After 19-day layoff, Duquesne rallies past UMass in Atlantic 10 opener

It didn’t start the way they’d have liked, but the Duquesne Dukes loved the way their Atlantic 10 men’s basketball opener finished at Massachusetts.

The Dukes shook off the rust from a 19-day layoff and overcame a 12-point, first-half deficit Saturday to beat the Minutemen, 78-74, behind a combined 48 points from freshman guards Jackie Johnson III and Primo Spears.

And the Dukes (6-7, 1-0) did it on the road, shooting 51% in the second half in handing UMass (7-7, 0-2) its first home loss in seven games this season at Mullins Center in Amherst, Mass.

It was Duquesne’s third consecutive victory and the first against the Minutemen at Mullins Center since 2011, a span of six games.

“We turned up our defensive intensity in the second part of the first half, which really changed the game and gave us confidence and kind of electrified us on offense,” Duquesne coach Keith Dambrot said.

Johnson III led the way for the Dukes with a career-high-tying 27 points, and Spears scored 21.

“Jackie played unbelievable, and Primo played well,” Dambrot said. “(UMass) had trouble guarding us on the perimeter, and then we made some big plays, which we haven’t been able to do consistently all year long.”

Johnson III shot 10 for 14, including 3 for 7 from 3-point range. Spears was 7 for 16 overall and 2 for 5 on 3s. Duquesne didn’t convert a 3-pointer until Johnson III connected with 3 minutes, 17 seconds to go in the first half and settled for a 7-for-25 effort overall from behind the arc (28.0 %).

Still, it was enough.

“Just give our guys a lot of credit,” Dambrot said. “(UMass) was undefeated at home. We played hard. They’re hard to guard, and we did a pretty good job in the first half defensively.”

Duquesne never trailed in the second half and took a 76-71 lead on Johnson III’s floater with 10 seconds left. He capped the victory with a pair of free throws with 3 seconds remaining.

“My mom always tells me to stay the course,” Johnson III said. “It’s a marathon, not a sprint. I’ve been in the gym every day, and at the very beginning of the season, I didn’t start or get many minutes, but when you’re in the gym that much, it’s bound to pay off.”

Johnson III, a 5-foot-11 freshman guard from Wichita, Kan., who averaged 27 points last season at Hargrave Military Academy in Virginia, was starting in his third consecutive game for the Dukes.

“I’ve been saying it about Jackie all year. When you’re that talented, you put in hard work and you’re coachable, a lot of good things happen,” Dambrot said. “We’ve got a good relationship. He hasn’t always liked how it’s gone, but he’s trusted me. Usually, when guys have talent like that and they trust me, good stuff happens.”

Kevin Easley Jr. added 10 points and a career-high five steals for Duquesne, which also got eight rebounds from Tre Williams, seven from Leon Ayers III and six from Austin Rotroff.

Duquesne last played Dec. 19 — a 76-54 victory over UC Irvine on a neutral court in Akron, Ohio — before being idled for four games amid a coronavirus pause. One of those games, against George Washington, has been rescheduled for Feb. 15 at UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse.

The Dukes visit Fordham on Wednesday, but that game could be in jeopardy because the Rams program has been paused since Jan. 1. Fordham’s scheduled game Saturday against Richmond was postponed.

Duquesne showed little effects from its long layoff — the Dukes’ entire coaching staff and most of their players tested positive after their game against UC Irvine, which was coming off a hard-luck loss at then-No. 10 USC.

Both programs — UC Irvine and USC — then shut down because of covid-19 protocols, and Duquesne soon followed suit, calling off games against Wofford (canceled) and A-10 opponents Davidson and George Mason (both postponed).

The Dukes were set to resume play Thursday but sat out a fourth consecutive game when George Washington was forced to shut down and the game was rescheduled.

Meanwhile, Williams (shoulder) and Spears (knee), taking advantage of the long pause to recover, returned to the Dukes lineup against UMass after being injured against UC Irvine. Williams was in the starting lineup.

Saturday’s come-from-behind victory marked the 17th time in Dambrot’s five years at Duquesne that the Dukes have rallied from a double-digit deficit to win. The Dukes trailed UMass, 20-8, with 8:25 left in the first half before closing the half with a 23-10 run to take a 31-30 lead at halftime.

They took their first lead at 27-25 on a Spears 3-pointer with 2:27 left. It followed Johnson III’s 3-pointer — the Dukes’ first of the game — just 40 seconds earlier.

C.J. Kelly led UMass with 19 points. Rich Kelly added 16, Noah Fernandes 14 and Michael Steadman 13. Trent Buttrick led the Minutemen with 10 rebounds.

“You always have concern,” Dambrot said, referring to the growing shutdowns in organized sports. “For 13 years at Akron, our teams were supposed to win every single night.”

Dambrot coached the Zips to an average of 23 victories per season from 2004-17.

At times Saturday, the usually high-energy Dambrot struggled to control a lingering cough and clearly was sniffling. He joked afterwards about practices during the recent layoff perhaps having taken on a different twist.

“This team here is a team I have to coach and get better and better and better,” he said. “The best thing for me was I didn’t feel great and I was relaxed. When I’m relaxed, that carries over to them. That’s what they need. They need somebody that’s relaxed. I’m about as relaxed as I can be.