Inside the Dukes: Who Let The Dogs Out?

With 12:13 remaining in the first half of the Duquesne Men’s Basketball Atlantic 10 Conference opener against Rhode Island, junior guard Kareem Rozier put an arm around teammate David Dixon and shouted a concise message.

“Go be a dog,” Rozier instructed.

Dixon was trying to battle for a rebound off a Matus Hronsky miss and he was impeded by Rhody’s Jaden House. House tried stunting Dixon’s motion by pushing against him and the agitated Duquesne post pushed back. The officials whistled the play to try and stop a potential fracas.

Ultimately both players were assessed technical fouls for their actions, but Duquesne came out of the stoppage ready and the more mature side, which helped lead the way for a 67-55 victory over Rhode Island Tuesday afternoon at the UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse.

“This is my ride or die right here, this is my right-hand guy,” Rozier said of Dixon. “We came in together, I ride him pretty hard, but in that moment, I knew that was going to be the turning point of the game, so I was proud of doing what he did. I just told him to continue being that dog, just hyping him up because this dude will go do anything for you. He’ll run through a wall for you. I was proud of him in that moment and that play right there turned the whole game around, changed the game.”

Rozier’s motto to his team in the days leading up to the game was echoed again at halftime, to leave everything on the court, play passionately while carrying a chip on your shoulder. He also encouraged his team to play to the crowd and have fun.

An enthusiastic crowd was enjoying $1 beers, but Rozier epitomized his own directive with consecutive alley-oops, first to Dixon and on the next possession to Eli Wilborn.

These plays made longtime Duquesne Senior AD/Facilities and Events Paul Hightower turn out of his seat and exclaim that it was the loudest he had heard the UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse all season.

“That’s just being ready and affecting the game,” determined Rozier. “That’s one thing they’ve been harping on me, to get everyone involved because we have so many weapons. In that moment, seeing that back-to-back plays, that makes me feel good, that’s me having a great game. For them to go up there throw it down, the opposing team called a timeout, and I just lost it. I feel like I dunked.”

Ultimately Duquesne was by and large the more mature team, and that helped earn its fourth consecutive win.

“It’s just good to win,” Dru Joyce III simply stated. “It’s good to protect our home court, that’s the main thing that I get from it. You have an opportunity with your conference opener at home and the main objective is to make sure you come out of there with a win. Now it’s a standings game. The non-conference was a conglomerate of teams you play, now there’s a certain format and standings in conference play and every win you get is a big one.”

LEADING BY EXAMPLE

Although he occasionally will joke about it, Dixon’s sentiments of not yet having a fully healthy summer are extremely true.

While admittedly it was a slow start to the season, Dixon was given the opportunity to start the first eight games of the season, but ultimately, he came to Joyce and made the decision to pull the plug and to come off the bench.

The past three games have shown glimpses of what Dixon has displayed to fans, with an alley-oop dunk bringing the fans to their feet, multiple game-changing blocks and a jump ball that resulted in a successful change of possession.

“I think Dave has started to find his rhythm,” Joyce declared. “Coming off the bench has been better for him, it’s a conversation we’ve had. Dave came to me and said, ‘coach I think I should come off the bench.’ That just shows what type of character, what type of winner Dave is. Now I may have been thinking the same thing, but he came to me and said it. He’s allowed himself to gain confidence and play and he doesn’t care. There was no struggle. He’s just here to win and he’s here to contribute.”

While nine different Duquesne players have been given a chance to start, Dixon perhaps understands that starting a game is not the most important thing.

For Dixon, the important things are to play, stop an opposing player and win games.

“For me it didn’t feel like anything (different) because I had been doing it the last couple of years,” he explained. “I’ve always been coming off the bench. My role on the team was to be a spark. If something is going wrong on the corner, I come in, provide a spark, fix it and try and take the game over in a way. That’s my mindset to just try to bring something to the game good or bad.”

1-0

Joyce playfully winced and then smiled multiple times when questions were asked in comparison to last team, more specifically its 0-5 start to conference play.

“Relief,” Dixon emoted. “I won’t lie; I was scared in the beginning. We can’t start out like last year, 0-5, especially after what happened non-conference. I’m glad we turned things around and got to win.”

Rozier was giddy entering the Aloe Suite where press conferences are always held, encouraging the media to clap. While no one broke their code of ethics, it was undeniable how good Rozier felt about the win.

“Of course, those thoughts go in your head, but this is amazing,” he exclaimed with his trademark grin. “The group we have, we just go out have fun and play with a chip on our shoulder. I’m so proud and happy right now.”