Duquesne ready to test pre-conference, home court success on the road in A-10 play
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The Duquesne Dukes are set to begin their Atlantic 10 schedule Wednesday night. Their first conference game will be in Dayton at 7 p.m. It’s also the conference debut for the Flyers.
Despite incorporating 10 new players into the mix, the Dukes had a very successful non-conference season, winning 10 of 13 games.
Now, Keith Dambrot wants to see how that start translates to the conference slate.
“We’re still kind of learning,” Dambrot said during his coach’s show that aired last week on AT&T SportsNet. “We have good depth, we have a team that will pass the ball and that will play hard defensively. But we are still a work in progress. The key for us will be winning while we are a work in progress.”
Whatever kinks need to be worked out for Duquesne, the outlook heading into conference play feels a world better than it did a season ago. The team was 5-7 and had just had four games canceled or postponed because of coronavirus. From there, Duquesne went 1-16 in conference play.
However, with new additions to the roster, such as Miami (Oh.) transfer Dae Dae Grant, there is hope for a much-improved conference record this year. Duquesne appears to be much better offensively. At 76.5 points per game, the Dukes posted the best scoring average of any A-10 club in the pre-conference season. Grant led the way at 17.9 points per game.
“We’ve been down in games, and we’ve rallied back,” Grant said Thursday. “We’ve had dips and downhill moments. But we showed that we have fight and the extra effort to rally back into those games.”
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Dambrot’s team started 10-2 before getting into the A-10 fray in 2019-20. They ended up 21-9, the first 20-win campaign on the Bluff since 2008-09.
One advantage the Dukes have had this year is that they played almost exclusively at home. Duquesne only played on the road once, a 77-52 loss at 19th-ranked Kentucky. The only other game away from the UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse for Dambrot’s club was an 85-80 win over Colgate during the team’s annual trip to Akron.
Duquesne has been dealing with some injuries of late. Point guard Tevin Brewer hasn’t played since Dec. 12 because of a shoulder injury. Forward RJ Gunn Jr. has been out since Nov. 14 because of a foot injury. And guard Kareem Rozier has been in a boot since playing in the win against Indiana State on Dec. 17. Pittsburgh Sports Now is reporting that Gunn and Brewer could be back for the Dayton game.
The Dukes have also played without big men Joe Reece and Halil Barre at times this year. But Dambrot said the benefit of that is that freshman David Dixon and veteran Austin Rotroff were able to get more minutes during the pre-conference slate.
“We’ve been slowed a little bit by injuries and guys not being able to play,” Dambrot said. “So we haven’t been able to put the total product together yet. But by the same token, that gives other guys the opportunity to play and develop your team further in a different way.”
As for Dayton, the A-10’s preseason favorite has also had some challenges. They’ve had injuries and illness sideline multiple players, including Kobe Elvis, Koby Brea and Malachi Smith. The Flyers are 8-5, but they have won all seven games at home by an average margin of 19.9 points per game. Duquesne is 6-36 at Dayton. The Dukes lost there, 75-54, last season.
Given that history, if Duquesne is as different from what it was a year ago, there would be no greater indication than beginning its conference season with a win — or even a solid showing — against that team on that campus.
The Dukes play their first home conference game Saturday afternoon against Rhode Island.