Illini too much as Duquesne's magical postseason run comes to an end

Lightning-fast layups. NBA-range 3s. Illinois’ calling card this season has been a relentless approach, and it continued with a vengeance Saturday night against Cinderella hopeful Duquesne.

The Dukes were run out of the gym.

Terrence Shannon Jr. scored 30 points and No. 3 seed Illinois opened the throttle to its high-powered offense, racing to a punishing 89-63 victory at CHI Health Center Arena in Omaha, Neb., to advance to its first Sweet 16 since 2005.

“We couldn’t quite get our feet underneath us to guard them well enough to be in the game,” said Duquesne coach Keith Dambrot, who was coaching in his final college game.

The 65-year-old Dambrot announced his retirement Monday after a total of 26 seasons at three Division I schools and two others in lower classifications. He finishes his career with a 529-305 record, including 116-96 in seven seasons at Duquesne.

“It wasn’t quite the way I wanted it to end,” he said. “But one thing I know in life after being here almost 66 years is you have to take the good with the bad. And you have to rally yourself back when things don’t go well.”

Dambrot said that, throughout Duquesne’s historic season that saw the Dukes win an NCAA Tournament game for the first time in 55 years, he was thinking about his late father, Sid, a former Duquesne player in the 1950s.

“What’s remarkable to me is just the fan support from Duquesne,” he said. “We were laughing in the locker room that when we first got there, we couldn’t get 10 people to come to the game. Look at all the people that came out for this.

“I know my dad will be pleased about that, wherever he is right now.”

Illinois coach Brad Underwood gave a nod to Dambrot, his counterpart and longtime friend.

“I have so much respect for Keith Dambrot. What an unbelievable career,” Underwood said. “I’ve known him for a long time and done clinics with him. He’s always found winning, (and) winning is really, really hard to do.

“Coaching is a pretty small fraternity and he’s a really, really good guy.”

Illinois (28-8) will meet No. 2 seed Iowa State in the Sweet 16 Thursday in Boston, moving one step closer to another chance at an NCAA championship appearance.

The Illini lost to North Carolina in the 2005 title game.

The explosive Shannon, who shot 10 of 14 before heading to the Illinois bench with the outcome well in hand, became the third Illini player to score at least 30 points in an NCAA Tournament game.

It was his seventh 30-point game this season, including a 40-point performance against Wisconsin in the Big Ten championship game.

Marcus Domask added 22 points for Illinois. Coleman Hawkins (11) and Quincy Guerrier (10) also were in double figures for the Illini, who won for the sixth straight time.

Jimmy Clark III’s 14 points led No. 11 seed Duquesne (25-12), which watched its nine-game winning streak end in its first NCAA appearance since 1977.

The Dukes, who also got 13 points from Fousseyni Drame, earned their first victory in the tournament since 1969 by beating BYU in a first-round game Thursday.

Their second-round endeavor ended much differently as Illinois shot 59.3% to Duquesne’s 41% and dominated the Dukes in nearly every other phase.

Illinois held Dae Dae Grant, Duquesne’s leading scorer, to seven points on 2-of-9 shooting, but Grant preferred to emphasize the season as a whole, giving thanks to his teammates, coaching staff and fans for a thrilling run.

“It’s an unbelievable accomplishment for us to have gone out on a note of winning the A-10 championship and being able to get that history, winning the BYU game and winning the tournament game, as well,” he said. “It’s a blessing and high appreciation and trying to just let the stinger go away right now after these last couple hours.”

Duquesne fell one victory short of the 1954 team’s 26-3 record for most wins in a season and closed the book on Dambrot’s career.

Illinois’s superior size and speed were on display as the Illini’s fast-breaking offense took hold immediately and stunned Duquesne, which struggled to establish its “mud-wrestling” comfort zone from the start.

The Illini led at halftime, 50-26.

Duquesne was allowing just 66 points per game before giving up a season high-tying total to Illinois. Nebraska equaled the mark in an 89-79 victory on Nov. 22.