Tip Off: Saturday March 23rd, 2024 – 7:40 PM CT – TNT
Venue: CHI Health Center Omaha – Omaha, NE
The Fighting Illini are headed to the second round of the NCAA Tournament to take on 11-seeded Duquesne after the Dukes upset BYU in the first round. The storyline for the Dukes is their head coach Keith Dambrot retiring at the end of this season. Dambrot coached LeBron James in when he was in high school and LeBron gifted the team shoes before the Tournament.
How Duquesne Got Here
After an 0-5 start to conference play, Duquesne finished the Atlantic 10 at 10-8, good enough for the 7 seed in the A-10 Tournament. They won four games in five days to take the automatic bid out for the A-10. The Dukes then upset BYU 71-67 in the opening round on Thursday.
Now to the actual matchup on the court. In the graphic above, you can see one clear dark green stat for Duquesne: defensive efficiency. Their defense has been the cornerstone of the Dukes performance throughout the A-10 Tournament and the entire season.
Duquesne Personnel
The backcourt of Jimmy Clark (15.0 ppg) and Dae Dae Grant (16.7 ppg) provide the first and second offensive options. If the Illini contain those two they should be alright. They combine for 44% of Duquesne’s field goal attempts and 44% of their points. Clark is also the Dukes best defender. Grant led the Dukes in scoring and can score it from anywhere. He’s a hard-nosed competitor that won’t be overwhelmed by the Illini.
Fousseyni Drame and David Dixon make up the Dukes front court. Drame was a member of the Saint Peter’s Elite Eight team a few years back. Drame leads the Dukes in 3-point percentage but at a low volume. He hasn’t hit one in any of the last three games. Dixon is a defensive big that ranks 20th in the country is block rate! He’s recorded five blocks in a game three times this season and had three against BYU.
Sophomore Kareem Rozier provides a spark off the bench but at just 5’9, the Illini will be a really tough matchup for him.
Freshmen Jake DiMichele and Jakub Necas, have both found their way into the Duquesne rotation. Necas is a versatile big out of the Czech Republic. He was the third double-digit scorer behind Grant and Clark against BYU. DiMichele is a walk-on who wasn’t on any preseason previews but has found a role for this team. He’s a low usage role guy, but can knock down open looks.
Dusan Mahorcic, the experienced backup big, provides good size at 6’10. The Serbian senior typically gives the Dukes 10-15 minutes behind David Dixon.
Play Style
Duquesne wants to muck it up. They want a low scoring, physical, defensive game. Their style will be pretty much polar opposite of what the Illini do well. They need a low scoring game to have a shot at this one.
Keys
Limit Dae Dae Grant and Jimmy Clark – Limit shots from Grant and Clark – they account for a significant portion of Duquesne’s attempts. Make them take tough ones and bother them with length.
Play through matchups – The Illini have options offensively, focus on the mismatches. Make Dixon come out and guard Coleman Hawkins, Play through Shannon/Domask – whoever Jimmy Clark isn’t guarding.
Push it – the Illini got Morehead State to play faster in the first round, if they can do that to Duquesne, it will be in the Illini’s favor. The more possessions the better.
Wrap Up
Illinois has a real shot to get the Sweet Sixteen. The Dukes will look to their defense to keep them going but they have not faced a team with the size and athleticism of the Illini. Similar to Morehead State, if the Illini can just put one or two big runs together, the Dukes don’t have the firepower to make up the ground. I’m hopeful for another strong showing from the Illini on Saturday!