GAME 29
Duquesne (17-11 | 7-8 A-10) at George Mason (18-10 | 7-8 A-10)
Saturday, March 2, 2024 | 2:00 p.m.
Fairfax, Va. | EagleBank Arena (10,000)
 
Stream: ESPN+ with Bill Rohland
Radio: 104.7 HD2 / iHeartRadio with Ray Goss ('58) & Tad Maurey
 
Game Notes | Record Book | Media Center | TV/Radio Spotter Chart | Watch | Listen | Live Stats
 
Opening Tip
 
- The Duquesne University men's basketball team, winners of eight of its last 11 games after an 0-5 start to Atlantic 10 play, closes out the road portion of its 2023-24 regular season with a two-game swing through Virginia.
 
- The Dukes take on George Mason Saturday, March 2, with a 2:00 p.m. tip at EagleBank Arena after closing February with a 75-63 victory over La Salle for their third consecutive home win.
 
- Guard Jimmy Clark III scored a game-high 22 points to lead Duquesne in its win over the Explorers and also matched a season high with eight assists. Clark shot 9-for-14 from the floor, including 3-for-6 from deep, and also grabbed four rebounds.
 
- Off the bench against La Salle, forward Dusan Mahorcic contributed 13 points, converting each of his five field goals in the paint while going a perfect 3-for-3 at the free-throw line.
 
- Guard Jimmy Clark III has scored 958 career points at the NCAA Division I level entering Saturday's game at George Mason, including 828 in two seasons with the Dukes, and also needs eight steals to crack the top 10 in program history for thefts, as Andy Sisinni (1981-84) currently ranks 10th with 148.
 
- Clark III is looking to become the third member of the Dukes to eclipse 1,000 career points this season, joining Fousseyni Drame (at Saint Joseph's) and Tre Williams (at Fordham), who own career point totals of 1,096 and 1,003, respectively.
 
- When holding opponents to less than 70 points in seven years under head coach Keith Dambrot, Duquesne has posted a record of 69-17 (.802), including a 13-1 (.929) mark during the 2023-24 campaign.
 
- The Dukes, who averaged 70.9 points per game in recording a 5-3 (.625) record during the month of February, head to Richmond, Va., after taking on the Patriots with a 7:00 p.m. tip against VCU at the Siegel Center Tuesday, March 5.  
 
Scouting the Patriots – Saturday marks the 16th meeting in the all-time series between Duquesne and George Mason, with the Dukes owning a 9-6 (.600) advantage. The series dates back to New Year's Eve 2001, with Duquesne having won four straight over the Patriots as well as four of the seven games between the two programs in Fairfax, Va. Overall Duquesne has won eight of the last 10 meetings, including a 75-52 victory last season at the UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse. In the win the starting backcourt of Dae Dae Grant and Tevin Brewer combined for 37 points, with Grant scoring 20 and Brewer setting a season high with 17 as the Dukes posted 21 assists on 29 field goals. For Grant it marked his eighth game of the year scoring at least 20 points. The victory over the Patriots last season at the UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse marked the 500th win of head coach Keith Dambrot's career.
 
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 521-304 (.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.
 
La Salle Leftovers – The Dukes swept the home-and-home series from the Explorers thanks to the win after earning a 91-74 victory last year at Tom Gola Arena ... La Salle knocked Duquesne out of the 2023 Atlantic 10 Championship with an 81-70 win ... The Explorers have outscored the Dukes by just 10 points (1,828-1,818) in the last 23 meetings ... In the win over La Salle, forward Fousseyni Drame appeared in his 150th career NCAA Division I game, while guard Dae Dae Grant and forward Tre Williams earned their 140th and 125th career starts, respectively ... Meanwhile, the tilt against the Explorers marked the 825th game manning the sidelines for Keith Dambrot as a head coach … Duquesne owned a 38-32 advantage in points in the paint and also outrebounded the Explorers, 36-34, with each team recording 14 offensive caroms ... The Dukes forced La Salle into 13 turnovers ... The Duquesne bench outscored the reserves for the Explorers, 33-9 ... Daeshon Shepherd led La Salle with 17 points, while Kahlil Brantley finished with 14 points (on 16 shots), seven rebounds and seven assists.
 
The All-Around – Senior guard Jimmy Clark III enters Saturday's game at George Mason having scored in double figures in each of his last six games after pacing the Dukes in a 75-63 triumph over La Salle at the UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse with 22 points. During that stretch, Clark III has stuffed the stat sheet, producing averages of 16.2 points, 3.3 rebounds, 5.2 assists and 2.5 steals per contest while converting 47.2 percent (34-for-72) of his shots from the field, including 45.7 percent (16-for-35) from deep. Clark III also matched a season high with eight assists in the win over the Explorers as Duquesne improved to a perfect 6-0 during the 2023-24 campaign when he records at least seven dimes in a game. Over the last two years, the Dukes are 8-0 when Clark III finishes with at least seven assists in a contest. In addition to leading the Atlantic 10 in steals (2.29 per game), Clark III sits eighth in the circuit in assists with an average of 3.86 per contest. Grant Huffman (Davidson) and Khalil Brantley (La Salle) are the only other two players in the A-10 to rank in the top 10 in both assists and steals like Clark III.
 
February Fun – The offense for the Dukes may have turned a corner in February, as in posting a 5-3 (.625) record Duquesne shot 46.1 percent (202-for-438) from the field, including 37.6 percent (62-for-165) from beyond the arc. The three starters for the Dukes in the backcourt in February in guards Dae Dae Grant, Jimmy Clark III and Jake DiMichele combined to average 37.4 points while shooting 102-for-233 (43.7%) from the field. Forwards Dusan Mahorcic and David Dixon, meanwhile, each started four games for the Dukes in that stretch and combined to convert 59.1 percent (42-of-71) of their attempts from the field, with Dixon also recording 15 rejections (1.88 per game).
 
Did You Know? The Dukes are 9-0 this season when first to reach 70 points against an opponent and have won 28 consecutive games when turning the trick. In seven seasons under head coach Keith Dambrot, Duquesne is 72-7 (.911) when hitting the 70-point plateau first.
 
At The Rim – Sophomore forward David Dixon has been a factor at the rim on both ends of the court for the Dukes this season, and he made his presence felt in a 75-63 win over La Salle. In just over 22 minutes of work, Dixon blocked a pair of shots and also scored nine points while grabbing five rebounds. Dixon helped put an exclamation on the victory over the Explorers with 1:33 to play, as his dunk gave Duquesne a 72-58 lead. It marked the 30th dunk of the year for Dixon, who became the first member of the Dukes to record at least 30 jams in a season since Marcus Weathers (30) in 2019-20. Dixon is also the seventh student-athlete for Duquesne to post at least 30 dunks in a season since 1998-99. Defensively, the pair of blocks in the win over La Salle pushed his season total in the category to 50, as he ranks sixth in the Atlantic 10 in blocks per game with 1.78 per contest.
 
The Chuck Cooper Classic – The annual Chuck Cooper Classic will take place on Saturday, March 9, 2024, at 2:00 p.m. when the Dukes take on George Washington for their final game at the UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse this season. Get two tickets for $25 using the promo code CCC2024. Both entrances will have drop off boxes for fans to donate traditional school supplies to help support the local Pittsburgh community. Stick around postgame for an autograph session with all of the Dukes and receive a free team poster. Join us for a fun weekend as we honor the legacy of Chuck Cooper, the first African American to be drafted in the NBA.      
 
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