GAME 25
Saint Joseph's (16-9 | 6-6 A-10) at Duquesne (14-10 | 4-7 A-10)
Saturday, Feb. 17, 2024 | 2:30 p.m.
Pittsburgh, Pa. | UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse (3,500)
TV: USA Network with Paul Burmeister & Dr. John Giannini
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 welcomes Saint Joseph's to the UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse to open a two-game homestand Saturday, Feb. 17, for a 2:30 p.m. tip.
- The Dukes are
coming off a 75-59 setback at No. 16 Dayton as the Flyers used a 22-0 run to turn a 57-53 deficit with 6:39 remaining into a 75-55 lead en route to the win. Guard
Jimmy Clark III led four players in double figures at Dayton with 14 points and also added four rebounds, four assists and three steals.
- Freshman guard
Jake DiMichele contributed 12 points and three assists against the Flyers, while guard
Dae Dae Grant and forward
David Dixon each scored 11 points. Grant handed out a game-high six assists against the Flyers, while Dixon recorded a pair of blocks.
- Eight of Duquesne's 12 games during the 2024 calendar year have been decided by 10 points or less, including six by six points or less.
- 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 enters Saturday's game with 1,078 career points.
- Forward
Tre Williams is 15 points shy of 1,000 for his career entering Saturday's game against Saint Joseph's. Williams has shot 49.8 percent (419-for-844) during his NCAA Division I career, including 46.8 percent (228-for-490) in two seasons at Duquesne.
- Guard
Jimmy Clark III scored 404 points in his first season at Duquesne last season and owns 890 career points entering Saturday's game against Saint Joseph's. Clark III also needs 20 steals to crack the top 10 in program history for thefts, as Andy Sisinni (1981-84) currently ranks 10th with 148.
- When holding opponents to less than 70 points in seven years under head coach
Keith Dambrot, Duquesne has posted a record of 66-17 (.795), including a 10-1 (.909) mark during the 2023-24 campaign.
- The Dukes, who rank third in the Atlantic 10 in steals with an average of 7.17 per game, will host Saint Louis at the UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse Tuesday, Feb. 20, after taking on the Hawks.
Scouting the Hawks – Saturday marks the 63rd game in an all-time series that dates to Feb. 25, 1938. Saint Joseph's leads the series, 43-19, including a 16-12 advantage in games played in Pittsburgh. Duquesne has won four of the past six. In the opening game of the 2023-24 season series at Hagan Arena, Cameron Brown's
layup with 0.3 seconds left helped lift Saint Joseph's to a 71-69 victory. Trailing, 69-67, with 13.5 seconds left, forward
Matúŝ Hronský knocked down a turnaround jumper to tie the game for the eighth time. The Hawks followed with a timeout of their own with 5.6 ticks left on the clock to set up the final play. Out of the break, Lynn Greer III drove left before pulling up for a jumper that was short. Brown corralled the offensive rebound for the putback to help give Saint Joseph's the win.
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 on Feb. 8, 2023 when he posted his 500th career victory with a 75-52 triumph over George Mason. Dambrot owns an overall record of 518-303 (.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.
Dayton Leftovers – The Flyers earned a sweep of the 2023-24 season series, have won five straight over Duquesne and stretched their winning streak over the Dukes at UD Arena to 11 ... Dayton posted a 32-28 edge in rebounding ... Senior guard
Dae Dae Grant handed out a game-high six assists as Duquesne posted 18 as a team ... In their three previous road games, the Dukes have dished out 54 assists against 34 turnovers (1.59 assist-to-turnover ratio) ... DaRon Holmes II posted his seventh double-double of the year with 24 points and 11 rebounds ... Duquesne went to the free-throw line just three times, converting one, the fewest trips to the stripe for the Dukes in seven seasons under head coach
Keith Dambrot ... The Flyers finished 16-for-23 (69.6%) at the free-throw line ... Over its last three games at UD Arena over the last three years Duquesne is 9-for-18 (50%) at the stripe ... Dayton owned a 34-32 advantage in points in the paint.
Bench Press – Sophomore forward
David Dixon came off the bench to supply 11 points at Dayton, marking the sixth consecutive game the Dukes have received a double-figure scoring effort from one of their reserves. Despite Duquesne's bench finishing with its fewest points (14) in an Atlantic 10 game against the Flyers, the Dukes have outscored their opponents in the category, 185-68, in the last six contests and have also received more production from their bench in 10 of their 11 conference games this season. Only Massachusetts outscored the Duquesne reserves, 30-19, in the 2024 A-10 opener for both programs. Over the last six games, the Dukes have received 10 double-figure scoring performances from their reserves, including four each from forwards
David Dixon and
Fousseyni Drame. In all this year, seven different Dukes have come off the bench and supplied a total of 21 double-figure scoring efforts.
Oh That's Dave – Arguably one of the most consistent Dukes since the calendar has switched to 2024 has been sophomore forward
David Dixon. Since being held scoreless in Duquesne's Atlantic 10 opener at Massachusetts, Dixon is averaging 9.4 points, 5.5 rebounds and 1.8 blocks over his last 11 games while shooting 54.7 percent (41-for-75) from the floor. During that span Dixon has scored in double figures six times, including a career-high 19 points at Loyola Chicago. Entering Saturday's game against Saint Joseph's ranked sixth in the A-10 in blocks per game (1.79), Dixon also owns 44.4 percent (24-of-54) of Duquesne's dunks this year. Dixon is two dunks shy of matching last year's leader in the category,
Austin Rotroff (2018-23), and is looking to become just the seventh member of the Dukes with at least 30 flushes in a season in the last 25 years.
Did You Know? The Dukes are 7-0 this season when first to reach 70 points against an opponent and have won 26 consecutive games when turning the trick. In seven seasons under head coach
Keith Dambrot, Duquesne is 70-7 (.909) when hitting the 70-point plateau first.
Jake The Snake – In freshman guard
Jake DiMichele's nine games as a member of the starting lineup, he has posted averages of 8.8 points and 2.8 rebounds per game while converting 44.3 percent (31-for-70) of his attempts from the field. He has scored in double figures four times during that stretch, including a career-high 15 points against both Fordham and Davidson. DiMichele also contributed 12 points in each of Duquesne's two games against Dayton this season.
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