GAME 14
Rhode Island (11-1 | 0-0 Atlantic 10) vs. Duquesne (5-8 | 0-0 Atlantic 10)
Tuesday, Dec. 31, 2024 | 2:00 p.m.
Pittsburgh, Pa. | UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse (3,500)
 
Stream: ESPN+ with Tim Benz & Ellis Cannon
Radio: 104.7 HD2 | iHeartRadio with Ray Goss ('58) & Noah Buono ('22)
 
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Opening Tip
 
- The Duquesne University men's basketball team wraps up a three-game homestand Tuesday by opening Atlantic 10 play with a 2:00 p.m. tip against Rhode Island at the UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse.
 
- The Dukes, winners of three consecutive games and five of their last seven, are coming off a 93-45 win over Cleary (Dec. 27) that concluded the non-conference portion of the schedule.
 
- Forward Jakub Necas led five players in double figures against the Cougars with a career-high 15 points while also grabbing five rebounds and dishing out two assists. Off the bench, forward Eli Wilborn was perfect from the field (6-for-6) en route to his first double-figure scoring game in a Duquesne uniform with 14 points while adding six boards and three blocks.
 
- Redshirt junior guard Cam Crawford added 12 points in the win over Cleary, while forward Jahsean Corbett and guard Kareem Rozier each scored 10. Corbett and Rozier, along with senior guard Tre Dinkins III, each finished with six assists in the win over Cleary as the Dukes posted a season-high 28 dimes on 38 field goals.
 
- Duquesne also converted 61.3 percent (38-for-62) of its shots from the field in the win over the Cougars and for the second straight game held its opponent without a double-figure scorer.
 
- 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). Duquesne, which has posted back-to-back 20-win seasons for the first time since 1971 & 1972, is looking to record three consecutive 20-win campaigns for the first time since finishing with four straight 20-win seasons from 1952 to 1955. The Dukes are also nine wins shy of 1,500 as an NCAA program.
 
- The leading active scorer for the Dukes is senior forward Jahsean Corbett, who owns career totals of 1,424 points and 796 rebounds. Corbett amassed totals of 1,303 points and 725 rebounds in three seasons at Chicago State prior to transferring to Duquesne. 
 
- The Dukes are 4-2 (.667) during the month of December, holding foes to 55.8 points per game during that span, as they close out the 2024 calendar year against the Rams. Duquesne will travel to Davidson Saturday, Jan. 4, for a 2:00 p.m. tip in its first Atlantic 10 road game of the season after hosting URI.
 
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 Rams – Duquesne and Rhode Island tip for the 67th time in the all-time series Tuesday, with the Rams owning a 36-30 (.545) edge. The series dates back to Jan. 13, 1966, and the Dukes have won four straight over URI at home. In the lone meeting between Rhode Island and Duquesne last season, the Dukes converted a season-high 14 three-pointers and shot 51.9 (14-for-27) from deep in earning an 85-71 win. The Rams used an 11-0 run to close to within 63-55 with 8:50 remaining, but Duquesne answered with a 10-3 surge to extend the advantage to 73-58. Last year's win marked the first for the Dukes at the Ryan Center since 2014. Former guard Dae Dae Grant (2019-24) eclipsed 2,000 career points in the victory, as his three-pointer with 13:20 to play helped him reach the threshold. Grant led all scorers with 31 points and pushed his NCAA Division I career total in points to 2,011.
 
Cleary Leftovers – The Dukes improved to 2-0 all-time against Cleary, with former Duquesne assistant Carl Thomas serving as head coach of the Cougars ... Both victories for DU in the all-time series featured a margin of victory of 48 points ... Duquesne dominated inside, outscoring the Cougars, 62-6, in points in the paint ... In addition to a season-high in points in the paint, the Dukes also posted their best marks of the season in points off turnovers (37), fastbreak points (27) and bench points (49) ... A balanced effort offensively, nine players for Duquesne scored between five and 15 points ... The Dukes registered a season-high 28 assists on 38 field goals ... Duquesne never trailed, opening up leads of 6-0, 13-3 and 29-7 in the opening 11 minutes ... The Dukes converted 61.3 percent (38-for-62) of their attempts from the field, their highest field goal percentage since the 2022-23 season opener, a 91-63 win over Montana (Nov. 8, 2022) that saw DU shoot 64.4 percent (38-for-59) ... Sophomore guard Lucas Prolla scored his first NCAA Division I points in the win, going 2-for-2 at the free-throw line before converting his first field goal with a layup on the break.
 
Defense Wins Championships – As the latest Atlantic 10 journey is set to commence, one area the Dukes have excelled is on the defensive end. Duquesne has held eight consecutive opponents under 70 points, yielding an average of 56.6 points per game during that stretch and the longest streak by the program in over 60 years. During the 1961-62 season, Duquesne held 10 consecutive opponents to under 70 points. That team, under the direction of Red Manning, finished with an overall record of 22-7 (.759), was ranked No. 17 in the final poll by the Associated Press and finished fourth in the 1962 National Invitation Tournament (NIT). Duquesne enters Tuesday's A-10 opener against URI ranked fourth in the conference in scoring defense (64.6) and will receive a stiff test right off the bat. The Rams currently lead the Atlantic 10 in scoring offense at 85.7 points per contest. In allowing 64.6 points per game overall so far this season, that would mark the best scoring defense in program history in the shot clock era (since 1985-86).
 
