PITTSBURGH - Dae Dae Grant put on a show in his Duquesne debut, not missing a shot in scoring a game-high 25 points to lead Duquesne  to a 91-63 season-opening win over Montana at UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse.

Grant went 8-of-8 from the field, including 6-of-6 from 3-point and did not miss a free throw (3-of-3) to help the Dukes put an emphatic end to a 17-game program losing streak that the 2022-23 team inherited.

First-year players Matus Hronsky (13 points), Joe Reece (12 points) and Quincy McGriff (10 points) all scored in double digits for the Dukes.

Grant, a first-year transfer from Miami, Ohio and Reece, who came to the Dukes this season from Bowling Green, ignited a 21-2 first half run that put the game away.

Grant, who had 13 points in the game's first eight minutes, started the run with a pair of free throws. Reece followed with a layup and a dunk off a steal to make it 20-12. Grant followed with a four-point play to up the lead to double digits.

Reece brought the crowd to its feet with back-to-back blocks in the middle of the first half.

A Hronsky 3-pointer put the Dukes up 33-14 with just over nine minutes left and Austin Rotroff's layup off a pass from Jimmy Clark III made it 35-14.

Ten players, including seven first-year players, scored in a first half that ended with Duquesne up 45-19.

Duquesne held the Grizzlies to 18 percent shooting (4-of-22) in the first half.

The DU lead reached 42 with just under eight minutes to go.

The Dukes shot a Keith Dambrot Era-best 64.4 percent and outscored the Grizzlies 46-22 in the paint.

Duquesne returns to action at No. 4 (AP) Kentucky (1-0) on Friday, Nov. 11 at 7:00 p.m. (SECN).


NOTES

• With the win, Duquesne moved to 89-18 in season openers, including an 84-4 mark when opening at home. Keith Dambrot is now 19-6 in openers (5-1 at Duquesne)..
• Jimmy Clark III, David Dixon, Dae Dae Grant, Matus Hronsky, Joe Reece, Kareem Rozier and Quincy McGriff all made their Duquesne debuts. Clark, Grant and McGriff started.
• The win was DU's first since Jan. 8, 2022 at Massachusetts, ending a streak of 17-straight losses.
• The 28-point margin of victory was Duquesne's largest margin of victory in a season opener since a 91-51 win over Bluefield State on Nov. 15, 2014.
• Dae Dae Grant's 25 points were three shy of his career high set at Eastern Michigan on Jan. 23, 2021. His 6-of-6 effort from 3-point was the second-only to James Hargrove's 7-of-7 in a 31-point game at Robert Morris on Dec. 10, 1991 on the DU list for most 3-pointers made without a miss in a game.
• Duquesne's largest lead was 42 at 79-37 with 7:30 left ... Montana's largest lead was one, at 5-4 ... there was one tie and two lead changes before Quincy McGriff gave the Dukes the lead for good on a 3-pointer with 17:54 left in the first half ... Montana led for :18 ... Duquesne led for 38:30.