G24 | GEORGE MASON (13-11, 5-6) at DUQUESNE (15-8, 5-5)
Wed., Feb. 8, 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 (15-8, 5-5) opens a three-game homestand when it welcomes George Mason (13-11, 5-6) to UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse on Wednesday, Feb. 8 at 7:00 p.m. (ESPN+).

This is the first game between the Dukes and Patriots since an 81-78 DU "home" win at Robert Morris' UPMC Events Center on Feb. 29, 2020, as scheduled games between the two were canceled in each of the past two seasons for pandemic-related reasons.

Duquesne secured head coach Keith Dambrot's 499th career victory at GW (93-67) on Saturday. Dae Dae Grant led four Dukes in double figures with 18 points, as the Dukes rode a 28-0 first half run to victory.

Mason, picked to finish fifth in the A-10 preseason poll, is coming off a 69-61 loss at Loyola Chicago on Saturday.

The Patriots are 1-6 on the road (1-4 in conference play) under second-year head coach Kim English.

Duquesne follows the Mason game with a national TV "Red Out" match-up with vs. St. Bonaventure at 12:30 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 11 (USA TV), and a game vs. Saint Joseph's on Feb. 15. The SBU and SJU games both complete home-and-homes.

Duquesne had the fourth-highest NET rank among A-10 schools (121) through Sunday's games.

TRENDING

• DU, which had its complete regular roster rotation intact for the first time on Dec. 28 at Dayton (game No. 14), has had all of its key rotation players available for just four of its 23 games.
• 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 five times and are 14-3 when scoring 70 or more.
• DU's assists per game average is up +5.3/g. from last year (from 10.0 to 15.3).
• DU's .372 3-pt percentage is its best under Keith Dambrot (current best is .350 in 2017-18). The school record is .375 set in 1990. The Dukes are shooting .376 from the arc in A-10 play. DU broke out of a 25-of-91 four-game slump with a 17-32 performance from the arc at GW. The 17 makes were one shy of the school record.
• G Dae Dae Grant, who has scored in double digits 19 times (20+ seven 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, scored a game-high 18 at GW.
• G Jimmy Clark III, leads DU with a 14.1 ppg. average in A-10 play. Clark III leads the A-10 in steals (53) and steals per game (2.3). His 2.30 spg. ranks 13th nationally.
• Tevin Brewer has handed out a team-high 72 assists despite missing four games due to injuries. His 3.13 assist/turnover ratio is  the best in the A-10 and ranked 6th nationally thru Sunday. Brewer needs four assists to reach the 400 career mark. Only six players who have worn the Duquesne uniform have amassed 400 or more career assists.
• Grad student R.J. Gunn is averaging 11.2 ppg. and shooting .451 (23-of-51) from 3-pt in A-10 play. He went over the 1,300-career point mark at UMass.
•  Freshman Kareem Rozier has come off the bench to hand out 46 assists with 14 turnovers. When combined with Tevin Brewer, DU has 120 assists and 38 turnovers (3.16 A/TO ratio) from the PG spot.

EXPL"O"SIVE
The Dukes have put together a number of impressive offensive displays this season, three of which have come on the road in Atlantic 10 play:

DECEMBER 21 vs. WINTHROP
DU jumped out to a 20-0 lead (and led 29-2) in its 74-57 win over Winthrop. The 20-point run was the best by a Dambrot-coached Dukes team until Feb. 4.

JANUARY 7 at RICHMOND
Duquesne hit 12-straight shots, nine of which were 3-pointers, in a 7:27 span of the first half. Six different players hit "3s" as DU scored 34 points over that stretch. (see page 9 for a complete breakdown.)

JANUARY 11 at SAINT JOSEPH'S
The Dukes score 60 in the first half (led 60-44) a 92-80 win. The 60 points were the most in any half under Keith Dambrot and most in a first half by any DU team since a 63-point outburst in the first half of a 120-75 win over Marshall on Dec. 5, 1969.

