G20 | FORDHAM (14-4, 2-3) at DUQUESNE (13-6, 3-3)
Sat., Jan. 21, 2023 • 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) & Tad Maurey

Duquesne (13-6, 3-3) returns home for the first time since Jan. 4 to take on Fordham (14-4, 2-3) on Saturday, Jan. 21 at 2:00 p.m. (ESPN+).

The Dukes, who completed a stretch of three-straight road games with a 65-56 defeat at St. Bonaventure on Wednesday, are 11-2 and averaging 77.6 points per game at UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse.

Fordham is 2-2 on the road with a non-conference win at Tulane and an A-10 victory at La Salle (66-64) in their last outing on Jan. 14.

DU has won its past five in a row at home, including A-10 wins over Rhode Island and VCU.

The Fordham game is the first of back-to-back home games for the Dukes who host first-year conference member Loyola Chicago on Wednesday, Jan. 25.

This is the first of two meetings with Fordham, who will host Duquesne in the A-10 regular season finale at Rose Hill Gym on Mar. 4.

The Dukes, picked 15th in the Atlantic 10 preseason poll, and Rams, picked 10th, enter Saturday's game with 27 combined wins.

TRENDING

• DU, which had its complete regular roster rotation intact for the first time on Dec. 28 at Dayton (game 14), has had all of its key rotation players available for just three of its 19 games.
• DU, which averaged 65.2 ppg. last year, is averaging 74.9 ppg. (+9.7 ppg.). The Dukes have topped the 90-point mark four times and are 12-2 when scoring 70 or more.
• DU's assists per game average is up +5.5/g. from last year (from 10.0 to 15.5).
• DU's .376 3-pt percentage is its best under Keith Dambrot (current best is .350 in 2017-18). The school record is .375 set in 1990. The Dukes are shooting .389 from the arc in A-10 play.
• G Dae Dae Grant, who has scored in double digits 15 times, has four games with five or more 3's. Grant went over the 1,400-pt. career mark on Dec. 21 vs. Winthrop.
• G Jimmy Clark III, leads DU with a 14.8 ppg. average in A-10 play. Clark III, who has scored in double digits in DU's past 12 g. - including a career-best 26 vs. VCU (where he played as a Fr./So.) - entered the season having never scored more than nine in a D-I game. Clark leads the A-10 with 39 steals.
• Tevin Brewer has handed out a team-high 58 assists despite missing four games due to injuries. His 3.41 assist/turnover ratio is best in the A-10 and ranked 4th nationally thru Jan. 18. His .425 3-point pct. (17-of-40) ranks sixth in the conference.
• Grad student R.J. Gunn, who missed 10 games with a foot injury (returned on Dec. 28 at Dayton), is averaging 13.5 ppg. in A-10 play. Gunn, who is 18-of-37 (.486) from the arc in conference play, has scored in double digits in DU's past four games (including a DU career high 26 at Saint Joseph's).
•  Freshman Kareem Rozier has come off the bench to lead, or tie for the team lead, in assists six times. Rozier has 41 assists and 13 turnovers this season (3.15-to-1 ratio).

DUKES AND RAMS
Series Record: Duquesne leads 28-18
At Pittsburgh: Duquesne leads 14-8
At Bronx: Duquesne leads 13-8
Neutral Site: Fordham leads 2-1
A-10 Regular Season: Duquesne leads 21-15
A-10 Championship: Fordham leads 1-0
Dambrot vs. Fordham: 7-3

• This is the 47th game in a series that dates to Dec. 22, 1949. Duquesne leads 28-18. In games played in Pittsburgh, the Dukes lead 14-8. DU had a six-game series streak snapped by a 72-71 Fordham win at Rose Hill Gym last January. The six-game win streak matched the longest by either team in the series.
• Six of the past eight meetings between the Dukes and Rams have been single-digit affairs, with three of the past six decided by three or fewer points.
• This is the seventh consecutive season the two are playing home-and-home. The two split the regular-season series in 2017 & 2018, prior to DU sweeps in 2019, 2020 & 2021. Fordham swept the series last year.
• Duquesne is 21-15 against the Rams in Atlantic 10 regular-season play.
• Keith Dambrot is 7-3 against Fordham with all 10 meetings coming while at Duquesne.

