GAME 2
Duquesne (0-1) vs. Princeton (1-0)
Friday, Nov. 8, 2024 | 8:30 p.m.
Trenton, N.J. | CURE Insurance Arena (8,600)
 
Stream: JerseyJam.net with Mike Gill & Dr. John Giannini
Radio: 104.7 HD2 | iHeartRadio with Ray Goss ('58) and Noah Buono ('22)
 
Game Notes | Media Center | Record Book | Watch | Listen | Live Stats
 
Opening Tip
 
- The Duquesne University men's basketball team heads to Trenton, N.J., to take part in the Deborah Heart and Lung Center Jersey Jam, presented by the Gazelle Group, Friday with an 8:30 p.m. tip against Princeton. The contest is the second game of a doubleheader at CURE Insurance Arena, as a 6:00 p.m. tip between Temple and Monmouth opens the festivities.
 
- The Dukes opened their 2024-25 season with a 77-72 setback to Lipscomb (Nov. 4) at the UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse in their first game under the guidance of head coach Dru Joyce III.
 
- Senior guard Tre Dinkins III scored 11 of his team-high 16 points in the second half off the bench as one of three players to score in double figures for the first time on the Bluff. Redshirt junior guard Maximus Edwards added 14 points and nine rebounds, while senior forward Jahsean Corbett scored 12 points and grabbed six boards.
 
- The Dukes, selected eighth in the 2024-25 Atlantic 10 Preseason Poll, return two starters from a 2023-24 squad that made history with an overall record of 25-12 (.676), claimed the 2024 Atlantic 10 Championship and first automatic bid to the NCAA Championship since 1977 and earned its first win in the NCAA Tournament since 1969.
 
- Returning as starters for Duquesne are junior forward David Dixon and sophomore guard Jake DiMichele. Dixon averaged 7.2 points per game on 54.3 percent shooting last season and averages 1.3 blocks per game during his career, while DiMichele scored at a 6.4 points per game clip as a rookie while shooting 46 percent from the floor. In all, the Dukes welcome back 32.7 percent (853-of-2,611) of their scoring, 37.2 percent (479-of-1,288) of their rebounding and 33.4 percent (166-of-497) of their assists.
 
- The 2024-25 season marks the 109th year of Duquesne basketball. The Dukes started play in 1913-14 (DU did not field a team in 1944-45-46 due to World War II).
 
- The active leading scorer for Duquesne is junior forward David Dixon, who has scored 389 points since the beginning of the 2022-23 season. Junior guard Kareem Rozier, meanwhile, has scored 325 career points on the Bluff.
 
- In three seasons with the Dukes, Rozier has handed out 157 assists against 63 turnovers, an assist-to-turnover ratio of 2.49.  
 
- Senior wing Jahsean Corbett entered the 2024-25 campaign with career totals of 1,303 points and 725 rebounds, tops among student-athletes on the roster. Over three seasons at Chicago State, Corbett posted 71 double-figure scoring games, including 18 efforts of at least 20 points, and 19 double-doubles.
 
- Redshirt junior guard Maximus Edwards, a transfer from George Washington, was named the 2023 Atlantic 10 Rookie of the Year in a vote of league head coaches. In his first season on the Bluff, Edwards carried career totals of 722 points and 413 rebounds into the 2024-25 season. In his Duquesne debut against Lipscomb he finished a rebound shy (14-9) of a double-double.
 
- Duquesne should also get a boost from senior guard Tre Dinkins III, who connected for 118 three-pointers over two seasons at Canisius. Dinkins owns 685 career points after leading the Dukes with 16 points off the bench in the 2024-25 season opener against Lipscomb at the UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse.
 
- Duquesne will travel to Chicago, Ill., for its first true road game of the year after taking on the Tigers with a 9:00 p.m. tip against DePaul at Wintrust Arena Friday, Nov. 15.
 
At The Helm – Dru Joyce III was named the 18th head coach in the 109-year history of Duquesne basketball March 28, 2024. Joyce III, a native of Akron, Ohio, spent two seasons as associate head coach for the Dukes under Keith Dambrot from 2022 to 2024, helping guide Duquesne to an overall record of 45-25 (.643), including a 20-16 (.556) mark in the Atlantic 10, during that span. The Dukes made an appearance in the 2023 College Basketball Invitational (CBI) before earning the automatic bid for the A-10 in the 2024 NCAA Championship by winning four games in five days en route to the 2024 Atlantic 10 Championship crown in Brooklyn, N.Y., at the Barclays Center. Duquesne, as a No. 11 seed, made its first appearance in the NCAA Tournament since 1977 and earned its first victory in the championship since 1969 thanks to a 71-67 win over No. 6 seed BYU in Omaha, Neb., at CHI Health Center Arena. 
 
