrot said. “That’s the Duquesne jinx, I guess. We have to overcome that Duquesne jinx. That’s the No. 1 goal of mine.”

A victory against Richmond would be the first step toward reaching that goal. The Dukes have won their first A-10 Tournament game only three times in 22 appearances since 1995. Dambrot is 0-2 in the A-10 postseason.

Quite a contrast to Dambrot’s Akron teams that were 27-10 in the Mid-American Conference Tournament and played in nine MAC championship games.

One logistical fact in Duquesne’s favor: The game starts at 11 a.m. at VCU’s Siegel Center, which fits Duquesne’s routine.

“We practice in the mornings,” Dambrot said. “We’re used to playing early.”

Also, there shouldn’t be much of a home-court advantage for Richmond, aside from its 9-mile bus ride to VCU’s Siegel Center where only 250 people, including traveling parties, family members and friends, are permitted inside.

Richmond has some injury issues that at times prevented the Spiders from putting their best team on the floor against St. Joseph’s. Leading scorer Blake Francis (16.1 points per game) injured his back in a fall during the game and 6-foot-10, 255-pound forward Grant Golden has a broken finger on his left hand. Both were on the bench for the crucial moments of the loss.

This season, there are no dominant teams in the A-10. None of the 14 members are ranked in the Associated Press Top 25 and only St. Bonaventure is getting votes (16 points worth).

The Bonnies might be the favorite as the regular-season champion, but that’s been a cursed crown.

Only two of the past 14 champions have won the tournament and none since Saint Louis in 2013. Seven member schools have won the past 10 championships.

To earn its first NCAA Tournament berth since 1977, Duquesne must win four games, three in three days, plus the championship March 14 in Dayton.

“Our guys generally, when we play good teams in good environments, for the four years I’ve been here, have played as hard as they can play,” Dambrot said.

“Do you have enough discipline to play four good games? Do you have enough discipline, toughness, endurance to play four good games?

“I think we’ll compete hard. I do. Now, when we get hit in the mouth, will we compete hard? That’s going to be the biggest thing.”

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