Pittsburgh, Pa. – The Duquesne University men's basketball team improved to 5-2 (.714) overall during the 2023-24 season with a 66-62 victory over UC Irvine Wednesday at the UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse.
POINTS OF EMPHASIS
Facing its largest deficit, 27-16, with under eight minutes to go in the first half, sophomore forward
David Dixon sparked a 12-0 run to push the Dukes in front, 28-27. Dixon's one-handed, putback jam off a missed jumper from sophomore guard
Kareem Rozier ignited the surge, which also featured five points from forward
Andrei Savrasov as well as a three-pointer on the break from
Fousseyni Drame to give Duquesne its first lead of the contest. Andre Henry would stem the tide for UC Irvine, driving to the hoop for a layup to push the Anteaters back in front, but a dunk from Drame and a triple from Rozier gave the Dukes a 33-29 lead en route to a 35-31 edge at halftime.
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"When I came in, I didn't start very well," Savrasov said. "When I was on the bench Dae Dae sat next to me and told me to go out there and play with confidence. Forget everything that happened before. I went out there and contributed to the team success. After the game I thanked him for that. When teammates trust you like that, and he's one of our best players, it just means a lot. You want to go out there and play hard. That's what happened today."
FULL EXTENSION
Three times in the second half Duquesne pushed its advantage to double digits, including 61-50 with 4:11 to go after a three-pointer from Savrasov, who led all scorers in the game with 15 points while adding seven rebounds and three steals. UC Irvine (6-2) didn't wilt, using an 8-0 burst that featured a pair of three-pointers from Justin Hohn to close the deficit for the Anteaters to one possession, 61-58, with 1:18 left. The Dukes were able to seal the victory at the free-throw line, getting a pair from senior guard
Dae Dae Grant with 28 seconds remaining and two more from Dixon with 4.1 seconds to go that iced the game and settled the final score.
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"We did enough to win," head coach
Keith Dambrot said. "They have a lot of pieces that play really good together and they're tough. We did a really good job around the rim defensively. Dave did an unbelievable job. I'm happy for Savrasov, too, because he's had his struggles. He just has to relax and play. If you don't have confidence in players then they're not going to have any confidence. We're going to need everybody. I'm not going to give up on guys I know can be good players. If we get a bump or two along the way it's not going to affect our season because the last week of the season is going to determine it, anyway. We might as well and try to get better and better. We have some deficiencies now that are pretty telling, one of which isn't how hard we play. We play really hard and try to play the right way. We just have to fix our decision-making at times."
DAVE & BUSTER'S
In addition to sparking the run in the first half, Dixon, along with Savrasov, was a key factor for the Dukes in the paint against UC Irvine. He scored 12 points on 5-of-9 shooting from the floor and a 2-for-3 performance at the free-throw line, grabbed five rebounds and matched a career high with five blocks. Dixon also recorded five rejections in a 75-57 win over Alabama State (11/23/22) at the UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse and in 34 career games owns 41 blocks, an average of 1.21 per contest.
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"I eat, sleep, dream blocking shots," Dixon said. "Every night. I'm going to sleep really good tonight. My assistant coach,
Andy Allison, always tells me that as a center you have to make your presence known when you're on the floor. I'm in the back of the defense and can see everything, and I'm just trying to do my best to help my guards out. Every day we're working with each other to try and figure out how to play with one another. I'm going to stick with what I do best and just play off my teammates."
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
Joining Savrasov and Dixon in double figures for Duquesne was Grant, who took just six shots during the game but finished with 11 points and added two rebounds and three assists. He shot 3-for-6 from the field, including 1-for-2 from beyond the arc, while going 4-for-4 at the free-throw line. Grant has scored in double figures in each of the seven games for the Dukes to open the 2023-24 season and nine consecutive contests dating back to last year, has connected for at least one three-pointer in 15 straight dating back to last season and has converted each of his last 34 opportunities at the free-throw line.
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"What was a point of emphasis was our discipline," Dambrot said. "Not taking gambles, not reaching in, not going over the back. We can't put ourselves in peril because we're playing so hard that we're jumping the passing lanes and getting back cut. The point of emphasis is we can't self-destruct, we have to make them earn everything that they get."
UP NEXT
Duquesne heads out back on the road for its next tilt, traveling to Huntington, W.Va., for a 7:00 p.m. tip against Marshall Wednesday, Dec. 6, at the Cam Henderson Center.
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