Scouting the Tigers – Ivy League member ... located in Princeton, N.J. ... The Tigers lead the all-time series, 3-2, after a 70-67 win last season at UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse ... Friday night's game marks the third in the all-time series at a neutral site and the first since the Holiday Festival at Madison Square Garden Dec. 27, 1973, a 72-62 win for Princeton ... In last season's game, former guard Dae Dae Grant buried a pair of free throws with 1:16 remaining to pull Duquesne to within 68-67, setting up a frantic final minute of regulation ... A trio of turnovers, including two by the Tigers, led to former guard Jimmy Clark III feeding former forward Fousseyni Drame on the low block, but his floater was off the mark ... Xaivian Lee, who scored 20 points for Princeton, would seal the victory with 0.4 ticks left with a pair of free throws ... The Dukes were led by Clark III (17) and Grant (16) ... Princeton shot 54 percent (27-for-50) from the field in the victory.
 
Lipscomb Leftovers – The Bisons tied the all-time series, 1-1, with the victory ... Forward Jacob Ognacevic, who missed the 2023-24 season due to injury, scored a career-high 30 points to lead Lipscomb and also registered a double-double with 10 rebounds ... Duquesne dropped its first season-opening game at home since 2005-06, a 64-56 loss to Arkansas-Pine Bluff (Nov. 22, 2005) … Lipscomb converted 52.1 percent (25-of-48) of its shots from the field … The Dukes finished 28-of-62 (45.2%) from the floor but were 4-of-13 (30.8%) from the free-throw line in the first half and converted 52.6 percent (10-of-19) overall at the chalk ... Led by Tre Dinkins III with 16 points off the bench in Duquesne's season opener against Lipscomb, the reserves for the Dukes outscored the bench for the Bisons, 36-6 ... Duquesne exceeded 36 points from its bench just twice last season, including 46 in a win over Cleary and 41 in a victory over Chicago State, both at the UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse ... The reserves for the Dukes shot 60 percent (15-for-25) from the field, including 5-for-11 (45.5%) from deep. 
 
What Was Lost ... At the conclusion of the 2023-24 season, the seven players that wrapped up their NCAA Division I career for the Dukes combined for an amazing 346 double-figure scoring games. Included in that was 117 from former guard Dae Dae Grant (56 with the Dukes) and 54 for former guard Jimmy Clark III, all of which came on the Bluff.   
 
... And What Was Gained – In the day and age of the NCAA Transfer Portal, it's reload instead of rebuild. Duquesne welcomed a total of 199 double-figure scoring games from the student-athletes that transferred in as part of the first recruiting class for head coach Dru Joyce III. In addition to the 71 over the last three years from wing Jahsean Corbett, junior guard Maximus Edwards posted 40 double-figure scoring games over two seasons at George Washington and senior guard Tre Dinkins III scored at least 10 points on 33 occasions in two years at Canisius.
 
Offensive Spark – Each of the three double-figure scorers for the Dukes in their 2024-25 season opener against Lipscomb are newcomers who played their first game in a Duquesne uniform. Guard Tre Dinkins III scored a team-high 16 points off the bench, while guard Maximus Edwards added 14 and forward Jahsean Corbett 12. Combined, the five newcomers that made their debut in a Duquesne uniform against the Bisons produced 69.4 percent (50-of-72) of the offensive output for the Dukes.
 
Paint By Numbers – Duquesne did a solid job attacking the basket in its 2024-25 season opener against Lipscomb, outscoring the Bisons, 38-30, in points in the paint. To put that into perspective, the Dukes exceeded that number just four times during the 2023-24 season, finishing 4-0 when scoring at least 40 points in the paint in a game. Duquesne has also won seven consecutive games dating back to the beginning of the 2022-23 campaign when compiling at least 40 points in the lane. A big spark came courtesy of sophomore forward Eli Wilborn, who scored eight points and grabbed three rebounds in just over 10 minutes of action but battled foul trouble with four.
 
FOLLOW THE DUKES
For the latest news and information on Duquesne men's basketball, follow the Dukes on X and Instagram.
 
Tweet #GoDukes