GAME NOTES

https://goduquesne.com/documents/2022/12/26/14_Dayton.pdf

LISTEN TO GAME

G14 | DUQUESNE (10-3, 0-0) at DAYTON (8-5, 0-0)      
Wed., Dec. 28, 2022 • 7:00 pm ET • Dayton, Ohio • UD Arena (13,407)

LIVE STREAM: ESPN+ with Alex Mikos & Christine Szabo
RADIO: 104.7 HD2 / iHeartRadio with Ray Goss (’58) & Tad Maurey

Duquesne (10-3), coming off a nine-game homestand, heads to Ohio to face Atlantic 10 preseason favorite Dayton (8-5) in the conference opener for both schools on Wednesday, Dec. 28 at 7:00 p.m. (ESPN+).

DU, picked to finish 15th in the A-10 preseason poll, enters conference play with 10 wins for just the fourth time in program history (second time under head coach Keith Dambrot).

Duquesne is 4-1 in conference openers under Dambrot, including a 2-1 mark when opening on the road. The Dukes have won their past three A-10 openers, the last two of which came at GW in 2020-21 and at UMass last year.

Dayton is 7-0 at home, with an average margin of victory of +19.9 ppg.

The Flyers received 22 of a possible 29 first-place votes in the Atlantic10 preseason poll.

TRENDING

• This is the second road game of the season for the Dukes who are coming off a nine-game homestand. DU hasn’t left campus since its 85-80 neutral-site win over Colgate in Akron, Ohio on Nov. 18.
• DU, which averaged 65.2 ppg. last year, is averaging 76.5 ppg. (+11.3 ppg.). The Dukes have topped the 90-point mark three times and are 5-0 when scoring 80 or more.
• DU’s assists per game average is up +5.2/g. from last year (from 10.0 to 15.2).
• DU’s .369 3-point pct. is its best under Keith Dambrot (current best is .350 in 2017-18).
• Guard Dae Dae Grant, who has scored in double digits in 12 of 13 games – including the past 11 in a row, is shooting .431 from 3-point (44-of-102). Grant, who has four games with five or more 3-pointers, ranked T12th nationally in 3-pointers/g. (3.38) and T8th in 3-point FGs (44) thru Dec. 25. Grant went over the 1,400-point career mark vs. Winthrop (which was his 100th game).
• Guard Jimmy Clark III, who played as a freshman and sophomore at VCU, has scored 16, 19, 16, 13, 17 & 15 points in DU’s past six games. Clark’s D-I career-high entering the season was nine.
• First-year JC transfer Quincy McGriff is coming off a season-high 15-point game vs. Winthrop. McGriff went 5-of-11 from 3-point vs. the Eagles. McGriff is averaging 10.7 points and 3.0 assists as a starter in DU’s past three games.
• Senior Joe Reece is averaging 12.3 points and 6.3 rebounds in his past four games. Reece missed four games, and three-fourths of another, due to an injury. He came back on Dec. 8 vs. Marshall.
• Austin Rotroff has come off the bench to lead the Dukes in rebounding in seven times. The 6-10 forward ranked first nationally in offensive rebound percentage (per KenPom) through Dec. 26.
• Tevin Brewer has handed out 28 assists despite missing four games due to injuries (3.1 assist/turnover ratio). He is averaging 12.0 ppg. (8-of-12 from 3-point) in his past three g. played. Brewer has missed the past three games due to injury.
• Freshman Kareem Rozier has come off the bench to lead, or tie for the team lead, in assists four times. Rozier has 27 assists and six turnovers this season.

DUKES AND FLYERS
Series Record: Dayton leads 60-25
At Pittsburgh: Dayton leads 23-16
At Dayton: Dayton leads 36-6
Neutral Site: Duquesne leads 2-1
A-10 Regular Season: Dayton leads 38-11
A-10 Championship: Tied 1-1
MCC Regular Season: Tied 1-1
Dambrot vs. Dayton/at Duquesne: 2-12/2-8

• This is the 86th meeting in a series that dates to Jan. 5, 1953. Dayton leads the series 60-25, including a 38-11 lead in Atlantic 10 regular season games. In games at Dayton, UD leads 36-6. Dayton has won 11 of the past 12 at UD Arena, including a 76-74 win in 2016, a 64-63 win in 2011, a 78-72 OT win in 2010 and a 68-64 win in 2019. DU’s last win at Dayton came on Feb. 1, 2012 (83-73), a span of nine games.
• Duquesne, which lost 16 in a row to Dayton from 1997 through 2004, is 10-22 against the Flyers in the past 32 games.
• Duquesne head coach Keith Dambrot is 2-12 vs. Dayton (2-8 at DU).
• Dayton swept both games last season. Tre Williams is the only member of the current roster who played in both games (R.J. Gunn & Austin Rotroff were injured and Andy Barba, Jaylen Cole-Williams and Jake Harper did not play).
• The Flyers have attempted 96 more free throws than their opponents. UD has made 14 more free throws than their opponents have attempted (Dayton: 183-265 / Opponent: 115-169).

WORTH NOTING

• It took the 2022-23 Dukes – with a roster that features 10 newcomers (five transfers and five freshmen) – just eight games to exceed last year’s win total (6-24).
• Duquesne, picked to finish 15th of 15 teams in the Atlantic 10 preseason poll, tied the school record for November wins set in 2008 and matched in 2020 (both 6-0). DU went 6-1 in November, with the lone loss coming at No. 4 (AP) Kentucky.
• This is just the fourth time in program history – and second time under Keith Dambrot – that the Dukes enter Atlantic 10 play with 10 wins. The others: 2007-08 (10-3), 2015-16 (10-3) and 2019-20 (10-2)
• Duquesne’s 66-55 win over DePaul on Dec. 14 was the program’s first over a Big East school since an 86-82 victory over West Virginia on Nov. 25, 2002 at A.J. Palumbo Center. The margin of victory was DU’s largest over a Power 6 school since a 78-52 win over Penn State (Big Ten) at CONSOL Energy Center on Nov. 20, 2015 (under Jim Ferry).
• Ten Dukes (Brewer, Clark III, Dixon, Grant, Hronsky, McGriff, Reece, Rotroff, Rozier & Williams) posted double-digit scoring games in non-league play.
• DU has erased first half deficits of 14 (vs. Ball State, down 18-4) and 16 points (vs. Indiana State, down 20-4) to win this season. The Dukes have 19 double-digit comeback wins under Keith Dambrot (all have come in the past four seasons).

LAST GAME: DUQUESNE 74, WINTHROP 57
Dec. 21, 2022 • UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse • Pittsburgh, Pa.

• Duquesne jumped out to leads of 20-0 and 29-2 in defeating Winthrop in the non-conference finale at UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse.
• The game was the last of nine in a row at home for the Dukes.
• Dae Dae Grant (21 points), Jimmy Clark III (15 points) and Quincy McGriff (15 points) led Duquesne, which hit eight 3-pointers in building a 43-21 halftime lead.
• Grant, who topped the 1,400-career point mark in the second half, went 6-of-14 from 3-point, while McGriff went 5-of-11 from deep in setting a new career scoring high. Grant’s eight assists tied his career best.
• Tre Williams and Joe Reece had seven rebounds each for DU.
• Duquesne, which assisted on 18 of its 27 field goals, outscored Winthrop 23-7 off turnovers and 15-2 in fast break points.
• DU finished 12-of-32 from the arc, while Winthrop went 5-of-23 from deep.
• Duquesne’s largest lead was 27, at 29-2, with 10:37 left in the first half … Winthrop never led … Duquesne led for 39:12.

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