PITTSBURGH, Pa. (Nov. 29, 2022) – The UC Santa Barbara Men's Basketball team (4-1) will be back in action as the Gauchos take on the Dukes of Duquesne University. This is the first time these two teams have played each other in the history of the Gauchos.
LAST TIME OUT
The Gauchos hosted the Santa Barbara Beach Classic where UC Santa Barbara took on the Pirates of Hampton University and the Lions of North Alabama. After the two games, the Gauchos came out with two wins as well as Ajay Mitchell being named Tournament MVP while Ajare Sanni received All-Tournament Team honors.
SCOUTING THE DUKES
Duquesne University comes into this contest with only one loss so far against No. 4 Kentucky with a score of 77-52. Besides that one loss, the Dukes secured wins against Montana, South Carolina State, Colgate, North Florida and Alabama State.
The Dukes are led by junior Dae Dae Grant. The transfer from Miami (Ohio) is the main force for this offense as he currently averages 19.75 points per game with the next closest Duke averaging 8.5. He also shoots 53.62 percent from the field, making 37 of 69 shots.
Grant is also an impressive three-point shooter. His percentage from beyond the arc is a 53.85 percent. This is good enough to rank 13th in the NCAA and No. 1 in the Atlantic 10 in three-point percentage. He is also 14th in three-pointers per game with 3.5.
Austin Rotroff with contend with Andre Kelly and Miles Norris for boards on the Gauchos' defensive end. The 6-feet-10-inch senior guard is 13th in the NCAA and No. 1 in the Atlantic 10 when it comes to offensive rebounds, averaging 4.00. With numbers like these, he leads Duquesne in rebounds with 47, grabbing 24 on offense and 23 on defense.
Senior Tevin Brewer commands the offense as the team's assist leader as he tallied 17 so far this season. Grant also contributes to distributing the ball, registering 16 assists.
Freshman David Dixon goes after the opposing team's offense, registering a team-high 10 blocks so far this season. Along with him, junior Jimmy Clark III causes his opponents to commit plenty of turnovers as he leads the Dukes in steals with 13.
Head Coach Keith Dambrot is in his sixth season with Duquesne and his 25th season as a head coach. He joined the Dukes after coaching at his alma mater, Akron, for 13 seasons. Since taking over, Dambrot has led Duquesne to a 76-72 record.
The Dukes are coming off a 6-24 season last year as they are already one game away from tying their wins from last season just six games into the season.
WHEREABOUTS
UC Santa Barbara and Duquesne will take the court at 7 p.m. EST/4 p.m. PST in Pittsburgh at the UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse. The game will be streamed through ESPN+ with live stats and radio available.
