G7 | UC SANTA BARBARA (4-1) at DUQUESNE (5-1)
Tues., Nov. 29, 2022 • 7:00 pm ET • Pittsburgh, Pa. • UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse (3,500)

LIVE STREAM: ESPN+ with Josh Taylor & Ellis Cannon
RADIO: 104.7 HD2 / iHeartRadio with Ray Goss ('58) & Jarrett Durham ('71)

Duquesne (5-1), winner of four in a row, returns from Thanksgiving break to welcome UC Santa Barbara (4-1) to UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse on Tuesday, Nov. 29 at 7:00 p.m. (ESPN+).

This is the third of nine consecutive home games for the Dukes, who are averaging 86.3 points per game at UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse.

The Dukes, with a roster that features 10 first-year players, are already one win shy of tying last year's victory total (6-24).

This is the second road game of the season for UCSB, which is coming off back-to-back pre-Thanksgiving wins over Hampton (79-66) and North Alabama (89-71) in the Santa Barbara Beach Classic.

It is Duquesne's first meeting with the Gauchos, who were the unanimous pick to win the Big West Conference in the preseason poll of league coaches. UCSB comes to Pittsburgh as one of the top rebounding teams in the nation (+10.4/g.).

DU is 20-5 in non-conference home games - including wins at four different "home" venues - since 2018-19.

TRENDING

• This is the third of nine-straight home games for the Dukes, who won't leave UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse until their Dec. 28 Atlantic 10 opener at Dayton.
• DU, which averaged 65.2 ppg. last season, is averaging 80.3 ppg. through six games this year. The Dukes have scored 345 points in their first four home games - an average of 86.3 ppg.
•  Nine Dukes (Brewer, Clark III, Dixon, Grant, Hronsky, McGriff, Reece, Rotroff & Williams) have posted double-digit scoring games on the young season.
• DU's depth is evidenced by its 180-157 advantage in bench points (Dukes are averaging 30.0 ppg. from the bench so far in 2022-23).
• DU's assists per game average is up +7.0/g. from last year (from 10.0 to 17.0).
• Guard Dae Dae Grant is shooting .536 from the field and .538 from 3-point (21-of-39). Grant has topped the 20-point mark four times, including DU's past three games (24 vs. Colgate, 26 vs. North Florida & 23 vs. Alabama State).
• Tevin Brewer, who missed the opener (appendix), has handed out 17 assists in five games.
• Guard Jimmy Clark III, who played as a freshman and sophomore at VCU, has eclipsed his career DI scoring high twice in 2022-23 with 11 at Kentucky and 13 vs. South Carolina State. His career-high entering the season was nine. Clark III, DU's top defender, has a pair of four-steal games.
• Austin Rotroff has come off the bench to lead the Dukes in rebounding in five of six games. The 6-10 forward is coming off his first career double-double (12-10 vs. Alabama State). His four blocks vs. ASU were a career high.
• Freshman David Dixon is averaging 9.0 points, 6.0 rebounds and 3.0 blocks in two games as a starter.

NOTING UCSB

• This is the first meeting between Duquesne and UCSB of the Big West Conference.
• UCSB was picked as the unanimous favorite to win the Big West in a preseason vote of league coaches. The Gauchos went 17-11 in finishing fifth in the Big West (8-5) last season.
• Sophomore Ajay Mitchell (15.2, 3.2. 6.2a), the returning Big West Freshman of the Year and first-year Cal transfer Andre Kelly (10.8, 10.0) were both named to the Big West All-Preseason Team. USCB was the only school with two players on the team.
• Duquesne is 2-0 vs. schools that comprise the current Big West Conference. UCSB is the first Big West school to play at DU. Keith Dambrot's Dukes downed Big West member UC Irvine by a 76-54 score last year in Akron.
• DU head coach Keith Dambrot is 1-0 vs. UCSB with an 84-70 win over the Gauchos on Dec. 21, 2015 at the South Point Holiday Classic in Las Vegas while Dambrot was at Akron.

LAST GAME: DUQUESNE 75, ALABAMA STATE 57
Nov. 23, 2022 • UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse • Pittsburgh, Pa.

• Duquesne used a 14-0 run to turn a five-point lead into a 58-39 advantage in pulling away for the win.
• Dae Dae Grant led the way with a game-high 23 points. Austin Rotroff added a 12-10 double-double (first of his career) and Quincy McGriff came off the bench to score eight of his 11 points during the game-turning run for the Dukes.
• The Dukes, who held ASU to .311 shooting, finished with 11 blocked shots, including five by David Dixon.
• Forwards Joe Reece (injured), R.J. Gunn (injured) and Kevin Easley (team suspension) were all not in uniform for the second-straight game. It was the third game in a row missed by Gunn and Easley.
• Duquesne's largest lead was 25, at 68-43, with 5:40 left ... Alabama State's largest lead was two, the last of which came at 17-15 with 8:26 left in the first half ... there were five ties and 10 lead changes before Austin Rotroff gave the Dukes the lead for good on a pair of free throws that made it 20-19 with 6:48 left in the first half ... Alabama State led for 2:28 ... Duquesne led for 35:09.