G22 | DUQUESNE (14-7, 4-4) at MASSACHUSETTS (12-8, 3-5)
Sat., Jan. 28, 2023 • 4:00 pm ET • Amherst, Mass. • Mullins Center (9,493)

LIVE STREAM: ESPN+ with Jay Burnham & Frank Sullivan
RADIO: 104.7 HD2 / iHeartRadio with Ray Goss ('58) & Tad Maurey

Duquesne (14-7, 4-4), which evened its A-10 record at 4-4 with a 72-58 come-from-behind win over Loyola Chicago on Wednesday, heads to Amherst, Mass. to face Massachusetts (12-8, 3-5) on Saturday, Jan. 28 at 4:00 p.m. (ESPN+). This is the first of back-to-back road games for the Dukes who will be idle until heading to Washington, D.C. to take on George Washington on Feb. 4.

The Dukes erased an 11-point first half deficit in posting their 20th double-digit comeback win under sixth-year head coach Keith Dambrot against Loyola. DU outscored LUC 41-18 in the second half.

Duquesne is 1-4 on the road (1-3 in the A-10) with the win coming at Saint Joseph's. The Dukes also dropped a 75-73 decision at Richmond.

UMass is 6-3 at home with conference wins over Saint Louis (90-81), Rhode Island (75-65) and Richmond (85-76 on Wednesday). The Minutemen have scored 75 or more points seven times and are averaging 79.0 ppg. at Mullins Center.

DU and UM will meet again in Pittsburgh on Mar. 1.

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 21 games.
• DU, which averaged 65.2 ppg. last year, is averaging 74.0 ppg. (+8.8 ppg.). The Dukes have topped the 90-point mark four times and are 13-2 when scoring 70 or more.
• DU's assists per game average is up +4.9/g. from last year (from 10.0 to 14.9).
• DU's .367 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 .364 from the arc in A-10 play.
• G Dae Dae Grant, who has scored in double digits 17 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 13.9 ppg. average in A-10 play. Clark III, who has scored in double digits 15 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 44 steals.
• Tevin Brewer has handed out a team-high 62 assists despite missing four games due to injuries. His 3.0 assist/turnover ratio is second-best in the A-10 and ranked 14th nationally thru Jan. 25. His .426 3-point pct. (20-of-47) 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 20-of-44 (.455) from the arc in conference play, has scored in double digits in five of DU's past six games (including a DU career high 26 at Saint Joseph's). He enters the UMass game with 1,299 career points.
•  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).

COUNTDOWN TO 500
Duquesne head coach Keith Dambrot enters the UMass game needing two 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 85 at Duquesne.

DUKES AND MINUTEMEN
Series Record: UMass leads 41-28
At Pittsburgh: Duquesne leads 16-14
At Amherst/Springfield: UMass leads *24-8
Neutral Site: UMass leads 4-3
A-10 Regular Season: UMass leads 35-22
A-10 Championship: Tied 5-5
Dambrot vs. UMass/at Duquesne: 2-3/2-2
* - includes A-10 Tournament first round game in 2012

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 three double-digit first half deficits to win this season: 14 vs. Ball State (down 18-4), 16 vs. Indiana State (down 20-4) and 11 vs. Loyola Chicago (down 26-15). The Dukes have 20 double-digit comeback wins under Keith Dambrot (all 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.

LAST GAME: DUQUESNE 72, LOYOLA CHICAGO 58
Jan. 25, 2022 • UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse • Pittsburgh, Pa.

• Duquesne rallied from 11 down in the first half - and a 40-31 halftime deficit - to defeat the Ramblers.
• It was the 20th time Duquesne came back from a double-digit deficit to win under Keith Dambrot. DU's largest deficit was 11, at 26-15, with 8:49 left in the first half.
• Dae Dae Grant and Jimmy Clark III  scored 13 points each, R.J. Gunn Jr. had 12 and Tevin Brewer added 10 points for the Dukes who shot 56 percent in outscoring the Ramblers 41-18 in the second half.
• Clark III added four steals for the Dukes.
• Duquesne outscored Loyola 14-0 in fast break points.
• Duquesne's largest lead was the 14-point final margin ... Loyola's largest lead was 11, at 26-15, with 8:49 left in the first half ... there were four ties and seven lead changes in the game ... Duquesne took the lead for good on a Dae Dae Grant jumper that made that made it 56-54 with 5:05 left ... Loyola led for 26:47 ... Duquesne led for 11:09.