Duquesne bounces back to defeat UNC Greensboro
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Keith Dambrot had plenty of reasons to feel good about Duquesne’s 81-68 victory Wednesday night against UNC Greensboro in the Wade Houston Tipoff Classic in Louisville, Ky.
Most important for the Dukes coach was how his players recovered from a lethargic, 10-point loss to Arkansas-Little Rock on Monday.
After that game, Dambrot cautioned that Greensboro is a better team than Little Rock.
But if that’s true, the Dukes (1-1) never let it show Wednesday.
Duquesne scored the first seven points of the game and survived the only threat Greensboro (1-2) offered.
With the score tied 26-26 with 5 minutes, 12 seconds left in the first half, Duquesne triggered a 12-1 run and went into intermission with a 42-33 lead.
All four of Duquesne’s best and most experienced players contributed to that surge.
Marcus Weathers scored with force (a dunk) and finesse (two foul shots). Michael Hughes added a basket, and Sincere Carry and Tavian Dunn-Martin contributed a 3-pointer each.
For most of the second half, Duquesne led by double digits.
Dambrot explained he might have erred Monday when he called for a full-court press on Little Rock in the hope of creating turnovers. All it did was sap some of the energy from his players, he said.
“We were more conservative (Wednesday),” he said. “We did nothing tricky. Hand the ball to the halfback. Hand the ball to halfback. Hand the ball to the halfback.”
Actually, Duquesne’s aerial game wasn’t bad.
Dunn-Martin led the Dukes with 21 points, hitting four of six attempts from beyond the 3-point arc. It was his eighth career 20-point game.
Overall, Duquesne shot 45.3% from the field (25 of 54) while adding 10 steals to disrupt Greensboro’s rhythm. Dunn-Martin had four steals, tying a career high.
He also started and committed no turnovers after having seven Monday.
“I thought he played better defensively as well,” Dambrot said. “At his size (5-foot-8, 155 pounds), you’re not supposed to be able to do what he does.”
Dunn-Martin said Dambrot’s message to the team after the loss was a plea to pick up the defensive intensity.
“Because our offense is going to come,” he said.
Dunn-Martin was one of four Dukes to score at least 14 points.
Weathers scored 18, Carry 15 and Hughes had his eighth career double-double (14 points, 10 rebounds), coming off the bench for the second consecutive game.
“As we go, we’ll get a little bit better,” Dambrot said. “The key for us was spirit, enthusiasm and having fun, and we’re more than capable because we’re big and strong.
“These guys are nuts. They just turn it on when they feel like it sometimes. I’ve had a lot of teams play poorly in the first game of the year. You just can’t push the panic button.”
Duquesne’s final game in Louisville is Friday against Winthrop, a 75-67 winner against Greensboro.
“We have to go play Winthrop, who might be better than all of them,” Dambrot said.