Stranger Things – While it has been a team effort on defense for the Dukes, the same can be said on offense. In a 93-45 win over Cleary (Dec. 27), sophomore forward Eli Wilborn became the 11th different player for Duquesne in 13 games this season to score in double figures. Wilborn was a perfect 6-for-6 from the field and finished 2-for-3 at the free-throw line in scoring 14 points while also adding six rebounds, three blocks and a steal. The leading scorer for the Dukes against the Cougars, meanwhile, was sophomore forward Jakub Necas, who scored a career-high 15 points and added five boards and two assists. Necas, amazingly, is the eighth different player to lead Duquesne in scoring this season. The Dukes have received a total of 38 double-figure scoring efforts this season, with senior guard Tre Dinkins III and senior forward Jahsean Corbett leading the way with seven each.
 
Point Break – Junior guard Kareem Rozier was one of three Dukes to tie for game-high honors in assists in a 93-45 victory over Cleary (Dec. 27), as he joined senior guard Tre Dinkins III and senior forward Jahsean Corbett in dishing out six dimes each. The six assists for Rozier pushed his career total in the category to 201 and over the last six games Rozier owns 29 assists (4.83 per contest) against just four turnovers, an assist-to-turnover ratio of 7.25. The surge has Rozier ranked second in the Atlantic 10 in assist-to-turnover ratio at 3.29 and tied for 10th in the circuit in assists per game (3.54) with Melvin Council, Jr., of St. Bonaventure and Erik Reynolds II of Saint Joseph's. During his career on the Bluff, Rozier, who is Duquesne's active leader for consecutive games played (71), has compiled a career assist-to-turnover ratio of 2.64.
 
Did You Know? The Dukes have won 32 consecutive games dating back to the 2018-19 campaign when holding opponents to under 60 points thanks to a 93-45 win over Cleary (Dec. 27) that wrapped up the non-conference portion of the 2024-25 regular season. Included in that stretch is a perfect 20-0 mark in three years Dru Joyce III has been a member of the coaching staff on the Bluff, including two years as associate head coach from 2022 to 2024. 
 
Picking Their Spots – Duquesne enters Atlantic 10 play Tuesday against URI with three players ranked among conference leaders in three-point field goal percentage. Senior guard Tre Dinkins III ranks 12th with a success rate of 42.3 percent (30-for-71), which is a spot ahead of junior forward Matúš Hronský, who ranks 13th and owns a three-point field goal percentage of 42.1 (16-for-38) percent. The extended run recently for redshirt junior guard Cam Crawford, meanwhile, has him ranked in the top 25 of the A-10 in three-point field goal percentage. In 10 games, Crawford has knocked down 11 of his 29 attempts from deep, a success rate of 37.9 percent, that ranks 24th in the circuit. In his three games as a starter, Crawford is averaging 12.7 points and is shooting 60 percent (15-for-25) from the field, including 57.1 percent (8-for-14) from beyond the arc.
 
December Drive – In six games during the month of December, a total of seven players for Duquesne are averaging between 5.3 and 11.2 points per game. Senior forward Jahsean Corbett heads the list, as he has posted averages of 11.2 points and 6.8 rebounds over that stretch and has converted 44.4 percent (28-for-63) of his attempts from the field. Senior guard Tre Dinkins III, meanwhile, is supplying 11.0 points and 3.2 assists during the month of December and has been successful on 48.6 percent (17-for-35) of his attempts from beyond the arc. As a team over the last six games, the Dukes are shooting 41.1 percent (58-for-141) from deep while holding opponents to a success rate of just 33.3 percent (34-for-102).
 
David On The Block – Junior forward David Dixon has been a factor in the paint for the Dukes in recent weeks, as he finished with three blocks each in both a 65-47 victory over Towson (Dec. 14) at the Morgan & Morgan Classic in Akron, Ohio, and again in a 70-54 win over UC Irvine (Dec. 21) at UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse. Thanks to his first rejection of the game in the first half against the Anteaters, Dixon became the eighth player in program history with at least 100 career blocks. Dixon enters Duquesne's Atlantic 10 opener Tuesday against Rhode Island with 102 blocks in 77 career contests, an average of 1.32 per game. He is just three blocks behind former center Darius Lewis (2013-17), who concluded his career with 105 rejections and is the last member of the Dukes to record at least 100 career blocks. Dixon, who is also 17 dunks shy of becoming the second member of the Dukes on record with 100 to his career credit, is tied for 11th in the Atlantic 10 this season with an average of 1.38 blocks per game.
 
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