Duquesne settles in for opening CBI game in Florida

As he was relaxing following a team meal along Florida’s East Coast, Keith Dambrot’s phone began to ring. The Duquesne men’s basketball coach answered and a reporter greeted him on the other end.

“How are things going down there, coach?” the caller inquired while noticing the background noise from a constant flow of incoming waves and the presence of hovering seagulls.

“It’s been hard, emotionally,” Dambrot replied. “You don’t know what to expect.”

Earlier, following Duquesne’s arrival in Orlando, Fla., in the early hours of Friday, the fifth-seeded Dukes (20-12) took the short bus trip to Daytona Beach, where they checked into their hotel, got some shut-eye and resumed preparations for a first-round game in the Discount Tire College Basketball Invitational tournament against No. 12 Rice (18-15) at 1 p.m. Sunday at 8,020-seat Ocean Center.

The destination was divine, but the level of March Madness awaiting the Dukes appeared less-than-fulfilling.

Since a not-so-surprising 81-70 first-round loss March 8 to La Salle in the Atlantic 10 Tournament, the Dukes have spent much of the time feeling the emotional effects of turnaround season that featured more highs than lows.

Duquesne rebounded to win 20 games for a second time in six years under Dambrot, who last season endured his worst record as a college coach after a 17-game losing streak to finish at 6-24 (1-16 A-10).

But, despite a successful 2022-23 that saw Duquesne surprise in the A-10, where it was picked to finish last but challenged for a conference tournament double-bye, the Dukes crumbled in the closing games of the regular season.

They lost four of their last six overall, including their only contest in the A-10 Tournament, to enter the CBI on a two-game skid.

In some ways, their appearance in the CBI, where Duquesne owns an overall record of 2-3, could be viewed as a low point of sorts. Dambrot, though, said he’s looking for any indicators his guys have some fight left.

“I’ve seen teams in this tournament that were engaged and some that weren’t,” he said. “It happens similarly in the NIT, when teams are left out of the (NCAA) Tournament. I thought this tournament was a good way for this group to spend more time together, and they wanted to play. By the same token, you still want to be competitors playing for a championship and a trophy.”

Rice, a member of Conference USA, is 15-15 against NCAA Division I opponents, with two victories coming against NAIA Division I teams and one against an NCAA Division III school to account for its 18-win total.

“They’re a capable team, for sure,” Dambrot said. “They went to overtime against Texas (before losing 87-81 on Dec. 12).”

The Longhorns were ranked seventh at the time.

The Duquesne-Rice winner will play No. 4 Southern Utah (23-12) in the quarterfinals at 2 p.m. Monday. The Thunderbirds, of the Western Athletic Conference, defeated No. 13 North Alabama, 72-50, in a first-round game Saturday.

Junior Dae Dae Grant leads Duquesne in scoring (15.1 ppg), and junior Jimmy Clark III averages 12.2.

Four players average double figures in scoring for Rice, led by junior Quincy Olivari (18.8). The others are junior Travis Evee (15.3), junior Max Fiedler (10.7) and freshman Mekhi Mason (10.1). The 6-foot-11 Fiedler leads the team in rebounding (7.4).

“They play a lot, offensively, like Richmond in our conference,” Dambrot said. “That’s a challenge we didn’t do such a great job with.”

Duquesne dropped a last-second, 75-73 decision to the Spiders on Jan. 7, wasting a 22-point first-half lead.

Against Rice, Dambrot said he was expecting to expand his roster a bit by giving more minutes to several reserves who have seen limited action, at times, this season.

Freshman David Dixon, who is averaging 11.1 minutes, freshman Kareem Rozier (15.4) and sophomore Quincy McGriff (16.8) figured on more time in the CBI, Dambrot said.

The single-elimination tournament was played at home sites until 2020, when it switched to one venue. Participating schools are required to pay a $27,500 entry fee, a hefty cost Dambrot said he hoped would be beneficial for Duquesne’s program.

“We did it more as a reward for these guys. They’ve worked hard this year,” Dambrot said. “We just thought it was good for this group to spend as much time together as we can.”

There are some monetary rewards for the winners.

The CBI this season has introduced NIL (name, image and likeness) funding to be distributed as $25,000 to the championship school, $10,000 to the runner-up and $2,500 to both semifinalists.

The tournament format prior to 2021 culminated with a best-of-three championship series but since has adopted a single title game, which is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. Thursday.