March Madness is here!

It didn’t take long for the upsets to start as No. 11 Duquesne took down No. 6 BYU, 71-67, Thursday afternoon at the CHI Health Center Arena in Omaha, Neb. in what was just the second game of the NCAA tournament. The win was also the first time since 1969 that the Dukes won an NCAA Tournament game.

Coming in, BYU, which finished 5th in the Big 12 in its first year, entered Thursday’s game as nearly a 10-point favorite.

But a cold shooting performance combined with a team that lives and dies by the three, was all that was needed for Duquesne to upset the Cougars. Down by as much as 14 in the second half, BYU was able to make it a game and mounted an epic comeback that fell just short. The Cougars ended up tying the game with just under two minutes to play, but that’s as close as they would get.

For the game, the Cougars shot just 38.6% from the field and 33.3% from beyond the arc.

BYU’s Jaxson Robinson led all scorers with 25 points, while Spencer Johnson, Fousseyni
Traore and Dallin Hall each had 11 points apiece. For Duquesne, Dae Dae Grant led the team with 19 points, Jakub Necas added 12 and Jimmy Clark III had 11 in the win for the Dukes.

The win was extra special for the Dukes as they not only won a tournament game since 1969, but they also kept their season alive under head coach Keith Dambrot who is retiring after the season.

“They just don’t want me to retire I guess,” said Dambrot after the game. “I’m trying to get to the promised land and they’re making me keep coaching. Our guys played exactly what they had to do in order to win the game.”

Here are all the reactions to Duquesne’s upset over BYU.

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