GAME 18
St. Bonaventure (15-3 | 3-2 Atlantic 10) vs. Duquesne (8-9 | 3-1 Atlantic 10)
Saturday, Jan. 18, 2025 | 2:00 p.m.
Pittsburgh, Pa. | UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse (3,500)
 
Stream: SportsNet Pittsburgh & ESPN+ with Tim Benz & Ellis Cannon
Radio: 104.7 HD2 | iHeartRadio with Ray Goss ('58) & Noah Buono ('22)
 
Game Notes | Media Center | Record Book | Watch | Listen | Live Stats | Tickets
 
Opening Tip
 
- The Duquesne University men's basketball team, winners of six of their last seven games as well as eight of 11 after an 0-6 start to the year, opens a two-game homestand Saturday with a 2:00 p.m. tip against St. Bonaventure at UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse.
 
- The Dukes picked up their first road win of the season in their last outing, a 73-65 victory over George Washington (Jan. 15) in Washington, D.C., at the Charles E. Smith Center.
 
- Redshirt junior guard Maximus Edwards scored 16 of his season-high 22 points in the first half to lead the way against the Revolutionaries, scoring 13 consecutive points in the first half as part of a 16-4 run that turned a 14-10 deficit into a 26-18 lead. He shot 8-for-10 from the field, including 3-of-5 from deep, and finished 3-for-3 at the free-throw line while also matching a career high with four steals.
 
- Senior guard Tre Dinkins III contributed 12 points, three rebounds, three assists and a pair of steals in the win over GW, including a key three-pointer with 4:32 to play that gave the Dukes a 65-61 edge.
 
- Duquesne finished with a season-high 12 blocks in the triumph over the Revs as five different players recorded a rejection, including five by junior forward David Dixon, who tied a career high. Junior forward Chabi Barre added three blocks at GW, while sophomore forward Jakub Necas posted a pair.
 
- 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 six 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 1,476 points and 825 rebounds. Corbett amassed totals of 1,303 points and 725 rebounds in three seasons at Chicago State prior to transferring to Duquesne.
 
- The Dukes, who have won four consecutive games at home, will host Dayton after taking on the Bonnies with a 7:00 p.m. tip at UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse Tuesday, Jan. 21. 
 
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 Bonnies – Saturday marks the 135th game between the two programs in a series that dates to Feb. 13, 1920 … St. Bonaventure is Duquesne's most frequent all-time opponent … The average score in the first 134 meetings? DU 71.6, SBU 71.0 (9,594 to 9,517 points, 77-point difference) … The 2024-25 season marks the 74th consecutive year the two have met and 20th straight year the two will meet in a home-and-home … DU owns more conference wins over SBU (35) than any other A-10 school … St. Bonaventure leads the series 70-64, but the Dukes have won the last four contests over the Bonnies … In the last meeting between the two programs, Duquesne earned a 70-60 win over SBU in the semifinals of the 2024 Atlantic 10 Championship … Jimmy Clark III helped seal the win, as his driving layup with 1:51 left while drawing contact for the foul and subsequent three-point play gave the Dukes a 62-53 edge … Dae Dae Grant led all scorers in the win with 27 points, while Clark III added 18 points, eight rebounds and six assists.
 
George Washington Leftovers – Duquesne picked up its second consecutive win at the Charles E. Smith Center and third straight in the all-time series ... Redshirt junior guard Cam Crawford contributed nine points and a team-high six rebounds ... In the two games Crawford hasn't scored in double figures as a member of the starting lineup he's finished with nine points, both of which have come on the road (also at Davidson) ... Rafael Castro finished with a double-double for GW with 27 points and 13 rebounds ... Christian Jones scored four points for the Revs but finished with seven steals as the Revolutionaries registered 14 thefts as a team ... Duquesne owned a 37-35 edge in rebounding, including a 16-15 advantage on the offensive glass ... The Dukes hit their first 11 free throws in the contest before missing and overall finished 13-for-16 (81.3%) at the stripe ... George Washington converted 61.5 percent (16-for-26) of its attempts the free-throw line.
 
20/20/20 – Redshirt junior guard Maximus Edwards paced the Dukes in their 73-65 win at George Washington (Jan. 15) with a season-high 22 points, becoming the third different player in as many games to lead Duquesne in scoring by reaching the 20-point plateau. The stretch began at Davidson (Jan. 4) with a career-high 29 points from senior forward Jahsean Corbett and was followed by senior guard Tre Dinkins III with a season-high 26 points in an 85-81 overtime win over Saint Joseph's (Jan. 8). It marks the first time three different Dukes led the team in scoring in three consecutive games with a 20+ point performance since the 2021-22 campaign. That season Leon Ayers III paced Duquesne in a 76-54 win over UC Irvine (Dec. 19) in Akron, Ohio, with 24 points, followed by a 27-point performance from Jackie Johnson II in a 78-74 win at Massachusetts (Jan. 8). Primo Spears completed the trifecta at Fordham (Jan. 12) with 20 points. During that span the Dukes had one game canceled (Wofford) as well as three games postponed (Atlantic 10 tilts) due to the global pandemic.
 
