GAME 19
Fordham (9-10 | 3-3 A-10) vs. Duquesne (10-8 | 1-5 A-10)
Saturday, Jan. 27, 2024 | 12:30 p.m.
Pittsburgh, Pa. | UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse (3,500)
 
TV: USA Network with Mike Corey & Tim McCormick
Radio: 104.7 HD2 / iHeartRadio with Ray Goss ('58) & Jarrett Durham ('71)
 
Game Notes | Record Book | Media Center | TV/Radio Spotter Chart | Watch | Listen | Live Stats
 
Opening Tip
 
- The Duquesne University men's basketball team continues a three-game homestand at the UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse Saturday, Jan. 27, with a 12:30 tip against Fordham.
 
- The Dukes snapped a five-game losing streak in their last outing, a 54-50 win over St. Bonaventure that opened their homestand. Senior guard Jimmy Clark III led a balanced effort offensively against the Bonnies with nine points as Duquesne failed to have a player score in double figures in a game for the first time since 2015. Clark III added three assists, three steals and a pair of blocks in the win.
 
- Forward Fousseyni Drame contributed eight points and seven rebounds against St. Bonaventure, while guards Kareem Rozier and Jake DiMichele each scored seven points.
 
- Four of the first six Atlantic 10 games for Duquesne have been decided by five points or less, and overall this season the Dukes are 4-4 (.500) in such occurrences.
 
- Forward Fousseyni Drame reached the 1,000-point plateau at Saint Joseph's thanks to a free throw with 47 seconds remaining in the first half and contributed nine points and four rebounds against the Hawks. Drame enters Saturday's game with 1,016 career points.
 
- Forward Tre Williams has scored 967 career points at the NCAA Division I level and is 33 shy of reaching the 1,000-point threshold. Forward Andrei Savrasov is also within striking distance of 1,000 career points with 958, including 107 this year with the Dukes.
 
- Guard Dae Dae Grant has missed the last three games for Duquesne, snapping a streak of 48 consecutive games and starts for the Dukes. Guard Jimmy Clark III now owns the longest streak for consecutive games (51) and starts (38).
 
- Duquesne is 63-17 (.788) under Keith Dambrot when holding opponents to less than 70 points, including 7-1 (.875) this year.
 
- Duquesne concludes its homestand, and its 2023-24 non-conference slate, after hosting the Rams Wednesday, Jan. 31, with a 7:00 p.m. tip against Chicago State. 
 
Scouting the Rams – Saturday marks the 49th game in an all-time series that dates to Dec. 22, 1949. Duquesne leads 28-20 (.583). The Dukes won six consecutive games in the series before Fordham earned a 72-71 win at Rose Hill Gym in January of 2022. The six-game win streak matched the longest by either team in the series. Since then, the Rams have won four straight. Seven of the past 10 meetings between the two programs have been single-digit affairs, with three of the past eight decided by three points or less. This is the eighth consecutive season the two are playing home-and-home during the regular season. The two split the series in 2017 & 2018 prior to DU sweeps in 2019, 2020 & 2021. Fordham has swept the series each of the last two years. Duquesne is 21-17 (.553) against the Rams in Atlantic 10 regular-season play, while Keith Dambrot is 7-5 (.583) against Fordham, with all 12 meetings coming as head coach of the Dukes.
 
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. He became just the fourth head coach in program history to reach 100 victories thanks to a 95-47 win over Cleary, 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 Feb. 8, 2023, when he posted his 500th career victory with a 75-52 triumph over George Mason. Dambrot owns an overall record of 514-301 (.631) 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.
 
St. Bonaventure Leftovers – The Dukes picked up their second consecutive win in the all-time series, with the Bonnies owning the overall lead, 70-62 (.530) ... The loser in eight of the last 11 meetings, including each of the last six decisions, has failed to score 60 points ... Duquesne owns more Atlantic 10 wins (34) over SBU than any other program ... Charles Pride garnered game-high honors in scoring with 14 points for the Bonnies, while Assa Essamvous posted 12 points, eight boards and two steals ... The Dukes failed to have a scorer reach double figures for the first time since 2015 ... The 15 points in the first half for St. Bonaventure matched the lowest total by an opponent in seven years under head coach Keith Dambrot ... The Dukes also held Fordham to just 15 points in the second half of a 64-41 win at Fordham Jan. 6, 2018.  
 
Lockdown – Thanks to a 54-50 win over St. Bonaventure, Duquesne improved to 30-1 (.968) in seven seasons under head coach Keith Dambrot when holding an opponent under 60 points, including 22 consecutive wins dating back to 2019. Ironically, the only loss for the Dukes under Dambrot when holding an opponent to less than 60 points came against the Bonnies, a 51-49 setback at the A.J. Palumbo Center Feb. 6, 2019. It was a virtuoso defensive performance that helped Duquense pick up its first Atlantic 10 win of the season, as St. Bonaventure shot just 27.1 percent (18-for-59) from the field, including 15.4 percent (2-for-13) from beyond the arc. The field goal percentage by the Bonnies is the lowest by an opponent during the Dambrot era at Duquesne.
 
Did You Know? The Dukes are 5-0 this season when first to reach 70 points against an opponent and have won 24 consecutive games when turning the trick. In seven seasons under head coach Keith Dambrot, Duquesne is 68-7 (.907) when hitting the 70-point plateau first. However, the Dukes have failed to score 70 points in any of their Atlantic 10 games so far this season.
 
Group Effort – Forward Tre Williams is one of eight different players for the Dukes in 18 games this season to lead the team in rebounding, as he tied for game-high honors with a season-high eight caroms in a 54-50 win over St. Bonaventure. Of his eight boards, three were of the offensive variety, and he also scored six points for Duquesne in the victory. Forward Fousseyni Drame owns the most games pacing the Dukes on the glass with seven. Williams, meanwhile, is eight rebounds shy of 600 for his NCAA Division I career, 317 of which have come at Duquesne.   
 
Chalk Talk – Senior guard Dae Dae Grant has proven to be adept at the free-throw line during his career, and those numbers have only been amplified in his two seasons at Duquesne. Having established a new program record for consecutive free throws (43) made this year, Grant converted his first five free throws in the Atlantic 10 opener for the Dukes at Massachusetts before missing his final opportunity of the contest, snapping a  streak of 29 consecutive free throws. Since the season opener against Cleveland State, where he hit his final three free throws as part of an 8-for-11 performance, Grant has converted 77 of his last 79 chances (97.5%) at the line. Among A-10 leaders at the stripe, Grant leads the conference at 94.3 percent (82-for-87), a success rate that also ranks third in NCAA Division I. 
 
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