GAME 10
Bradley (6-4) vs. Duquesne (7-2)
Monday, Dec. 18, 2023 | 7:00 p.m.
Akron, Ohio | Coach Dru Joyce Court at Lebron James Arena (1,800)
 
Stream: None
Radio: 104.7 HD2 / iHeartRadio with Ray Goss ('58) & Jarrett Durham ('71)
 
Game Notes | Record Book | Media Center | TV/Radio Spotter Chart | Live Stats | Listen
 
Opening Tip
 
- The Duquesne University men's basketball team heads to Akron, Ohio, to take on Bradley at Coach Dru Joyce Court at Lebron James Arena Monday, Dec. 18, for a 7:00 p.m. tip in search of its fourth consecutive win.
 
- Monday marks the fifth time the Dukes are playing a neutral site game in Akron, Ohio, under seventh-year head coach Keith Dambrot, who led St. Vincent-St. Mary, and a young freshman/sophomore Lebron James plus current associate head coach Dru Joyce III, to back-to-back Ohio state titles in 2000 and 2001.
 
- The Dukes are 4-0 in games played in Akron, Ohio, with a pair of wins over Radford (2018, 2019) and victories over UC Irvine (2021) and Colgate (2022).
 
- In its last outing, Duquesne earned a 68-59 triumph over Saint Peter's as guard Dae Dae Grant scored 19 points on the strength of a 10-for-10 performance at the free-throw line.
 
- Senior guard Jimmy Clark III added 12 points, four rebounds and five assists and also tied a career high with six steals in the win over the Peacocks, while forward Fousseyni Drame finished with 11 points, seven rebounds and a pair of steals off the bench.
 
- Grant, who has scored in double figures in each of Duquesne's nine games this season and 11 consecutive dating back to last season, ranks second in the Atlantic 10 in scoring (19.0 ppg) as the Dukes also rank fourth as a team in the conference with a scoring offense of 77.3 points per game.
 
- Forward Tre Williams is 61 points shy of 1,000 for his career and is one of four Dukes that could eclipse the plateau this season. Twins Fousseyni Drame and Hassan Drame own career totals of 974 and 744 career points, respectively, while forward Andrei Savrasov has scored 926 career points.
 
- Guard Dae Dae Grant looks to score 1,000 points in two seasons with the Dukes after pacing Duquesne last year with 511 points, an average of 15.5 per contest. Grant has scored 1,853 points at the NCAA Division I level. He is also 147 points shy of 2,000 for his career.
 
- Guard Jimmy Clark III scored 404 points in his first season at Duquesne last season and owns 682 career points entering Monday's game against Bradley. Clark III also needs 49 steals to crack the top 10 in program history for thefts, as Andy Sisinni (1981-84) currently ranks 10th with 148.
 
- When holding opponents to less than 70 points under head coach Keith Dambrot, Duquesne has posted a record of 60-16 (.789), including a 4-0 mark during the 2023-24 season.
 
- Duquesne will compete in its second consecutive game at a neutral site after taking on Bradley Monday, traveling to Las Vegas, Nev., Saturday, Dec. 23, for a 5:00 p.m. ET tip against Santa Clara at Orleans Arena.
 
Scouting the Braves – Located in Peoria, Ill., and a member of the Missouri Valley Conference (MVC), Duquesne and Bradley meet for the ninth time in the all-time series Monday, with seven of the previous eight meetings have occurred between 1939 and 1963. The Dukes, who have won four consecutive games over the Braves and own a 6-2 (.750) edge in the series, last played Bradley as part of the 2021 Paradise Jam in the Virgin Islands. Leon Ayers III came off the bench to lead five players in double figures with 23 points in a 78-70 victory in Duquesne's final game of the Paradise Jam. Forward Tre Williams finished with 15 points and three blocks in the win, including three-point plays on back-to-back possessions in the second half to help keep the Braves at bay.
 