How About That? During the non-conference portion of the 2003-04 season, the Dukes had three different players lead the squad in scoring in consecutive games with 20 or more points, including 20 from Jimmy Tricco at West Virginia (Dec. 13), Bryant McAllister with 21 at Akron (Dec. 17) and Elijah Palmer with 20 against George Mason (Dec. 20). The game against the Zips at Rhodes Arena in Akron, Ohio, featured head coach Dru Joyce III and assistant coach Rick McFadden in Akron uniforms. McFadden contributed 12 points in a 64-61 overtime win over the Dukes, while off the bench Joyce III dished out a pair of assists. The next season (2004-05) saw Keith Dambrot take over as head coach of the Zips, where he spent 13 years before being named head coach at Duquesne March 28, 2017. Dambrot led the Dukes to the 2024 Atlantic 10 Championship and an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament before retiring, and Joyce III was named head coach of the Dukes March 28, 2024.
 
Distribution Center – Junior guard Kareem Rozier, who tied a career high with seven assists in an 85-81 overtime win over Saint Joseph's (Jan. 8) and owns career 219 dimes to his credit, has been masterful protecting the rock this season. Over the last seven games, Rozier owns 33 assists against just five turnovers. It's part of a larger trend, as Rozier owns an assist-to-turnover ratio of 5.88 during the last 10 games for the Dukes thanks to 47 assists and just eight miscues. The surge has Rozier atop the Atlantic 10 leaderboard in assist-to-turnover ratio (3.56), a mark that ranks 10th in NCAA Division I. During his career on the Bluff, Rozier, who is Duquesne's active leader for consecutive games played (75), has compiled a career assist-to-turnover ratio of 2.74.
 
The Arc – Duquesne finished 10-for-27 (37%) from deep in a 73-65 victory at George Washington (Jan. 15), marking the fifth time in the last eight games the Dukes have hit double digits in three-pointers. A key reason the Dukes are 7-2 (.778) in their last nine games has been due to the work from downtown. During that stretch, Duquesne is averaging 9.56 three-pointers per game and is converting 38.2 percent (86-for-225) of its attempts. Senior guard Tre Dinkins III leads the Dukes during that span with 23 triples (2.56 per game), while Cam Crawford is 19-for-40 (47.5%) over that stretch.
 
Fifth Avenue – Junior forward David Dixon has elevated his game since Duquesne has entered Atlantic 10 play, as he enters Saturday's game against St. Bonaventure with averages of 10.0 points, 4.8 rebounds and 4.0 blocks in four games of conference action. More impressively, Dixon is shooting 70.8 percent (17-for-24) from the field during those contests. For the fifth time over the last three years he matched a career high in blocks with five in a 73-65 victory at George Washington (Jan. 15), helping him crack the top five all-time in program history. He sits fifth with 114 career rejections and also ranks fifth in the Atlantic 10 this season with an average of 1.76 blocks per game. Dixon is 12 dunks shy of 100 for his career and is looking to become just the second player on record in school history to reach career totals of both 100 dunks and 100 blocks. Former forward Damian Saunders (2008-11) owns career records in both categories with 166 jams and 300 rejections.
 
Depth Charge – The performance from redshirt junior guard Maximus Edwards in a 73-65 victory at George Washington (Jan. 8) has continued a season-long trend for the Dukes in getting quality production from their bench. Edwards finished with a season-high 22 points in the win over the Revolutionaries, the most points off the bench this season by a Duquesne player, and he became the ninth different player to post a double-digit scoring effort by a reserve. The Dukes finished with a 35-13 advantage in bench points in the win over the Revolutionaries and own a record of 3-3 (.500) this season when receiving at least 30 points from the reserves. In their first four Atlantic 10 games, the Dukes are averaging 29.5 points from their bench. 
 
Did You Know? The Dukes finished 12-0 last season when first to reach 70 points against an opponent and have won 35 consecutive games when turning the trick after a 73-65 victory at George Washington (Jan. 15). However, the Dukes earned their first win this season when failing to hit 70 points first thanks to an 85-81 overtime win over Saint Joseph's (Jan. 8). Rasheer Fleming converted a three-point play with 2:13 left in regulation to give the Hawks a 70-69 edge, one of four lead changes in the final four minutes prior to overtime.
 
Yo-Yo – As for lead changes, the up-and-down nature of college basketball has never been more apparent this year than with Duquesne. Working five new players into the rotation and the Dukes looking to find their groove, the 17 games of the 2024-25 season have featured an amazing 59 ties (3.47 per game) and 87 lead changes (5.12 per contest). The season high for ties for Duquesne this year is nine against South Dakota State (Nov. 24), a total that was matched in an 85-81 overtime win over Saint Joseph's (Jan. 8), while games against both Hampton (Nov. 25) and Maine (Dec. 11) featured a season-high 12 lead changes.
 
Surging – Redshirt junior guard Cam Crawford has been a key contributor for the Dukes since being inserted into the starting lineup. Over the last seven games, Crawford has scored in double figures in five of them in producing averages of 11.3 points, 3.0 rebounds and 1.1 steals while shooting 49.1 percent (28-for-57) from the floor, including 53.1 percent (17-for-32) from beyond the arc. Crawford enters Saturday's game against St. Bonaventure ranked seventh in the Atlantic 10 this season in three-point field goal accuracy at 42.6 percent (20-for-47). In matching a season-high with 13 points in an 85-81 win over Saint Joseph's (Jan. 8), the Dukes improved to 6-0 this season when Crawford scores in double figures.
 
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