GAME 31
George Washington (15-15 | 4-13 A-10) at Duquesne (19-11 | 9-8 A-10)
Saturday, March 9, 2024 | 2:00 p.m.
Pittsburgh, Pa. | UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse (3,500)
 
Stream: ESPN+ and SportsNet Pittsburgh with Tim Benz & Ellis Cannon
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, winners of three straight, five of six and 10 of its last 13 games after an 0-5 start in the Atlantic 10, concludes the 2023-24 regular season Saturday, March 9, with a 2:00 p.m. tip against George Washington at the UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse.
 
- In addition to serving as the Chuck Cooper Classic and a School Supply Drive, the game against the Revolutionaries also serves as Senior Day as Duquesne will honor seven student-athletes prior to the game and four student managers during the contest.
 
- The Dukes are coming off a 69-59 victory at VCU to stretch their winning streak to three as guard Dae Dae Grant scored a game-high 26 points. Grant finished 8-of-17 from the floor, including 5-for-11 from deep, and was a perfect 5-for-5 at the free-throw line.
 
- Guard Jake DiMichele, in a return to the starting lineup after a one-game absence, added 10 points in the win over the Rams.
 
- Grant enters Saturday's game leading the Atlantic 10 in free-throw percentage (95.7%) while ranking fifth in the conference in scoring, while guard Jimmy Clark III paces the A-10 in steals with an average of 2.33 per contest. 
 
- Guard Jimmy Clark III has scored 979 career points at the NCAA Division I level entering Saturday's game against GW, including 849 in two seasons with the Dukes, and also needs two 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 1,112 and 1,007, respectively.
 
- When holding opponents to less than 70 points in seven years under head coach Keith Dambrot, Duquesne has posted a record of 71-17 (.807), including a 15-1 (.938) mark during the 2023-24 campaign.
 
- Duquesne heads to Brooklyn, N.Y., for the 2024 Atlantic 10 Championships at the Barclays Center. Play begins Tuesday, March 4, and concludes with the championship game Sunday, March 10.
 
Scouting the Revolutionaries – Saturday is the 91st meeting in a series that dates to Jan. 21, 1932. GW leads the all-time series, 55-35, including a 48-30 advantage during the regular season. In games played in Pittsburgh, Pa., the two teams have split 42 meetings. The Dukes have won seven of the 11 meetings between the two under Keith Dambrot. George Washington (91st meeting) is Duquesne's second most-frequent all-time opponent, trailing only St. Bonaventure (132 games) on the all-time list. In the only meeting between GW and DU last season, the Dukes used a mammoth 28-0 run in the first half en route to a 93-67 victory in Washington, D.C., at the Charles E. Smith Center. The 26-point victory is the largest for Duquesne in program history in an Atlantic 10 road game. Guard Dae Dae Grant paced the Dukes with 18 points as one of four players to score in double figures. Duquesne also received 12 points from Tre Williams and hit 17 three-pointers, one off the school record.
 
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 523-304 (.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.
 
VCU Leftovers – Duquesne has won three of the last four meetings with the Rams after VCU opened the series with seven consecutive victories ... The Dukes held a 33-31 edge on the glass, including a 10-7 cushion in offensive rebounds ... Duquesne shot 42.9 percent (21-for-49) from the field, with the 49 attempts from the field its second lowest total of the 2023-24 campaign, one more than the 48 from its previous game, a 59-51 victory at George Mason ... The Dukes failed to record a block in a game for the first time this season at VCU ... Both teams finished with 11 assists, while Duquesne recorded eight steals, including two each from Jimmy Clark III, Kareem Rozier and Jakub Necas ... Joe Bamisile led the Rams with 18 points off the bench, helping VCU own a 34-20 edge in bench points ... It marked just the second time in the last 17 games the reserves for an opponent outscored the Duquesne bench.
 
Dae In, Dae Out – Senior guard Dae Dae Grant bolstered the Dukes in a 69-59 triumph at VCU with a game-high 26 points. In the victory he shot 8-of-17 from the floor, including 5-for-11 from beyond the arc, while going a perfect 5-for-5 at the free-throw line. Grant has eclipsed the 20-point plateau eight times this season, with Duquesne 6-2 (.750) in those contests, as well as 19 times in two seasons on the Bluff. Overall the last two years when Grant scores at least 20 points in a game the Dukes have posted a record of 13-6 (.682). Grant enters the 2023-24 regular-season finale Saturday against George Washington having scored 970 points in two seasons at Duquesne, just 30 points shy of becoming the 40th player in program history to reach the 1,000-point threshold as a member of the Dukes. Overall in five seasons at the NCAA Division I level, Grant has scored 2,141 points.
 
Defensively Speaking – Thanks to a 69-59 win at VCU, Duquesne improved to 34-1 (.971) in seven seasons under head coach Keith Dambrot when holding an opponent under 60 points, including 26 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. During its three-game winning streak entering Saturday's game against George Washington, the Dukes are holding opponents to 57.7 points per contest.
 
The Line Dance – A key reason Duquesne carries a three-game winning streak into its final home game of the season Saturday against George Washington as well as won five of its last six has been its ability to convert at the free-throw line. In the last six contests, the Dukes are shooting 81.3 percent (87-for-107) at the chalk. During that stretch, guard Kareem Rozier is a perfect 6-for-6, guard Dae Dae Grant is 28-of-29 (96.6%) and forward Dusan Mahorcic is 11-for-13 (84.6%). During the final two minutes of contests during the last six games, Duquesne shot 80.9 percent (17-for-21) at the free-throw line.
 
The Senior Class – Duquesne will honor seven players prior to its game Saturday against George Washington, celebrating the accomplishments of its senior class. Being recognized prior to the game will be guards Jimmy Clark III and Dae Dae Grant as well as forwards Fousseyni Drame and Hassan Drame, Dusan Mahorcic, Andrei Savrasov and Tre Williams. During their respective careers at the NCAA Division I level, the seven players enter Saturday's game having combined for career totals of 7,498 points, 3,892 rebounds, 1,090 assists, 733 steals, 663 three-pointers and 400 blocks.
 
Steal City – Duquesne matched a season high for the third time in the last four games with 12 steals in a 59-51 victory at George Mason, with senior guard Jimmy Clark III leading the way with four. The Dukes have recorded 12 steals in a game five times this season, with Duquesne a perfect 5-0 in those contests, and are 9-1 (.900) in 2023-24 when recording at least 10 thefts in a contest. As a team, the Dukes sit third in the Atlantic 10 in steals per game (7.63). Clark III, meanwhile, enters the final game of the regular season tied for 10th this year in NCAA Division I in steals per game (2.33) with Jamal Shead of Houston. His career average, meanwhile, of 1.89 per contest (181 in 96 games) ranks 18th among active NCAA Division I players. Clark III owns 146 steals in two seasons with the Dukes, just two shy of cracking the top 10 in program history in the category. Currently ranked 10th is Andy Sisinni, who finished with 148 steals from 1980 to 1984.
 
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