G26 | SAINT JOSEPH'S (13-12, 7-6) at DUQUESNE (17-8, 7-5)
Wed., Feb. 15, 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 (17-8, 7-5), winner of four of five, completes a three-game homestand when it welcomes high-flying Saint Joseph's (13-12, 7-6) on Wednesday, Feb. 15 at 7:00 p.m. (ESPN+).

The Hawks come to Pittsburgh having won seven of nine since suffering a 92-80 defeat at the hands of the Dukes in Philadelphia on Jan. 11.

Duquesne, which defeated St. Bonaventure 56-54 on Saturday, has opened the month of February with three-straight wins for the first time since 2001-02.

DU has never won four in a row to start February since becoming a conference member in 1976-77.

The Dukes have turned up the defense in their past three games, holding their last three opponents to 67 (at GW), 52 (George Mason) and 54 (SBU) points. The 52 and 54-point games are the two lowest by a DU opponent this year. Duquesne, which had 15 steals vs. the Bonnies, has turned 64 opponent turnovers (21.3/g.) into 86 points (+47) over that span.

The Dukes had the fourth-highest NET ranking among A-10 schools (111) through Sunday.

TRENDING

• DU's 14 home wins (14-3) are tied for fourth-most all time and two shy of the school record (16-0 in 1950 & 16-1 in 1972).
• The Dukes have forced 46 turnovers, and outscored opponents 60-23 off them, in their past two games.
• DU, which averaged 65.2 ppg. last year, is averaging 74.3 ppg. (up +9.1 ppg.). The Dukes have topped the 90-point mark five times and are 15-3 when scoring 70 or more.
• DU's assists per game average is up +5.4/g. from last year (from 10.0 to 15.4). The Dukes have assisted on 55 of their 84 field goals (65.5%) in their past three games.
• DU's .366 3-pt percentage is its best under Keith Dambrot (current best is .350 in 2017-18). The school record is .375 set in 1990.
• G Dae Dae Grant, who has scored in double digits 21 times (20+ eight times), has five games with five or more 3's. Grant, who went over the 1,500-pt. career mark on Jan. 28 at UMass, had 12 points, 7 rebounds, 4 assists and 4 steals vs. St. Bonaventure.
• G Jimmy Clark III, leads DU with a 13.2 ppg. average in A-10 play. Clark III, who has emerged as one of the most disruptive defenders in the A-10, leads the conference in steals (60) and steals/g. (2.4). His 2.40 spg. ranks 10th nationally.
• Tevin Brewer has handed out a team-high 75 assists despite missing four games due to injuries. His 2.88 assist/turnover ratio is  the best in the A-10 and ranked 14th nationally thru Sunday. Brewer needs one assist to reach the 400 career mark. Only six players who have worn the Duquesne uniform have amassed 400 or more career assists.
• Brewer (.429) and Grant (.408) rank 2nd and 7th in the A-10 in 3-point percentage through Sunday.

TOP TURNAROUNDS
Duquesne, which finished 6-24 last year, is on pace to produce the largest single-season improvement in school history:
 

YEAR-TO-YEAR	RECORDS	IMPROVED
2022 to 2023	6-24 / 17-8 current	+13.5
1967 to 1968	7-15 / 18-7	+9.5
1960 to 1961	8-15 / 15-7	+7.5
1938 to 1939*	6-11 / 14-4	+7.5
1951 to 1952	16-11 / 23-4	+7.0
1990 to 1991	7-22 / 13-15	+6.5
2007 to 2008	10-19 / 17-13	+6.5
2006 to 2007	3-24 / 10-9	+6.0
2017 to 2018	10-22 / 16-16	+6.0

* - pre-World War II

NCAA criteria to determine games improved: Add the difference in victories between the two seasons to the difference in losses, then divide by two.

DUKES AND HAWKS
Series Record: Saint Joseph's leads 42-18
At Pittsburgh: Saint Joseph's leads 16-11
At Philadelphia: Saint Joseph's leads 22-5
Neutral Site: Saint Joseph's leads 4-2
A-10 Reg. Season: Saint Joseph's leads 36-16
A-10 Championship: Saint Joseph's leads 4-1
Dambrot vs. Saint Joseph's: 4-3

• This is the 61st game in a series that dates back to Feb. 25, 1938. Saint Joseph's leads the series 42-18, including a 16-11 advantage in games played in Pittsburgh. Duquesne has won four of the past six, including the past two in Pittsbugh. DU took the first meeting this season, 92-80, in Philadelphia on Jan. 11.
• What was once a lopsided series has tightened considerably over the past 15 years. The Dukes, who lost 16 of 17 to SJU from 1994 through 2007, have won nine of the past 18 with three of the losses coming in overtime. DU has won six of the past 10 and four of seven vs. the Hawks under current coach Keith Dambrot.
• Saint Joseph's has hit its stride since dropping the Jan. 11 game to Duquesne. Since that game, the Hawks have gone 7-2 with A-10 road wins at La Salle, George Mason and Loyola Chicago. The lone road game SJU has lost since the first Dukes game was in OT at GW (91-92).
• Saint Joseph's was picked to finish 13th in the Atlantic 10 preseason poll of league coaches and media, two spots ahead of Duquesne.

LAST GAME: DUQUESNE 56, ST. BONAVENTURE 54
Feb. 11, 2023 • UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse • Pittsburgh, Pa.

• Duquesne turned 25 St. Bonaventure turnovers into 35 points in earning a split in the season series. The 25 turnovers forced were a Dambrot Era high and the 35 points off turnovers were the most by a Dambrot coached DU team.
• The Dukes, who led by six with :30 left, survived an SBU field goal that came a split second after the final buzzer. The Bonnies intentionally missed a free throw and were able to secure the ball for the final shot.
• DU's 15 steals tied the Dambrot Era high (done three previous times, last at GW last year). They were two shy of the school record (done nine times).
• The win snapped a six-game series losing streak. It was DU's first home win over the Bonnies since Jan. 16, 2016 (95-88).
• Freshman Kareem Rozier scored nine of his career-high 11 points in the first half. Rozier's previous high was 10 vs. Indiana State on Dec. 17.
• Duquesne's largest lead was 8, at 51-43 with 4:43 left ... St. Bonaventure's largest lead was 10, at 27-17 with 3:23 left in the first half ... there were four ties and three lead changes in the game ... Duquesne took the lead for good on a Tre Williams 3-pointer that made that made it 38-35 with 13:42 left ... St. Bonaventure led for 19:56 ... Duquesne led for 16:31.

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.
• 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 games.
• 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).
• This is just the fifth time since Duquesne began conference play (1976-77) that a DU team has 17 wins through its first 25 games: 1980 (17-8), 1981 (17-8), 2011 (17-8), 2020 (18-7) are the others.
• Duquesne's 66-55 win over DePaul on Dec. 14 was the program's first over a Big East school since an 86-82 home victory over West Virginia on Nov. 25, 2002.
• Eleven Dukes: Brewer, Clark III, Dixon, Grant, Gunn, Hronsky, McGriff, Reece, Rotroff, Rozier & Williams have 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).
• The Dukes did not trail in six of their wins, including a pair of road games: South Carolina State, DePaul, Winthrop, VCU, at Saint Joseph's & at GW.