Duquesne Basketball Takes on Santa Clara in Las Vegas

Duquesne basketball have traveled out west as they take on Santa Clara in Las Vegas Saturday afternoon in an intriguing battle of two mid-majors.

Duquesne comes into this game 8-2 and on a four game winning streak. They defeated UC Irvine and St. Peter’s at home on Nov. 29 and Dec. 8, respectively, Marshall on the road on Dec. 6 and then a close victory, 69-67, last time out against Bradley at Lebron James Arena in Akron, Ohio on Monday. A late layup from sophomore David Dixon ensured the win and great momentum for Duquesne.

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The Dukes come in as one of the better defensive teams in the Atlantic-10, both third best with 5.20 blocked shots per game and 7.50 steals per game.

Senior guard Jimmy Clark III leads the conference with 2.5 steals per game, while Georgia Southern transfer and graduate student forward Andrei Sarasov is second on the team and 16th in the A-10 with 1.2 steals per game. Dixon leads the Dukes with 2.3 blocks per game, fourth best in the A-10, and fellow sophomore forward Halil Barre is second on the team with 1.1 blocks per game, 16th best in the A-10.

Duquesne basketball is still a veteran guard led team with senior guard Dae Dae Grant and Clark taking large responsibilities for offensive production.

Grant is both second in the Atlantic-10 with 18.8 points per game and 93.9% shooting from the foul line. He is also is fourth best in the conference with 2.6 3-pointers per game and fifth at 33.9 minutes per game. Clark is sixth in A-10 with 16.6 points per game, 10th with 4.0 assists per game, 18th with a .769 free throw percentage and tied at 21st with 1.7 3-pointers per game.

Sophomore guard Kareem Rozier has also played a significant role for the Dukes this season himself. He has excelled from behind the arc, 11th in the A-10 with a .450 3-point percentage and tied for 18th with 1.8 3-pointers per game. Rozier also does well distributing the basketball, second on the team 21st in the conference with 3.0 assists per game, while also playing a 14th best 32.4 minutes per game.

La Salle transfer and graduate student forward Foussenyi Drame leads Duquesne basketball with 15th in the A-10 with 6.1 rebounds per game, while Sarasov is first on the team and 12th in the A-10 with a .545 shooting percentage.

Santa Clara comes into this game 8-5, with four losses in their past five games. Their losses came on the road at Cal on Dec. 2 and San Jose State last time out on Wednesday, Utah State at home on Dec. 13 and New Mexico in the Jack Jones Classic in Henderson, Nev. on Dec. 9.

They do have some important wins this season. They have won three out of their four games against Pac-12 opponents with wins against Stanford on the road on Nov. 14, Oregon at the Emerald Coast Classic in Niceville, Fla. on Nov. 24 and Washington State in the Jerry Colangelo Classic last Saturday in Phoenix, Ariz.

The Broncos are a strong offensive team, ranking second in WCC with 78.3 points per game, third with a 47.7 shooting percentage from the field. They also excel behind the arc leading the conference by shooting 37.7% and make the second most 3-pointers at 8.7 per game. The Broncos move the ball around well too, with the third most assists at 15.54 per game.

Junior guard Adama-Alpha Bal is the best player for Santa Clara. He leeds the West Coast Conference with 88.7% free throw shooting, third with 15.5 points per game, tied for fourth in the WCC with a 51.2% shooting, ninth with 3.1 assists per game and tied for 10th with 1.8 3-pointers per game. He also plays the most on the  team with 30.5 minutes per game.

Graduate guard Carlos Marshall Jr. is a threat from 3-point range, ranking second in the WCC with 2.3 3-pointers per game and is tied for fourth with a 51.2% shooting. He tied a program record with nine 3-pointers in the Broncos loss to the Spartans on Wednesday.

Santa Clara commands a presence on the boards, as they rank third best in the conference in both offensive rebounds, 11.5 per game, and defensive rebounds, 27.4 per game.

Marshall Jr. is best on the team with 5.6 rebounds per game, ninth best in the WCC. Jnior forward Johnny O’Neil leads the team 0.6 blocks per games, tied for 12th in the WCC, and is second best with 5.2 rebounds per game, tied for 10th in the WCC. Sophomore center Christoph Tilly is tied with O’Neil with 0.6 blocks per game and is fourth on the team with 4.2 rebounds per game, 21st in the WCC. Graduate student center Francisco Caffaro is third on the team and 13th in the WCC with 4.9 rebounds per game.

Duquesne has some chances to take advantage of Santa Clara’s weaknesses. They have the second worst turnover margin in the WCC at -2.62, least blocked shots at 2.62 and and steals at 5.23 per game. With how impressive Duquesne is at stealing the ball, winning the turnover battle is a must for a victory.

Duquesne Basketball vs. Santa Clara Odds

Duquesne basketball is a 2.5 point favorite over Santa Clara, with the over/under at 153 points. The money line, or wager for the team to win is varied on different betting sites. BetRivers has it at -148 for Duquesne and +120 for Santa Clara, DraftKings has it at -142 for Duquesne and +130 for Santa Clara and FanDuel also has it at -142 for Duquesne, but at +118 for Santa Clara.

How to Watch

FloHoops will broadcast the game on streaming at 5:00 p.m. Saturday afternoon. ESPN Pittsburgh on 970 AM will also do a radio broadcast, with Ray Goss and Jarrett Durham on for the call.