After a tight wire-to-wire victory over BYU, the Duquesne Dukes will take on the Illinois Fighting Illini on Saturday night at 8:40 EST/7:40 CST with a ticket to the Sweet 16. Duquesne currently is riding a nine-game winning streak. Meanwhile, since February 13th, Illinois has won 10 of their last 12 games.
Duquesne beat BYU 71-67 on Thursday, and they found success defensively. They forced 12 turnovers and held the Cougars to 38.6% shooting from the field. Duquesne has been effective when keeping teams from reaching the 70-point threshold in a game, and that success continued on Thursday.
However, they face their biggest challenge yet in Illinois. Illinois has the 9th-best scoring offense in the NCAA. This offense is led by Terrence Shannon Jr. who averages 23.1 PPG and was named the Big Ten tournament’s Most Outstanding Player just last week. Over the last three games, he is averaging 33.3 PPG. He is built and plays like LeBron James. Even Keith Dambrot admitted this.
“Terrence Shannon is a big challenge,” Dambrot admitted. “Reminds me of LeBron in the open court. Thankfully not quite as good as LeBron, but pretty good.”
Jimmy Clark III is a player to watch for Duquesne. Clark averages 15 PPG on the season and has showcased his stellar defense throughout the whole season. He will need to lock in on the defensive end on Shannon throughout the night.
One thing about Clark however is that he has shot 6-29 in the last two games from the field. While he has come up clutch defensively and offensively, especially in the BYU game, he surely would like to be shooting a higher percentage.
Dambrot was very adamant that this was not something that worried him and was certain that Jimmy would snap out of it and be ready for Saturday night.
He’ll show up, and regardless of what he shot, his team won, and so I’m not worried,” Dambrot said. He made two big plays at the end of last night’s game. That’s all you can ask of a guy. He tries hard every single play. He’ll put the ball in the basket.”
“We’re at Creighton’s arena. Even Kyle Korver probably went through that, one of the greatest shooters of all time.”
Tre Williams is still dealing with a shoulder injury and will not be at Dambrot’s disposal against the Illini. Duquesne will once again have to turn to guys like David Dixon and Fousseyni Drame.
Dixon was asked about a potential matchup down low with Dain Dainja during a presser on Friday, and he seemed up for the task.
“That’s a big challenge for me, and I know I’m ready for it. I’ve practiced so long. I’ve been through a lot, and I fear no man.”
Well, if there were a man to fear for Illinois, it might be Marcus Domask. He put up a triple-double (10th ever in NCAA tournament history) in an 85-69 win over Morehead State. He can do it all and will play a big role in how this game goes.
To finish on a more light-hearted note, Hassan and Fousseyni Drame have been celebrating Ramadan this month. While it seems like an inconvenient time to go on a run into March Madness, Fousseyni, committed to his faith, celebrated it like he would normally.
“Ramadan itself is the holiest month in Islam,” Drame said. “It (fasting) activates this type of energy within yourself. People that are fasting can witness it themselves. It is just a unique energy that you just feel different.”
Jack Morgan 
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