Tim Benz: Duquesne follows up impressive opener with massive challenge at Kentucky
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It’s tough to find anything negative coming out of Duquesne’s first game of the 2022-23 season.
The Dukes shot a blistering 64.4% from the floor en route to a 91-63 blowout of Montana. It was a game they led by 42 at one point. They won the rebounding battle by 13 and had 30 bench points, 22 points off of turnovers and 46 points in the paint.
Now that's how you start a half pic.twitter.com/zpPUSyUmwY
— Duquesne Basketball (@DuqMBB) November 9, 2022
Not a bad way to snap the 17-game losing streak that ended last season and give Dukes head coach Keith Dambrot’s reconstructed roster some confidence going into Game 2 of the season Friday night — a road trip to face fourth-ranked Kentucky.
Maybe the only downside is, did the Dukes play too well? As in, was the game tape good enough that it erases any chance that the high-profile Wildcats may look past Duquesne after a 6-24 season a year ago?
Dambrot said playing in a venue like Rupp Arena probably would’ve prevented that even if the Dukes had lost their first game.
“When over 20,000 people are at your games, you tend to play hard. There is a lot of motivation there when there are a lot of people there,” Dambrot said. “They are trying to get better as well. People don’t want to let opportunities go by the wayside. They are fighting for minutes as well. They are going to play hard.”
From Kentucky’s perspective, the Wildcats were hot from the floor in their opener too, shooting 57.1% on the way to a 95-63 blowout of Howard. They also forced 16 turnovers and held the Bison to 34% shooting.
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The team played without Oscar Tshiebwe, who had a procedure on his knee in mid-October. At least publicly, coach John Calipari is hedging on whether the defending Player of the Year would suit up against the Dukes.
“If he wants to play Friday (against Duquesne), I’m going to have to work him out myself and see. If I did, he’d probably play 10 or 15 minutes, just to get his legs under him,” Calipari said earlier this week.
Dambrot said he is working under the assumption that the former West Virginia Mountaineer is going to play somewhere in that 10- to 15-minute range. But his team will also have to be prepared for a slew of other highly talented players, including a familiar name to Dukes fans, Jacob Toppin. He’s the brother of Obi Toppin, who played against the Dukes during his days dominating the Atlantic 10 with Dayton.
Jacob Toppin also played 30 games in the A-10 his freshman year with Rhode Island. He had 15 points and 11 rebounds in the opener against Howard.
“He has really improved and has become a good player for them,” Dambrot said. “A lot like his brother: late developing. And I’m sure he is a lot like his brother, a great human being and a great teammate. That’s what impressed me about Obi. Those brothers usually don’t fall too far from the tree.”
Meanwhile, Dambrot’s Dukes look to get another standout performance from Miami, Ohio, transfer Dae Dae Grant. He totaled 25 points on a perfect 8 of 8 night from the floor against the Grizzlies on Tuesday.
Dambrot said he has been most impressed with Grant’s willingness to accept coaching suggestions about how to refine his game.
“You can tell him what you think without fearing how he is going to react. He just wants to be good. He trusts us and knows we have his best interests at heart. He has really shot the ball well in the last three weeks. He has such a quick release,” Dambrot said.
In Friday’s “Breakfast With Benz” podcast, Dambrot discusses the challenges of facing Kentucky, the history of going to Rupp Arena and some other highlights from Monday’s win at the UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse.