Most of the early games to tip off March Madness were double-digit blowouts, but one of the tighter contests came when 11th-seeded Duquesne held off a furious rally by BYU to beat the Cougars 71-67 and advance to the Round of 32. This marks the first time the Dukes have gotten so far in the postseason in over five decades.
Pretty cool when you can get a shout out from LeBron James, who was coached in high school by retiring Duquesne boss Keith Dambrot.
That alone is enough for anyone affiliated with Duquesne can ask for in a day. Some saint of a man named Robert Edward Healy III decided to make his students’ enjoyment of the breakthrough victory even sweeter by canceling class.
Now that’s a guy who knows what’s up and has the bigger picture in mind. How about this response from Healy when he got a shout out from Dick’s Sporting Goods?
Who is this man!? I’m fired up.
Duquesne really was a surprise. Having witnessed them lay brick after brick in the A10 conference tournament final, where they should’ve lost to VCU but somehow eked out a 57-51 win, I thought there was no way the Dukes were getting past BYU on Thursday. Looks like most of America felt the same way, as almost nine of every 10 brackets had their perfect streak busted right out of the gates.
Seriously though. Duquesne shot 29.8% from the field against VCU and still advanced to the Big Dance. Arguably a Cinderella story on its own. That goes to show how timely their baskets have been, and how good they are on defense. Can they advance past Illinois to the Sweet 16? I highly doubt it, because the Illini came out a little flat versus Morehead State today. I’d expect them to be sharper from the start against the Dukes and win with relative ease. Then again, it sure felt like the Cougars deserved to be 9.5-point favorites against Duquesne.
Let’s give it up for Prof. Healy, though. The more I dig into the Dukes’ story, the more I’m buying into Healy’s assertion that they’re America’s favorite team at the moment.
