G30 | UMASS (14-14, 5-11) at DUQUESNE (19-10, 9-7)
Wed., Mar. 1, 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 (19-10, 9-7), which saw its four-game home win streak snapped in a 71-67 Senior Day defeat at the hands of Davidson on Sunday, plays its final regular season home game vs. Massachusetts (14-14, 5-11) on Wednesday, Mar. 1 at 7:00 p.m. (ESPN+).

The Dukes, who are in the hunt for an Atlantic 10 Championship double bye, began the week in a three-way tie for fifth in the conference standings.

DU is looking to avenge an 87-79 defeat at UMass on Jan. 28. Duquesne enters Wednesday's game with the chance to: secure the program's third 20-win season in the past 42 years (21-9 under head coach Keith Dambrot in 2020 and 21-13 under Ron Everhart in 2009), win 10 conference games for the first time since 2019 (third time under Dambrot and sixth time in program history), clinch a winning A-10 season for the eighth time in program history (Dambrot already owns two) and tie the school record for home wins (set at 16-0 in 1950 and tied at 16-1 in 1972).

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

TRENDING

• DU, which averaged 65.2 ppg. last year, is averaging 75.0 ppg. (up +9.8 ppg.). The Dukes have topped the 90-point mark six times and are 17-4 when scoring 70 or more.
• Duquesne, which has the third-highest scoring average in conference games only (73.8 ppg.), does not have a player ranked among the top 19 in individual scoring in A-10 games only. (Dae Dae Grant is 20th at 13.6 ppg.)
• DU's .372 3-point percentage leads the A-10 and is its best under Keith Dambrot (current best is .350 in 2017-18). The school record is .375 set in 1990. The Dukes are averaging an A-10 best 9.1 3-pointers/g.
• Four Dukes: Dae Dae Grant (vs. North Florida & UCSB), Jimmy Clark III (vs. VCU), R.J. Gunn Jr. (at Saint Joseph's) & Joe Reece (at La Salle) have scored 26 points in a game this season.
• G Jimmy Clark III, who has emerged as one of the most disruptive defenders in the A-10, leads the conference in steals (64) and is second in steals/g. (2.2). His 2.21 spg. ranked tied for 19th nationally (thru Sun).
• G Dae Dae Grant's 10 20-point games are the most by a Duke since Micah Mason scored 20 or more 15 times in 2016. Grant, who posted his first career double-double at UMass on Jan. 28 (23-10), has scored 20 or more in two of DU's past three games. Grant is 10-of-20 from 3-point in his past three games.
• Tevin Brewer is 16-of-29 (.552) from 3-point in his past seven games. Brewer is second in the A-10 at .462 from the arc.
• Brewer (.462) and Grant (.410) rank 2nd and 6th in the A-10 in 3-point pct. thru Sun.
• The Dukes are 8-3 when making 10 or more 3-pointers, 19-1 when leading with 5:00 left and 15-3 when leading at the half.

DUKES AND MINUTEMEN
Series Record: UMass leads 42-28
At Pittsburgh: Duquesne leads 16-14
At Amherst/Springfield: UMass leads *25-8
Neutral Site: UMass leads 4-3
A-10 Regular Season: UMass leads 36-22
A-10 Championship: Tied 5-5
Dambrot vs. UMass/at Duquesne: 2-4/2-3
* - includes A-10 Tournament first round game in 2012

• This is the 71st game in a series that dates back to Jan. 11, 1975. Massachusetts leads the series 41-29. In games played in Pittsburgh, Duquesne leads 16-14. The two have split the past six meetings.
• The Minutemen won the first meeting this season by an 87-79 score in Amherst, Mass. on Jan. 28. Dae Dae Grant posted his first career double-double (23-10) and Jimmy Clark III added 21 points and six steals for the Dukes.
• Danny Nee's Dukes snapped a 16-game series losing streak (dating back to 1991) with a 78-69 win over the Minutemen on February 6, 2002 at the Palumbo Center. Since then, UMass has won 14 and Duquesne 10.
• UMass, which was picked to finish 8th in the A-10 preseason poll, is in its first season under head coach Frank Martin. The Minutemen have been idle since a 72-54 home loss to Dayton on Feb. 22. UMass is 3-7 on the road, including a 1-7 mark in A-10 play, with the win coming at Rhode Island by a 69-45 score on Feb. 18.

WORTH NOTING

• It took the 2022-23 Dukes - with a roster that features 10 newcomers (five transfers & five freshmen) - eight games to exceed last year's win total (6-24). The Dukes opened 7-1.
• DU, which tripled last season's win total (6-24) with its Feb. 15 victory over Saint Joseph's, is on pace for the biggest one season turnaround in school history. Head coach Keith Dambrot has masterminded the turnaround with a roster that ranks 340th in continuity (a measurement of players who played last season vs. those playing this season) per KenPom.
• 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 five 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).
• DU opened the month of February with four-straight wins for the first time since the 1970-71 NCAA Tournament team (21-4, No. 15 AP), started February with seven wins in a row.
• This is just the fourth time since Duquesne began conference play (1976-77) that a DU team has 19 wins through its first 29 games. Three of the four have come under Keith Dambrot: this year, 21-8 in 2020 & 19-10 in 2019. The other was in 1981 (20-9) when the Dukes were conference regular season co-Champions.
• DU's 15 home wins (15-3) are tied for third-most all time and one shy of the school record (16-0 in 1950 & 16-1 in 1972).
• Duquesne's top seven scorers are transfers: Dae Dae Grant (Miami, Ohio), Jimmy Clark III (NW Fla. College), R.J. Gunn (Lenoir-Rhyne), Joe Reece (Bowling Green), Tre Williams (Indiana State), Tevin Brewer (FIU) and Quincy McGriff (Salt Lake CC).
• The Dukes did not trail in seven of their wins, including four times in A-10 play: South Carolina State, DePaul, Winthrop, VCU, at Saint Joseph's, at GW & vs. Saint Joe's.

LAST GAME: DAVIDSON 71, DUQUESNE 67
Feb. 26, 2023 • UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse • Pittsburgh, Pa.

• Duquesne cut a 16-point second half deficit to one with 1:35 left, but couldn't close the gap in falling to Davidson.
• Jimmy Clark III had a potential game-tying 3-pointer rim out with :07 left.
• Dae Dae Grant led the Dukes with 20 points. Clark III scored 14 of his 15 points in the final 5:42 to key the comeback.
• Davidson outshot the Dukes .549 to .455.
• The Dukes, who went 1-of-11 from 3-point in trailing 26-22 at the half, hit 8-of-13 from the arc in the second 20 minutes to get back in it.
• Duquesne assisted on 14 of its 25 field goals.
• Duquesne's largest lead was two, the last of which came at 8-6, with 14:07 left in the first half ... Davidson's largest lead was 16, at 38-22 with 17:53 left ... there were four ties and three lead changes in the game ... Davidson took the lead for good on a Grant Huffman bucket with 9:05 left in the first half ... Davidson led for 32:19 ... Duquesne led for 1:31.