Head Coach Keith Dambrot (Seventh Year at Duquesne | 26th Year Overall) – Keith Dambrot, who built Akron into one of the most successful - and most respected - programs in the Mid-American Conference over 13 seasons, was named head men's basketball coach at Duquesne University on March 28, 2017. The veteran coach wasted no time making an impact on the DU program with 65 wins in his first four seasons. His 98 wins already rank fifth on the all-time victory list for the Dukes and his two 20-win seasons - in just six years - are tied for the third-most in program history. Dambrot reached a significant career milestone on Feb. 8, 2023 when he posted his 500th career victory with a 75-52 triumph over George Mason. Dambrot owns an overall record of 510-295 (.633) during his career as a head coach, and his father, Sid, was part of Duquesne teams that finished ranked in the Associated Press Top 10 in 1952 (No. 4), 1953 (No. 9) and 1954 (No. 5). The 1954 team, which went 26-3, made it to No. 1 in the AP poll for two weeks in February of 1954. The Dukes played in both the NCAA tournament and NIT in 1952 and the NIT in both 1953 and 1954.
 
Saint Peter's Leftovers – The Dukes improved to 6-1 (.857) all-time against Saint Peter's in the first game in the all-time series since 1980 ... The Peacocks matched season lows by a Duquesne opponent with 21 field goals (Rider) as well as 50 field goal attempts (Princeton) ... The Dukes improved to 4-0 this season when holding opponents to under 70 points and have won nine consecutive games when turning the trick dating to last year ...  Each team finished with seven blocks, with the Peacocks recording a season-high by an opponent ... Duquesne held a 36-31 cushion in rebounding, including an 11-8 advantage in offensive boards ...The Dukes owned a 28-24 edge in points in the paint, while Saint Peter's posted a 29-25 edge in bench points ... Armoni Ziegler scored 10 points and dished out a game-high six assists for the Peacocks.
 
Statistical Space Oddity – St. Vincent-St. Mary High School retired No. 23, worn by Lebron James during his time as a student-athlete with the Fighting Irish, in February of 2003. Duquesne, which takes on Bradley Monday at Coach Dru Joyce Court at Lebron James Arena, enters the game with sophomore David Dixon leading the Dukes in blocks (23), senior guard Jimmy Clark III pacing the squad in steals (23) and senior guard Dae Dae Grant owning a team-high 23 three-pointers. Wearing jersey No. 23 for Duquesne Monday is forward Andrei Savrasov, who averages 20.3 minutes per game.
 
The Line Dance – Senior guard Dae Dae Grant garnered game-high honors in scoring in a 68-59 victory over Saint Peter's with 19 points. He finished 10-for-10 at the free-throw line in the win, posting the most free throws without a miss by a student-athlete in seven years under head coach Keith Dambrot. Grant, who has been successful on 53 of his last 54 trips to the stripe and is 58-for-62 (93.5%) this season, is tied for 12th in NCAA Division I in free-throw percentage as well tied for 13th for total free throws.
 
More Chalk Talk – The early season performance for senior guard Dae Dae Grant at the free-throw line has him in position to challenge a pair of records at Duquesne. In two seasons with the Dukes, Grant owns a success rate of 89.6 percent (147-for-164) at the stripe. The career record of 87.7 percent (342-for-390) is owned by Rick Suder, who established the record from 1983 to 1986. Suder also owns each of the top two marks in the Duquesne single-season record book, having shot 88.5 percent (139-for-157) as a junior in 1984-85 before bettering that mark at 91.8 percent (135-for-147) the following year as a senior. In five years at the NCAA Division I level, Grant has shot 83.9 percent (323-for-385) at the free-throw line. 
 
Diamond Dave – Looking to take the next step as a key contributor on the low block for Duquesne, sophomore forward David Dixon is cementing his role as one of the top options off the bench on both ends of the floor for the Dukes. Dixon has been especially effective protecting the rim, as he matched a career high for the second consecutive home game with five blocks in a 68-59 win over Saint Peter's. Owning at least one block in each of Duquesne's nine games this season, Dixon ranks third in the Atlantic 10 with an average of 2.56 rejections per contest, an average that is also tied for 10th in NCAA Division I. Dixon enters Monday's game against Bradley having shot 58.3 percent (14-for-24) from the field in his last five games and leads the Dukes in dunks (8).
 
Did You Know? Senior Dae Dae Grant, who has hit at least one three-pointer in 17 consecutive games dating back to last season, has drained 117 triples in 42 career games at Duquesne, an average of 2.79 per contest. Grant is 17 three-pointers shy of cracking the top 10 in program history in the category, as former guard Jimmy Tricco (2002-04) sits 10th in three-point field goals with 134.
 
FOLLOW THE DUKES
For the latest news and information on Duquesne men's basketball, follow the Dukes on Twitter (X) and Instagram.

Tweet #GoDukes