FEBRUARY 4 at GEORGE WASHINGTON
Duquesne went 10-of-13 (with five 3-pointers) during a 28-0 run in just over nine minutes of the first half (10:48 to 1:36) in building its lead from 19-17 to 47-17. DU's 30-point halftime margin (50-20) was the program's largest ever in an A-10 game.

DUKES AND PATRIOTS
Series Record: Duquesne leads 8-6
At Pittsburgh: Duquesne leads 4-3
At Fairfax: Duquesne leads 4-3
Neutral Site: 0-0
A-10 Regular Season: Duquesne leads 6-2
A-10 Championship: 0-0
Dambrot vs. George Mason: 3-0

• This is the 15th meeting in a young series that dates to New Year's Eve of 2001. DU leads the series 8-6, with a 4-3 edge in both Fairfax, Va. and Pittsburgh. This is the ninth meeting between the two as members of the Atlantic 10. Duquesne leads 6-2 in A-10 regular season games.
• Duquesne has won seven of the past nine meetings, including the past three in Pittsburgh. The last two scheduled games between the two - Feb. 17, 2021 at George Mason and Jan. 2, 2022 at Duquesne - were both postponed for pandemic-related reasons. Neither game was rescheduled.
• Mason, which is 1-6 on the road (1-4 /A-10), is led by 2022 First Team All-Atlantic 10 forward Josh Oduro (15.0, 8.0). The 6-9, 235-pounder is just the fourth player in school history with 1,200 career points, 600 rebounds, 100 blocks and 100 assists.
• DU head coach Keith Dambrot is 3-0 all-time vs. George Mason.

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.
• 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).
• It was also the fourth time in six seasons under Keith Dambrot that DU opened 13-5 or better (13-5 in 2018, 2019 & 2023 and 15-3 in 2020). In the 45 years prior to Dambrot's arrival, the Dukes opened a season 13-5 or better three times.
• Duquesne's 66-55 win over DePaul on Dec. 14 was the program's first over a Big East school since an 86-82 victory over West Virginia on Nov. 25, 2002 at A.J. Palumbo Center. The margin of victory was DU's largest over a Power 6 school since a 78-52 win over Penn State (Big Ten) at CONSOL Energy Center on Nov. 20, 2015 (under Jim Ferry).
• 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 15 wins, including a pair of road games: South Carolina State, DePaul, Winthrop, VCU, at Saint Joseph's & at GW.

LAST GAME: DUQUESNE 93, GEORGE WASHINGTON 67
Feb. 4, 2023 • Smith Center • Washington, D.C.

• Duquesne used a game-changing 28-0 first half run to put away GW in Washington, D.C. The run - which spanned from 10:48 to 1:36 of the first half (9:12 total) - was its largest under Keith Dambrot, replacing a game-opening 20-0 run earlier this season vs. Winthrop.
• Dae Dae Grant led four Dukes in double figures with 18 points - 11 of which came during the 28-0 outburst.
• Quincy McGriff scored 14 of his career-high 17 points in the second half. McGriff tied his career high - set earlier this season vs. Winthrop - with five 3-pointers (5-of-8).
• The 26-point margin of victory was DU's largest in an Atlantic 10 road game. The previous best was a 24-point win at Fordham (86-62) on Jan. 27, 2021.
• Duquesne's 30-point halftime lead (50-20) was its seventh-largest in the post-WWII Era. It was the largest ever in an A-10 game and largest since a 53-16 (+37) halftime lead over Delaware State by Dambrot's Dukes on Dec. 9, 2017.
• The win snapped a three-game GW series win streak. Dambrot is now 7-4 vs. the Colonials at Duquesne.
• Joe Reece's five assists tied his career high set in 2020 vs. Florida Atlantic when Reece was at Old Dominion.
• Duquesne's largest lead 37, the last of which came at 64-27 with 14:30 left. George Washington never led. Duquesne led for 39:06.