Lincoln, Neb. – The Duquesne University men's basketball team concluded play in the 2023 Cornhusker Classic Wednesday, dropping an 89-79 decision to Nebraska at Pinnacle Bank Arena. The Dukes own an overall record of 4-2 (.667) during the 2023-24 season.
POINTS OF EMPHASIS
In the span of six seconds early in the second half, guards
Jimmy Clark III and
Kareem Rozier picked up their third and fourth fouls of the game, respectively. Nebraska tied it, 39-39, on a pair of free throws from Josiah Allick, but guard
Dae Dae Grant pushed the Dukes back in front with a runner off the glass, 41-39. The back-and-forth affair continued until the Cornhuskers were able to take control midway through the second half, using a 15-2 run to open up a 70-56 advantage with 9:24 to go. Juwan Gary was the main offensive force for Nebraska (6-0), scoring 11 points during the surge. Gary scored 13 of his 20 points in the second half for the Cornhuskers.
QUOTABLE
"We played a pretty good first half," head coach
Keith Dambrot said. "(Nebraska) has a lot of versatility. They can play a variety of ways. Our foul trouble killed us. If we don't have the foul trouble I think it's a different game. We have good leadership, but we have to be more disciplined. We played hard but not necessarily smart. In the first half our ball movement was really good. We did a great job of sharing the ball. We have to get the ball inside more."
MOTOR CITY
Duquesne owned a 39-37 at halftime behind the exploits of Rozier, who scored 13 points on 5-of-7 shooting from the field, including a 3-for-5 performance from beyond the arc. His triple with 8:32 to go in the first half pushed the Dukes on top, 24-22, and after the Cornhuskers grabbed a 27-26 cushion on a layup from Brice Williams, Rozier again connected from downtown before a providing a full extension layup on the break to push the lead for Duquesne to 31-27. One of four Dukes to score in double figures, Rozier finished with 16 points.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
Grant reached double figures for the sixth time during the 2023-24 season as well as his eighth consecutive game dating back to last year. On the strength of a 9-for-9 performance at the free-throw line, Grant paced the Dukes with a season-high 24 points. He has made each of his last 30 attempts at the charity stripe dating back to the season opener, a 79-77 victory over Cleveland State at the UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse. Sophomore
David Dixon, meanwhile, contributed season high totals in both points (7) and rebounds (6) while recording a block. Dixon owns 12 rejections through the first six games of the year and owns at least one block in each of Duquesne's contests this year.
CORNHUSKER CLASSIC
Duquesne concluded the Cornhusker Classic with a 2-1 record and finished second in the round robin tournament. Grant led the Dukes over the course of the three games by averaging 22.0 points per contest, converting 44.4 percent (20-for-45) of his shots from the field while going a perfect 16-for-16 at the free-throw line. He also averaged 3.7 rebounds per contest. Grant led four Dukes who averaged in double figures during the tournament, as Clark III produced 17.7 points per game, Rozier finished at 11.0 points per contest and forward
Fousseyni Drame fell just shy of averaging a double-double, posting averages of 10.3 points and 9.7 boards. Drame finished with 12 points on 5-of-7 shooting against Nebraska while corralling a game-high eight rebounds.
300
Thanks to a 9-for-9 performance at the chalk, Grant has now knocked down an even 300 free throws during his NCAA Division I career. Owning a career success rate of 83.1 percent at the stripe, Grant is 300-for-361 over the last five seasons. In a Duquesne uniform, Grant has converted 88.6 percent (124-for-140) of his chances. He also eclipsed 1,800 career points Wednesday, as his performance at Nebraska pushed his total to 1,807.
UP NEXT
Duquesne returns home to the UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse Wednesday, Nov. 29, for a 7:00 p.m. tip against UC Irvine. Tickets are on sale now
by using the following link.
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