Atlantic 10 Basketball power rankings: UMass tumbles while Dayton soars up

10. Duquesne Dukes – 6-9 (1-2)

In the first week of league play, one of the more surprising results that happened was the Dukes going on the road and beating UMass in a game that showed the long-term potential of its freshmen guards. In the 78-74 road win, Jackie Johnson (27) and Primo Spears (21) combined for 48 points on 17/30 shooting from the field.

It was the best collective performance for the guards this season and Duquesne needs them both to play well in the starting lineup to keep them competitive. The team had a chance to go 2-0 in league play on the road at Fordham but a missed free throw late by Kevin Easley allowed the Rams to run down the other way to get the game-winning basket for a 72-71 victory. Spears had 20 points to lead the way.

The next game for the Dukes wasn’t close, as they fell at home early to Dayton and never got back in it, losing 72-52. Four players had between 10-12 but that wasn’t going to cut it against a much bigger team in the Flyers. Making matters worse, 6’11 backup center Austin Rotroff wasn’t able to play with a flair-up with a foot injury that’s been bothering him all season.

With D-II transfer RJ Gunn officially our for the season, the depth for Duquesne in the frontcourt is next to nothing, with 6’7 forward Tre Williams the only kind of interior defense they have. They’ll need the guards to step up on a consistent basis to beat some of the better teams in league play or risk falling back in the standings.