GAME 21
Duquesne (12-8 | 2-5 A-10) at Rhode Island (10-11 | 4-4 A-10)
Saturday, Feb. 3, 2024 | 12:30 p.m.
South Kingston, R.I. | Ryan Center (8,000)
 
TV: USA Network with Steve Sands & Tim McCormick
Radio: 104.7 HD2 / iHeartRadio with Ray Goss ('58) & Tad Maurey
 
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Opening Tip
 
-The Duquesne University men's basketball team returns to Atlantic 10 action and opens its February slate Saturday with a 12:30 p.m. tip against Rhode Island at the Ryan Center.
 
- The Dukes completed a perfect 3-0 homestand with a 65-60 victory over Chicago State at the UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse in their final non-conference tilt of the 2023-24 season. Senior guard Dae Dae Grant led four players in double figures with 17 points and also added three rebounds and three assists.
 
- Senior guard Jimmy Clark III contributed 16 points, four rebounds and four steals against the Cougars, while forwards David Dixon and Fousseyni Drame each scored 10 points. Drame registered his second double-double at Duquesne and ninth of his NCAA Division I career against Chicago State by grabbing a team-high 10 rebounds.
 
- Each of the last seven games for the Dukes have been decided by 10 points or less, including five by five 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 contributed nine points and four rebounds against the Hawks. Drame enters Saturday's game with 1,033 career points.
 
- Forward Tre Williams is 26 points shy of 1,000 for his career entering Saturday's game at Rhode Island. Williams has shot 49.7 percent (415-for-835) during his NCAA Division I career, including 46.6 percent (224-for-481) in two seasons at Duquesne.
 
- Guard Jimmy Clark III scored 404 points in his first season at Duquesne last season and owns 847 career points entering Saturday's game at Rhode Island. Clark III also needs 26 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 Dambrot, Duquesne has posted a record of 65-17 (.793), including a 9-1 (.900) mark during the 2023-24 campaign.
 
- Duquesne returns home after taking on the Rams Saturday, hosting Davidson Wednesday, Feb. 7, at the UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse.
 
Scouting the Rams – Duquesne and Rhode Island tip for the 66th time in the all-time series Saturday, with the Rams owning a 36-29 (.554) edge. The series dates back to Jan. 13, 1966, and five of the last 10 meetings between the two programs have been decided by three points or less. In the lone meeting between URI and DU last season, the Dukes used a 16-2 run in the second half to pull away for a 72-61 victory over the Rams at UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse. Joe Reece paced Duquesne with 18 points, while guards Dae Dae Grant (14) and Jimmy Clark III (13) combined for 27 points. The Dukes are looking to snap a four-game losing streak at the Ryan Center. The last road win for Duquesne in the series came Feb. 15, 2014, with an 83-71 triumph. In that contest former forward Ovie Soko eclipsed the 1,000-point plateau in registering a double-double thanks to 19 points and 12 rebounds.
 
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 516-301 (.632) 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.
 
Chicago State Leftovers – The 65-60 win for the Dukes marked the first meeting against the Cougars ... Duquesne concluded its 2023-24 non-conference slate with a record of 10-3 (.769), reaching 10 wins outside of conference play for the second consecutive year and third time under head coach Keith Dambrot ... The Dukes outrebounded Chicago State, 41-38, including a 17-13 cushion on the offensive glass ... Chicago State owned a 19-14 lead, its biggest of the contest, but a 14-2 run gave Duquesne its biggest advantage of the game, 28-21 ... The game featured 11 ties and 11 lead changes ... The Dukes are 6-1 (.857) this season when registering at least 10 steals in a game after finishing with 10 thefts against the Cougars.
 
Home On The Range – Capping a perfect 3-0 homestand at the UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse with a 65-60 win over Chicago State, Duquesne was able to have success by clamping down defensively. The Dukes allowed just 56.3 points in their three victories, holding opponents to just 34.7 percent (59-for-170) shooting from the field, including a paltry 25 percent (13-for-52) from beyond the arc. Entering Saturday's game at Rhode Island, Duquesne has held Atlantic 10 foes to just 27.7 percent (31-for-112) from beyond the arc, which ranks second in the conference. The Dukes also forced 46 turnovers in their three wins, turning that into a 49-27 advantage in points off miscues during the homestand. Leading Duquesne offensively during the three games was senior guard Jimmy Clark III, who produced averages of 12.3 points, 4.0 assists and 2.3 steals per game.
 
