Duquesne Falls to Illinois in NCAA Tournament

OMAHA, Neb.. — Illinois defeated Duquesne 89-63 Saturday night at CHI Health Center, a defeat the ended coach Keith Dambrot’s career after he pledged to retire Monday at season’s end.

Duquesne saw Jimmy Clark III lead the way with 14 points, while Fousseyni Drame added 13 points of his own.

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The Dukes were able to shoot 41% from the field and the setback snaps a nine-game winning streak.

Illinois was paced by Terrance Shannon Jr’s 30 points on 10-of-14 shooting and a perfect 8-for-8 from the free-throw line. Marcus Domask completed play with 22 points on 9-of-16 shooting and added seven assists.

The Fighting Illini dominated the paint by a 52-32 count and scored 19 points off nine Duquesne turnovers.

Offensive rebounds served Illinois well early as it had four, two of which came from Duquesne ball watching.

Domask put a second-chance basket in and then got a three-point shot to rattle around every part of the rim and then in.

The Dukes were in a 7-2 hole early on. After a Jake DiMichele basket, the Fighting Illini quickly got into transition when Domask threw a spot-on pass to a fast-breaking Shannon for a basket.

Duquesne’s offense was not fully in sync as it made two field goals in 6:05. The Dukes mistimed two separate routes and could not find its shot.

Meanwhile Illinois’s Hawkins was twice consecutively challenged from three-point range and connected on each, the second of which came from the logo.

Down 24-9 Keith Dambrot elected to call a timeout.

When Duquesne did make a positive play on Drame’s basket, it came right back the other way with a Shannon three-point basket.

By the time the Dukes buried its first three pointer of the evening, off of Drame’s hands, the crowd tried to get behind them, but he fouled a Fighting Illini player in the back and the small surge of momentum burst.

Dambrot tried substituting Chabi Barre and Andrei Savrasov and while the former made a basket and grabbed multiple rebounds, neither provided the spark Duquesne was desperately seeking.

Shannon offered another fast break highlight-reel dunk to make it 50-26 Illinois at halftime. The 50 points Duquesne allowed are the most given up in an opening half under Dambrot. The previous high was 49 in 2019.

In the half Illinois dominated the paint 28-16 and had the 15-2 edge in points off turnovers.

Clark began to find his shot from three-point range, sinking a couple early in the half, but Illinois had a couple of answers.

As the half wore on, the Fighting Illini went on a 7-0 run. Duquesne tried substituting Matus Hronsky into the game, but Illinois only continued its pursuit of its first Sweet 16 in 19 years.

Both Andy Barba and Kailon Nicholls played the final three minutes. With just under a minute to go during a stoppage in play, Dambrot shook his head, processing the end of both the contest as well as his coaching career.

That’s a final as Illinois beats #DuqMBB 89-63 in Keith Dambrot’s final game. Clark III 14 pts, Drame 13 @PghSportsNow. pic.twitter.com/hdJ34Ziy5I

— Zachary Weiss (@ZacharyMWeiss) March 24, 2024

Dambrot and Illinois coach Brad Underwood shared a moment prior to the final buzzer.