WORTH NOTING

• It took the 2022-23 Dukes - with a roster that features 10 newcomers (five transfers & five freshmen) - just eight games to exceed last year's win total (6-24). The Dukes opened 7-1.
• Duquesne, picked to finish 15th of 15 teams in the Atlantic 10 preseason poll, tied the school record for November wins set in 2008 and matched in 2020 (both 6-0). DU went 6-1 in November, with the lone loss coming at No. 4 (AP) Kentucky.
• This was just the fourth time in program history - and second time under Keith Dambrot - that the Dukes entered Atlantic 10 play with 10 wins (10-3). The others: 2007-08 (10-3), 2015-16 (10-3) & 2019-20 (10-2).
• It was also the fourth time in six seasons under Keith Dambrot that DU opened 13-5 or better (13-5 in 2018, 2019 & 2023 and 15-3 in 2020). In the 45 years prior to Dambrot's arrival, the Dukes opened a season 13-5 or better three times.
• Duquesne's 66-55 win over DePaul on Dec. 14 was the program's first over a Big East school since an 86-82 victory over West Virginia on Nov. 25, 2002 at A.J. Palumbo Center. The margin of victory was DU's largest over a Power 6 school since a 78-52 win over Penn State (Big Ten) at CONSOL Energy Center on Nov. 20, 2015 (under Jim Ferry).
• Eleven Dukes (Brewer, Clark III, Dixon, Grant, Gunn, Hronsky, McGriff, Reece, Rotroff, Rozier & Williams) posted double-digit scoring games.
• DU has erased first half deficits of 14 (vs. Ball State, down 18-4) and 16 points (vs. Indiana State, down 20-4) to win this season. The Dukes have 19 double-digit comeback wins under Keith Dambrot (all have come in the past four seasons).
• DU jumped out to a 20-0 lead (and led 29-2) in its 74-57 win over Winthrop on Dec. 21. The 20-0 run is the best by a Dambrot-coached Dukes team.
• DU scored 60 points in the first half (led 60-44) of its 92-80 win at Saint Joseph's. The 60 points were the most in any half under Keith Dambrot and most in a first half since the Dukes scored 63 in the first half of a 120-75 win over Marshall on Dec. 5, 1969.
• The Dukes did not trail in five games this season: South Carolina State, DePaul, Winthrop, VCU & at Saint Joseph's.
• The 2022-23 Dukes, who inherited a 16-game Atlantic 10 regular season losing streak, put an end to that skid in their second conference game (a 72-61 New Year's Eve win over Rhode Island). The Rhody win also snapped an eight-game A-10 home skid. DU snapped an 11-game road losing streak (including 10-straight A-10 road defeats) with its 92-80 win at Saint Joe's on Jan. 11.

LAST GAME: ST. BONAVENTURE 65, DUQUESNE 56
Jan. 18, 2022 • Reilly Center • Olean, N.Y.

• Duquesne cut a 20-point second-half deficit to six, but couldn't close the gap in falling at St. Bonaventure.
• Jimmy Clark III led three Dukes in double figures with 12 points. Tre Williams, in his first game back after missing two games due to injury, scored 11 and R.J. Gunn Jr. posted his first double-double as a Duke with 10 points and 10 rebounds.
• DU used a 16-2 run to cut a 53-33 deficit to 55-49 with 6:48 left, but a .350 shooting night took its toll.
• The Dukes held the Bonnies to .269 second-half shooting.
• DU missed 12 of its first 13 shots in falling behind 20-3 early. The Dukes trailed 38-23 at the half as the Bonnies shot .625 in the opening 20 minutes.
• Duquesne went 8-of-18 from the foul line.
• Duquesne assisted on 12 of 21 field goals.
• DU's .350 field goal percentage was its third-lowest of the season (.303 on Nov. 11 at then-No. 4 Kentucky & .327 vs. New Mexico State).
• Duquesne led once at 2-0 ... St. Bonaventure's largest lead was 20, the last of which came at 53-33, with 12:03 left in the game ... there was one tie and one lead change in the game ... St. Bonaventure took the lead for good on a Kyrell Luc pull-up that made it 5-3 at the 17:25 mark ... St. Bonaventure led for 38:05 ... Duquesne led for 0:19.