Luke Henne | Editor-in-Chief
March 16, 2023
For the first time since the 2015-16 campaign, the Duquesne men’s basketball team will compete in a postseason tournament.
On Sunday, the Dukes accepted an invite to the Discount Tire College Basketball Invitational. The tournament, which used to be played at campus sites, will head to the Ocean Center in Daytona Beach, Fla., for the third-consecutive season.
Duquesne earned the No. 5 seed in the 16-team field, and the Dukes will square off with No. 12 seed Rice in first-round action on Sunday afternoon. The Dukes and Owls last met on Dec. 20, 2008.
Other teams participating in the single-elimination tournament include: Indiana State, USC Upstate, Eastern Kentucky, Cleveland State, Southern Utah, North Alabama, San Jose State, Southern Indiana, Tarleton, Radford, Charlotte, Western Carolina, Stetson and Milwaukee.
Should Duquesne win against Rice on Sunday, a quarterfinal meeting with the winner of No. 4 Southern Utah/No. 13 North Alabama will come on Monday.
Semifinal action is set for Tuesday, while the championship game will take place on Wednesday. All of Tuesday and Wednesday’s action will be televised nationally on ESPN2.
“This team has worked hard all year and earned the opportunity to participate in postseason play,” said Duquesne Head Coach Keith Dambrot in a release. “We look forward to competing for a championship.”
Aside from VCU, who earned the Atlantic 10 Conference’s automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament, Duquesne is the only other A-10 team participating in postseason play.
This will mark the Dukes’ first postseason appearance under Dambrot, who’s finishing up his sixth season at the helm.
This will be Duquesne’s fourth appearance in the CBI, which started in 2007-08. The Dukes’ most recent-appearance came in 2015-16, when they defeated Omaha in the first round before bowing out to Morehead State in the quarterfinals.
Duquesne also participated in 2009-10 and 2010-11.