Duquesne Pulls off First Round Stunner over BYU

The Duquesne Dukes upset the BYU Cougars in the first round of the NCAA Tournament by a final score of 71-67. The Dukes got an automatic bid into the famous March Madness tournament after defeating VCU in the Atlantic-10 Championship, with a final score of 57-51. This was their first Atlantic-10 Championship win since 1977. This victory in the NCAA Tournament also marks the first win in the tournament since 1969. Let’s take a look at how the Dukes defeated the Cougars.

In the first half, the Dukes started scoring early. They started the game on a 9-0 scoring run, which featured a Dae-Dae Grant three pointer, a Fousseyni Drame layup, Jake DiMichele mid range jumper, and a Jimmy Clark bucket. After Grant made a three-pointer to make the score 17-7, BYU went on a 13-2 scoring run that gave them a 20-19 lead. Duquesne went on a 14-1 scoring run that lasted until the 2:46 mark. Both teams exchanged baskets to make the score 38-30 Duquesne heading into halftime.

In the second half, the Dukes did not slow down as they quickly scored five points, which included another huge three by Dae-Dae Grant. Jake DiMichele made a triple, but BYU wasn't dead yet. The game got even closer with 7:51 to go with a score of 52-49. BYU made two free throws to make it a one-point game, but the Dukes made a layup to get the lead back to three points. Back and forth scoring got the game tied at 60-60 with less than two minutes to go. Jimmy Clark scored five unanswered points to take the lead 65-60 and the fouling began. Back-and-forth free throws finished off the game. BYU made a three-pointer, but it was too late as the final score was 71-67.

This was a great game between two great teams. On Saturday, March 23rd, the Duquesne Dukes will face off against Illinois, who is coming off an 85-69 victory against Morehead State. Illinois is a three seed so this game is another upset opportunity for Duquesne.