Pittsburgh, Pa. – The historic run for the Duquesne University men's basketball team came to an end Saturday in the second round of the 2024 NCAA Tournament in Omaha, Neb., with No. 3 seed Illinois posting an 89-63 win over the Dukes at CHI Health Center Arena. Duquesne finishes the 2023-24 campaign with an overall record of 25-12 (.676).
POINTS OF EMPHASIS
Terrence Shannon, Jr., and Marcus Domask combined for 52 points as the Illini shot 59.3 percent (35-for-59) from the field. Illinois jumped out to leads of 16-6, 24-9 and 32-11 before eventually owning a 50-26 lead at the break. Shannon, Jr. (14), Domsak (13) and Coleman Hawkins (11) each scored in double figures in the opening 20 minutes of action as Illinois (28-8) connected on 20 of its 30 attempts (66.7%) from the field in the first half.
QUOTABLE
"Hats off to Illinois," head coach
Keith Dambrot said. "I thought they played well. We couldn't quite get our feet underneath us to guard them well enough to be in the game. It was actually a typical offensive game for us, but a little atypical defensively. Some of the things they do are different from what we have seen most of the year, and we had trouble guarding the ball, which was ultimately our undoing."
SENIOR SALUTE
The game featured the final contest in the Duquesne careers of seven student-athletes, including guards
Dae Dae Grant and
Jimmy Clark III, who combined for 1,114 points during the 2023-24 season. Clark III paced the Dukes against Illinois with 14 points and also added four assists, while Grant finished with seven points, five rebounds, two assists and a steal. Grant and Clark III became the third duo in program history to score 500 points each in a season, joining Dick Ricketts (523) and Shihugo Green (551) in 1954-55 and Derrick Colter (609) and Micah Mason (608) in 2015-16. Grant finished the year with a team-high 559 points, four more than Clark III. Duquesne also got 13 points and three rebounds from forward
Fousseyni Drame against the Illini, who shot 5-of-8 from the field, including 2-for-2 from deep, while going 1-for-2 at the free-throw line.
QUOTABLE
"I have so much respect for
Keith Dambrot," Illinois head coach Brad Underwood said. "What an unbelievable career. 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. He's always found winning. Winning is really, really had 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 he's a 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."
FOLLOW THE DUKES
For the latest news and information on Duquesne men's basketball, follow the Dukes on Twitter (X) and Instagram.
