Duquesne refuses to use lack of continuity as an early season excuse

There were a few obvious on-court reasons why Duquesne lost its home opener to Lipscomb on Monday night 77-72.

• The Dukes missed nine free throws that could have made a difference, and 14 three-point attempts, going 6-for-20 beyond the arc.

• They struggled to convert some open looks they got against Lipscomb's zone.

• The Bisons' top players, Atlantic Sun preseason all-conference selections Jacob Ognacevic and Will Pruitt, lived up to their billing, posting a combined 45 points and 16 rebounds.

But those things can happen in any game, any time, against any team. You can be cold when the opponent's best players are hot, and you might lose.

The more difficult thing that the Dukes are going to have to overcome in a hurry is their natural lack of cohesion that exists for a team that is trying to replace three of its top four leading scorers and their top rebounder.

Not to mention, Dru Joyce III is in his first year as Duquesne's head coach after being promoted from his assistant position on Keith Dambrot's bench in the wake of Dambrot's retirement last spring.

Naturally, some hiccups are going to occur early in the process with that much upheaval, but the players and coaches aren't going to bemoan those challenges.

"It's just part of the game," Joyce said after Monday's loss. "I'm not going to make any excuses for it. Some teams have experience. Some teams don't. We've got to line up and play."

Pure experience isn't necessarily what's lacking from Duquesne.

Returning players Kareem Rozier, David Dixon, Matúš Hronský and Chabi Barre have all been with the team for multiple years. Jake DiMichele and Jakub Necas are sophomores who got extensive minutes last year, and most of the six contributing transfers Joyce III landed in the portal are multi-year veterans who were important components at other institutions.

The biggest issue for the Dukes is learning how those pieces can weave together.

"I think we are still figuring things out. That team has been together for three years," point guard Kareem Rozier said of Lipscomb. "But at the same time, we have to get out to a better start defensively. They shouldn't be able to start off (15-2) in our gym like that."

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Rozier's point about Lipscomb's continuity versus Duquesne's is valid. Coach Lenny Acuff is in his seventh year there. The team is picked to win the ASUN with players such as Pruitt, Ognacevic, point guard Joe Anderson and fourth-year big man Grant Asman back on the roster. That familiarity on the court was evident compared to Duquesne's reconfigured group.

But that's a hurdle that Duquesne is going to have to overcome Friday night in its next game at Princeton. The Tigers return a number of key components from a team that finished first in the Ivy League's regular season last year and beat the Dukes at the UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse.

While standout guard Matt Allocco transferred to Notre Dame, Xavian Lee and Caden Pierce are both back after being named first-team All-Ivy League a season ago.

"It's definitely going to be the same," Rozier said. "(Lipscomb) is over, we have to move on to Princeton. They've got the same group. We've just got to come in ready to play. Getting this first one under our belt, we are going to be fine moving forward."

One aspect that definitely could get better for the Dukes is that they could get some more scoring out of the returning players. While DiMichele accounted for nine points, Rozier, Dixon, Necas and Hronský combined for only 13. The transfers did most of the heavy lifting in the scoring department as Max Edwards (14), Tre Dinkins (16), and Jahsean Corbett (12) were all in double-digits, and Eli Wilborn provided a spark off the bench with eight points.

"There's a lot of growth that still needs to happen," Joyce III said. "We're a new team. This is everyone's first year playing for me, no matter if they've been here before. No matter if I was their assistant coach in years before. It's going to take us some time to gel."

To an extent, that was the case last year for the Dukes. They started 0-5 in Atlantic-10 play before coming together and eventually winning the conference tournament in March.

Joyce would certainly accept that same big-picture path again this year in his first as a head coach.

For now, though, just showing signs of that growth Friday night against another experienced team like Princeton is the first goal to accomplish.