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.
 
At The Rim – Another reason Duquesne has won three straight entering Saturday's game at Rhode Island has been its work in the paint. The Dukes were held to just 10 points in the category, a season low, in a 54-50 win over St. Bonaventure but bounced back in a big way the last two games. In wins over Fordham and Chicago State, Duquesne finished with 46 and 40 points, respectively, in points in the paint. The 46 against Fordham are a season-high against an NCAA Division I opponent (54 in a 95-47 win over NAIA Cleary Dec. 30), and the Dukes are a perfect 4-0 this season when scoring at least 40 points in the paint.
 
Oh That's Dave – The emergence of sophomore forward David Dixon has been a key aspect to the Dukes having success in the paint. Over the last seven games, each as one of the top options off the bench, Dixon has stuffed the stat sheet, providing averages of 9.9 points, 6.4 rebounds, 1.7 blocks and 1.4 steals while shooting 55.1 percent (27-for-49) from the floor. Included in that stretch is a career-high 19 points to pace Duquesne in its second A-10 game of the season at Loyola Chicago. Dixon ranks sixth in the Atlantic 10 this season in blocks per game (1.8) and also owns a team-high 19 dunks for the Dukes. In a 65-60 triumph over Chicago State, Dixon contributed 10 points, six rebounds and a pair of blocks, with Duquesne improving to 5-2 (.714) this season when he scores in double figures.
 
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 87 of his last 89 chances (97.8%) at the line. Grant enters Saturday's game at Rhode Island leading the Atlantic 10 in free-throw percentage at 94.8 percent (92-for-97), a success rate that also ranks fourth in NCAA Division I.
 
Clark Kent – Senior guard Jimmy Clark III was key for Duquesne directing traffic in a 68-59 win over Fordham, as he handed out a game-high seven assists while suffering just one turnover. He also added 12 points and a block in his 50th career start at Duquesne. The program's active leader for consecutive games (53) and starts (38), Clark III has handed out at least seven assists a total of five times over the last two seasons, with the Dukes a perfect 5-0 in those contests. Included in that stretch is a career-high nine dimes in a 76-62 victory over Saint Joseph's last season at the UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse. Clark III ranks in the top 10 in the Atlantic 10 in scoring, assists and steals. In addition to pacing the conference in thefts with an average of 2.3 per game, Clark III ranks ninth in scoring (15.7 ppg) and 10th in assists (3.6 apg).
 
Defensively Speaking – Thanks to a 68-59 win over Fordham, Duquesne improved to 31-1 (.969) in seven seasons under head coach Keith Dambrot when holding an opponent under 60 points, including 23 consecutive wins dating back to 2019. The only loss for the Dukes under Dambrot when holding an opponent to less than 60 points came against St. Bonaventure, a 51-49 setback at the A.J. Palumbo Center Feb. 6, 2019. 
 
300 – A key reason senior Dae Dae Grant is closing in on 2,000 career points at the NCAA Division I level has been his ability to convert from beyond the arc. Grant has drained 138 triples in 50 career games at Duquesne, an average of 2.77 per contest. The most three-pointers for a member of the Dukes playing two seasons with the program is former guard Mike Lewis II, who connected for 164 from 2017-19. Thanks to his first three-pointer against Dayton, Grant is one of 20 active student-athletes at the NCAA Division I level with 300 triples to his credit, as he enters Saturday's game at Rhode Island with 303 for his career. Grant has also cracked the top 10 in the Duquesne career record book, as his 138 three-pointers with the Dukes ranks 10th.
 
Did You Know? During its three-game winning streak, the Duquesne bench has outscored the reserves of its opponents, 96-23. The Dukes finished with 41 points off the bench in a 65-60 triumph over Chicago State, their highest total against an NCAA Division I opponent (46 in a 95-47 win over NAIA Cleary Dec. 30). During its three-game homestand, Duquesne received four double-figure scoring performances from its reserves, including two from forward David Dixon.       
 
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