G21 | LOYOLA CHICAGO (7-12, 1-6) at DUQUESNE (13-7, 3-4)
Wed., Jan. 25, 2023 • 7:00 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 (13-7, 3-4) completes a two-game homestand when it welcomes first-year Atlantic 10 member Loyola Chicago (7-12, 1-6) to UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse on Wednesday, Jan. 25 at 7:00 p.m. (ESPN+).

Although it is the first A-10 meeting between the two, it is not the first conference game between the Dukes and Ramblers, who met as members of the Midwestern Collegiate Conference in 1993 (DU's lone season as a non-A-10 member). The home-and-home series in '93 marked the last meetings between the two.

Duquesne saw its five-game home win streak ended in a 65-58 defeat to Fordham on Saturday. DU shot .306 and had a season-low three 3-pointers (3-of-16) in the setback. Dae Dae Grant was the lone Duke in double digits with 10 points.

Loyola, which is coming off a 67-55 home win over St. Bonaventure - its first A-10 victory, is 1-4 on the road, with the win coming at crosstown rival UIC on Nov. 11.

Duquesne is 2-1 in Atlantic 10 home games with wins over Rhode Island and VCU in addition to Saturday's loss to Fordham. DU is 11-3 overall at home.


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 four of its 20 games.
• DU, which averaged 65.2 ppg. last year, is averaging 74.1 ppg. (+8.9 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 +5.0/g. from last year (from 10.0 to 15.0).
• DU's .369 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 also shooting .369 from the arc in A-10 play.
• G Dae Dae Grant, who has scored in double digits 16 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 14.0 ppg. average in A-10 play. Clark III, who has scored in double digits 14 times - 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 40 steals.
• Tevin Brewer has handed out a team-high 59 assists despite missing four games due to injuries. His 3.1 assist/turnover ratio is second-best in the A-10 and ranked 10th nationally thru Jan. 22. His .439 3-point pct. (18-of-41) ranks fifth in the conference.
• Grad student R.J. Gunn, who missed 10 games with a foot injury (returned on Dec. 28 at Dayton), is averaging 12.1 ppg. in A-10 play. Gunn, who is 18-of-40 (.450) from the arc in conference play, has scored in double digits in four of DU's past five 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 seven times. Rozier has 43 assists and 13 turnovers this season (3.31-to-1 ratio).
   

DUKES AND RAMBLERS
Series Record: Duquesne leads 11-6
At Pittsburgh: Duquesne leads 5-3
At Chicago: Duquesne leads 6-2
Neutral Site: Loyola leads 1-0
A-10 Regular Season: 0-0
A-10 Championship: 0-0
MCC Regular Season: Tied 1-1
Dambrot vs. Loyola Chicago: 0-0

• Duquesne leads the series 11-6, including a 5-3 advantage in games played in Pittsburgh. This is the first meeting between the two since a home-and-home when both schools were members of the Midwestern Collegiate Conference in 1993 (DU's only non-Atlantic 10 season).
• The series dates back to a 29-13 Loyola win in Chicago on Dec. 11, 1929. The two met 15 times between 1929 and 1962 and did not play again until the two MCC meetings in '93.
• The Ramblers, under second-year head coach Drew Valentine, were picked to finish fourth in the A-10 preseason poll. Loyola is led by first-year transfer junior F Philip Alston (14.0, 5.8) who was a third-team D2 All-American at nearby Cal U last season.
• This is Duquesne head coach Keith Dambrot's first meeting with Loyola Chicago.
   

COUNTDOWN TO 500
Duquesne head coach Keith Dambrot enters the Loyola Chicago game needing three wins to reach the 500 career mark. Dambrot has posted 40 wins at Tiffin, 48 at Ashland, 20 at Central Michigan, 305 at Akron and 84 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 then 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: FORDHAM 65, DUQUESNE 58
Jan. 21, 2022 • UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse • Pittsburgh, Pa.

• Fordham used a 15-0 second half run to turn a six-point deficit into a 57-48 lead with 2:44 left in snapping DU's five-game home win streak.
• Duquesne cut it to 60-55 on a pair of R.J. Gunn Jr. free throws and Dae Dae Grant had a chance to cut it to two following a Kareem Rozier steal, but misfired on a 3-point attempt in transition from the right wing with 46 seconds left.
• Grant was the lone Duke in double figures with 10 points.
• DU's .306 effort from the field was its second-lowest of the season.
• The Dukes hit a season-low three 3-pointers in 16 attempts.
• DU assisted on five of 19 field goals.
• There were a total of 42 fouls called (21 on each team).
• The defeat ended DU's streak off 22 wins in a row when leading with 5:00 left (13-0 this season).
• Duquesne's largest lead was eight, at 31-23, with 17:24 left ... Fordham's largest lead was 10, at 65-55, with :04 left  ... there were six ties and six lead changes in the game ... Fordham took the lead for good on a Darius Quisenberry 3-pointer that made that made it 50-48 with 4:52 left ... Fordham led for 14:52 ... Duquesne led for 18:32.