OMAHA, Neb. -- It's never going to be lost that Duquesne achieved what most thought was unachievable when Keith Dambrot was hired to resurrect the program in 2017.
It took some time to build, but the Dukes program became a champion for the first time in 47 years just one week ago. The ensuing tournament of champions affectionately known as March Madness breeds excitement and awe for programs like Duquesne's, and its first NCAA Tournament win since 1969 achieved Thursday will never be taken away.
But, Cinderella's glass slipper shattered at the hands of a fellow champion Saturday at the CHI Health Center in Omaha. The Big Ten Tournament champion Illinois Fighting Illini played at a rapid pace to keep Duquesne's lock-down defense on its heels, and the Atlantic-10 champion Dukes' magical run to the second round of the NCAA Tournament came to an end, 89-63.
"It wasn't quite the way I wanted it to end," Dambrot said. "But one thing I know in life after being here almost 66 years is you have to take the good with the bad. And you have to -- you know, you have to rally yourself back when things don't go well. What's remarkable to me is just the fan support from Duquesne. We were laughing in the locker room, that when we first got there, we couldn't get ten people to come to the game and look at all the people that came out for this."
To get to its first Sweet 16 for the first time since 1969, this champion Dukes team needed to overcome a superior champion. Illinois has been one of the best programs in all of college basketball and it proved its worth in one of the best conferences in the country throughout the year. Illinois is a hungry program that has been void of a Sweet 16 appearance since 2013. It made sure return to the second weekend of the NCAA Tournament with vigor.
The Illini used their length, power, and speed to emphatically post a 50-26 lead by halftime. In the opening 20 minutes the Illini made 20 of 30 attempts from the field, scored 15 points off of seven Duquesne turnovers, posted 10 second-chance points off of seven Dukes turnovers, and earned 10 points in transition while stealing the ball five times.
To repeat: That was just in the first half.
On Thursday, the Dukes held BYU -- a team which averaged 81.8 points per game -- to 67 points while limiting them to 38.6% from the field. Illinois reached 67 points with Terrence Shannon Jr's layup and one with 13:13 remaining in the second half Saturday. Illini coach Brad Underwood began to empty his bench with 5:51 remaining in regulation. By that point Illinois had mounted a 79-54 lead.
Duquesne earned its win over BYU Thursday by bringing the Cougars to the rock fight it knows how to win. Illinois didn't allow for that to happen in the slightest, despite Dambrot's decree from Friday that the Dukes had to hold to the Illini out of the 80s and 90s.
This Illinois team, however, was of a different breed.
Illinois got to 89, even though Underwood pulled his starters with 5:51 remaining. The Illini shot 59% from the field and executed a run-and-gun attack throughout 40 minutes. They scored 19 points off of turnovers, 19 second-chance points, 16 points in transition, and 52 points in the paint while assisting on 17 of their 35 field goals.
"Things just didn't go well for us during the game," David Dixon said. "Hats off to Illinois. They're a really good team. Everything went well for them. They were making shots, they were getting home. We didn't execute. But as I process things I realize we're a good team, we accomplished a lot this year. We started off 0-5 in the conference and came back to win the A-10 Tournament which is the first time we've done that in 47 years, then we won a March Madness game, the first one in 55 years. We've accomplished great things and I'm proud of our team. I'm happy for us."
Dae Dae Grant, Duquesne's leading scorer, was neutralized to seven points on 2 of 9 attempts from the field. He did not make his first field goal until the 15:51-mark of the second half after missing his first five attempts. Jimmy Clark III paced the Dukes with 14 points, and Fousseyni Drame followed with 13.
Dambrot closes his coaching career after earning his first NCAA Tournament win in 22 seasons of coaching Division I basketball. The 65-year old ends his career with a 411-269 overall record and a 116-96 mark in seven years at Duquesne. He completed a longstanding build of a Dukes program that had not experienced the NCAA Tournament since 1977 after taking Akron to the NCAA Tournament three times in 13 seasons.
He leaves this Dukes program in a far, far better spot than it was when he inherited it. The next successor -- teased by Dambrot last week to potentially be assistant coach Dru Joyce -- will have to go without seven pieces who are out of eligibility, but Dambrot left a blueprint on how to bring this program to excellence.
After starting A-10 play 0-5, Duquesne pulled off this run by running a nine-game winning streak through the A-10 Tournament and the NCAA Tournament. It pulled off wins over Saint Louis, nationally-ranked Dayton, St. Bonaventure, and VCU in the A-10 Tournament and beat LaSalle, George Mason, VCU, and George Washington before that.
"It's a blessing," Grant said. "Not many people can do that and a high appreciation to all the guys, my brothers, the coaching staff and everybody who was with us from the jump, since we were 0-5 starting in conference, that accomplishment and that success, that's just a blessing to be able to have that banner hung up and not many people can do that and have been in the position we have been in these last few weeks and even couple months."
Added Clark: "I feel blessed just to have him as a coach, (Grant) as a player on my team. Just going out like that with the way that we did, I can't do nothing but feel accomplished especially with the way we started with the season coming in 0-5. I don't feel nothing but blessed, proud of my guys and happy to be a part of it."
Duquesne's defense was is calling card this season. It held 21 opponents to below 70 points this season, and it won 20 of those games. It held 12 opponents to below 60 points and won 10 of those games, including two of the four games in the Atlantic 10 Tournament. It took on the identity of its coach and made history because of him and through him.
"I've known Keith for a long time and done clinics with him. So much respect for him as a coach, so much respect for his accomplishments, what he's done," Underwood said. "He's always found winning. Winning is really, really hard to do. No matter the stops along the way, whether at the high school level, whether at Akron, and obviously here at Duquesne. Coaching is a pretty small fraternity and really, really good guy. You pull for the good guys. For him to be able to go out and do it on his terms and have this run is pretty special."
