Dec. 3, 2009
It was a game Duquesne never trailed in regulation, and it was one the Dukes weren't really in at the very end.
It was an overwhelming show of support by a re-energized fan base of the home team, and it was a hostile arena.
It was evidence of what the Dukes have become, and what they yet might be. It was an ending, but it was also a beginning.
Exciting, exasperating, fulfilling, frustrating ... Duquesne's 67-58 loss to Pitt in double-OT in Wednesday night's City Game, the final college basketball game at storied Mellon Arena, was all of those things.
While sifting through the post-mortems and trying to assess relevance and significance, don't overlook the following:
-- It was an event because it was a Mellon Arena farewell, yes, but it takes two good teams to inspire the energy and passion that poured down out of the stands onto the floor.
"I don't know what you'd compare it to," Pitt head coach Jamie Dixon said. "You don't have many games where you have a balanced crowd like that. We've played in some neutral events, there may be neutral observers; there weren't neutral observers (Wednesday night).
"It was half and half and it seemed like everybody was there to see two good teams but also to be a part of history and a part of saying good bye. There was an intensity about the game from the beginning from the fans." That intensity was fueled and sustained much more by the competition than the occasion.
The 12,336 on hand may have come for the history but they left with a great appreciation of the present.
-- Do-It-All Damian Saunders didn't attempt a shot until just over four minutes remained in the first half. The Dukes were up, 25-16, when he finally left one fly, a three-ball that upped the lead to 28-16.
Saunders fouling out eventually proved critical, but the Dukes are far from a one-man show. And they were versatile enough as a team to out-point Pitt in the paint (12-8), on the fast-break (7-2) and off the bench (6-3), commit fewer turnovers (4-9) and hang tough on the boards (17-15 Pitt) through 20 minutes.
As Duquesne was reminded the hard way, 20 minutes does not a complete game make (in this case 40 or even 45 minutes didn't, either).
Still, the progress is obvious.
This game was supposed to be about confirmation of as much. Despite the final score, it was.
-- As much as a victory over Pitt was anticipated to the point of near salivation by that re-energized fan base, the goal for Duquesne remains postseason play (NIT or NCAA). This was a measuring stick, yes, but this game was never supposed to be the season's signature and wouldn't have been even had Duquesne hung on.
-- Dukes head coach Ron Everhart emerged exhausted, emotionally drained and a little more determined than he had been going in.
"I told the guys in the locker room we're not going to let this game beat us twice," Everhart said. "We're going to take what we learned from it, we're going to get better at what we didn't do and we're going to move on."
It's becoming more about details, about situations, and less about players (specifically about a lack thereof) as Duquesne moves on. That, too, is a positive.
-- Pitt's a better team than the Panthers are being given credit for being. Duquesne is, too.
-- One last quote from out of left field that nonetheless seems applicable. It comes from Michigan State head coach Tom Izzo following his team's seven-point loss at North Carolina on Tuesday night:
"It's hard to be disappointed and proud of your team at the same time." This is one of those rare instances where Duquesne's re-energized fan base ought to be both.
