Duquesne in the NCAAs: Dukes vs. BYU scouting report

OMAHA, Neb. — One thing that always tends to get me in trouble when I fill out my NCAA brackets is that I fall in love with a team early in the season and I proclaim them as my March Madness dark horse in November.

Then they inevitably flame out in the first round, and I vacate an entire region of my bracket by the end of the first session on Thursday.

For the Duquesne Dukes (24-11), I’m sure they are hoping that my bad luck in that regard continues once again because this year, my premature dark horse team was Brigham Young (23-10). The Dukes face the Cougars on Thursday at 12:40 p.m. for the program’s first NCAA Tournament game since 1977.

Part of the reason I adopted the Cougars is that, just by circumstance, I seemed to catch at least a portion of their games throughout the year when they were at their best.

Whether it was their early season win over a Final Four team in San Diego State, their Thanksgiving weekend victory over N.C. State, or Big 12 upset victories over Iowa State and Kansas, I always seemed to watch the Cougars at their peak, so maybe I have heightened expectations.

Regardless of how inflated my opinion of them may be, there is still a lot to like about BYU. And during a recent “Breakfast With Benz” podcast, I caught up with a former colleague from my short time in Salt Lake City, David James. He is a show host on 97.5 The Zone and an anchor at KUTV. So he knows the Cougars well and provided a scouting report for us.

Here is a six-pack of nuggets about the Cougars and Dukes on Thursday in Omaha.

Guard the arc: BYU led the Big 12 in 3-pointers made per game (11.2) and attempted per game (32.2). Those numbers also rank second in the country.

“They don’t have one guy who’s a killer from three — a 3-point specialist. What they’ve got is five, six or seven guys who, in any game, might make two or three of them,” James said. “They’re trying to take 30 threes in every game, and they want to make a dozen of them. That’s 40%. And if they can even get into double digits, their odds of winning go up. If they take 30, their odds of winning go way up. So because they’re 3-dependent, they have had some head-scratchers of games. When they go cold, they’re in trouble.”

On the plus side for Duquesne, they ranked fourth in the Atlantic 10 in guarding the 3-point arc at 31.7% and were second in 3-pointers allowed per contest at only 6.5.

Related:

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• Duquesne finally reaches NCAA Tournament, but there's plenty of work to do at home, too
• Tim Benz: Selection Sunday results are an ultimate contrast for Duquesne and Pitt

Fous on Fous: One thing I feel confident in saying is that this has the potential to be the best Fousseyni vs. Fousseyni matchup in the history of the NCAA Tournament.

The Dukes have Fousseyni Drame. He is the leading rebounder and was a monster on the boards in the Atlantic 10 title game against VCU with 12 rebounds. He had 34 over the four games in Brooklyn.

The Cougars have Fousseyni Traore. He is second on their team in scoring at 10.9 points per game and is third on the club in rebounding at 5.3 boards per contest.

“He plays close to the hoop. But he’s in that 6-foot-6 range. He’s thick. He has great footwork and great pump fakes. If you don’t help on him, if you stay with the 3-point shooters, one-on-one, there are very few defenders who can consistently stop that guy,” James said. “He’ll go out, and he’ll get his 15 points. When they miss three straight 3-pointers, if they get him the ball, he can stop runs. He can get the bucket that quiets the crowd. He’s good under pressure.”

In each of BYU’s last three wins, Tarore was the team’s leading scorer.

Battle of the benches: Both teams rely on a lot of bench production. Drame usually comes off the bench for the Dukes. But he may be starting in this game due to an injury to power forward Tre Williams. David Dixon doesn’t often start either. But among the big men inside, he gets the most minutes on the team. He and Drame combine for 13.8 points and 10.5 rebounds per contest.

On the BYU side, Traore comes off the bench. So does Jaxson Robinson. He’s a 6-foot-7 guard who previously played at Texas A&M and Arkansas. Robinson leads the Cougars in scoring at 13.9 points per game.

Jaxson Robinson is only shooting 26.5% from three his last 7 games (7 att/g) but despite that has increased his Big XII PPG from 11.4 ↗️14.3. He's removed the hesitation from his game when coming off actions and is attacking the rim like he's Richie Saunders#YzeGuyClips pic.twitter.com/wUS3Fn1VHU

— Yze Guy (@yze_guy) March 13, 2024

Khalifa is a wiz: BYU’s Aly Khalifa is 6-foot-11 and is listed as a center. But he’s one of the best ball distributors the Cougars have.

“He’s a great passer. He has great vision. He makes everybody better,” James said. “He gets BYU three or four easy hoops a game. It’s not just points, it’s the ability to change momentum to start or stop runs. And he can shoot the 3.”

Trying to decide which was better... the feed or the finish.

Aly Khalifa threads the needle and Noah Waterman sends it home as @BYUMBB adds to its first half lead.

???? ESPN2 pic.twitter.com/5ysdBTFCCH

— Big 12 Conference (@Big12Conference) March 13, 2024

Dixon may have to absorb a large defensive responsibility on Khalifa.

Super 70: BYU has just one victory in which they have scored less than 70 points, a 63-58 win over Central Florida on Jan. 13. Duquesne has 12 wins when they have scored less than 70 points.

“BYU doesn’t get held under 70 points very often. And if that’s what BYU scores, then maybe Duquesne can do it,” James said. “We just saw the A-10 title game, a 57-51 game (vs. VCU). If they can keep the pace in that area, then they’re probably in pretty good shape. But BYU usually gets to 70. And they’ve been at 80 a lot. If they’re going to score 70 or 80 points, I don’t see how Duquesne wins the game.”

If Duquesne can slow the tempo, grind the clock, and (to use a Keith Dambrot-ism) “play mud ball,” that’ll be their best shot.

Instant replay: Dambrot says if there is a team that they have played in the A-10 that is similar to BYU, it’s VCU.

“Very similar. Three-point oriented. Very fluid. Challenging because they can stretch you out, but they can score inside,” Dambrot said.

For all those challenges, though, Duquesne beat VCU twice this season, including last Sunday in the A-10 championship game.

If Dambrot’s analogy is right, maybe that’s a good omen for the Dukes to pull off the upset.

Listen: Tim Benz and David James (KUTV/97.5 the Zone in Salt Lake City) preview Duquesne vs. BYU in the NCAA Tournament on Thursday.