G8 | BALL STATE (4-3) at DUQUESNE (6-1)
Sat., Dec. 3, 2022 • 2:00 pm ET • Pittsburgh, Pa. • UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse (3,500)

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

Duquesne (6-1), which extended its win streak to five with a 72-61 win over Big West preseason favorite UC Santa Barbara on Tuesday, opens the month of December vs. Ball State (4-3) on Saturday, Dec. 3 at 2:00 p.m. at UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse (ESPN+).

Tuesday's win enabled the Dukes, with a roster that features 10 first-year players, to tie last year's victory total (6-24). The victory also tied the school record for November wins (6, set in 2008 and tied in 2020).

This is the fourth of nine consecutive home games for the Dukes, who are averaging 83.4 points per game at UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse.

Ball State, which is 1-1 on the road, has been idle since going 1-2 at the Baha Mar Hoops Nassau Championship on Nov. 25-27. The Cardinals played three tight games in the Bahamas, losing to Vermont by five (L, 73-78), defeating Missouri State (W, 67-64) and falling to San Jose State (L, 65-67) on consecutive days.

Duquesne is 21-5 in non-conference home games - including wins at four different "home" venues - since 2018-19.

TRENDING

• This is the fourth 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 79.1 ppg. through seven games this year. The Dukes have scored 417 points in their first five home games - an average of 83.4 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 assists per game average is up +6.6/g. from last year (from 10.0 to 16.6).
• Guard Dae Dae Grant is shooting .554 from the field and .563 from 3-point (27-of-48). Grant, who has three games with five or more 3-pointers, has topped the 20-point mark five times, including DU's past four games (24 vs. Colgate, 26 vs. North Florida, 23 vs. Alabama State & 26 vs. UCSB). He is the first Duke since Micah Mason (six times in 2016) to score 20 or more in four-straight games.
• Tevin Brewer, who missed the opener (appendix), has handed out 20 assists in six games.
• Freshman Kareem Rozier has come off the bench to lead the team in assists twice. Rozier, who hasn't turned the ball over since the season opener vs. Montana (Nov. 8), has 17 assists and one turnover this season.
• 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 six of seven games. The 6-10 forward ranked second nationally in offensive rebound percentage (per KenPom) through Wednesday.
• Freshman David Dixon is averaging 10.0 points, 5.3 rebounds and 2.3 blocks in three games as a starter.

ON BALL STATE

• This is the first meeting between Duquesne and Mid-American Conference member Ball State.
• Ball State, located in Muncie, Ind., was picked to finish fourth in the 12-team MAC in a preseason vote of league coaches. The Cardinals, in their first season under head coach Michael Lewis, feature 6-9, 240-pound sophomore center Payton Sparks (15.4, 7.7), who was named Preseason First Team All-MAC. Sparks, a native of Winchester, Ind., was the 2021-22 MAC Freshman of the Year.
• Sparks, who is 27-54 from the line this year, attempted more free throws than any other freshman in the nation last season.
• Lewis brings 18 years of assistant coaching experience to Ball State, including the last three on Mick Cronin's staff at UCLA. Lewis, who played at Indiana under Bob Knight, began his coaching career as a graduate assistant under Knight at Texas Tech.  He also held assistant positions at Stephen F. Austin, Eastern Illinois, Butler and Nebraska prior to UCLA.
• Duquesne is 63-38 all-time vs. the schools that make up the current MAC, including an 14-19 mark vs. MAC schools since 1989-90 (10-6 at home, 3-13 on the road & 1-0 neutral). Of the 33 post-1989-90 games, 14 have been single-digit affairs with six decided in overtime. Last year, DU fell to MAC member Bowling Green, 78-70, at home on Dec. 1.
• DU head coach Keith Dambrot is 15-5 all time vs. Ball State, with an 0-5 record while at Central Michigan and a 15-0 mark in his 13 seasons at Akron.

LAST GAME: DUQUESNE 72, UC SANTA BARBARA 61
Nov. 29, 2022 • UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse • Pittsburgh, Pa.

• Dae Dae Grant scored 26 (6-of-9 from 3pt) and Tevin Brewer and David Dixon added 13 and 12 points respectively for DU.
• The victory, DU's fifth in a row, both tied the school record for November wins set in 2008 and tied in 2020 (both 6-0), and tied the team's win total from a year ago (6-24).
• It was the fourth consecutive 20-point game for Dae Dae Grant. It is the longest streak of 20-point games since Micah Mason scored 20 or more six-straight times in January/February of 2016.
• Austin Rotroff contributed seven points and a team-high eight rebounds off the bench. It was the sixth time Rotroff led the Dukes in rebounding this season.
• Kareem Rozier came off the bench to hand out a team-high four assists in 17 minutes.
• Duquesne's largest lead was 14, at 45-31, with 15:51 left ... UCSB's largest lead was two, the last of which came at 8-6 with 13:04 left in the first half ... there were four ties and two lead changes before Dae Dae Grant gave the Dukes the lead for good on a 3-pointer that made it 11-8 with 12:20 left in the first half ... UCSB led for 1:28 ... Duquesne led for 34:26.