Duquesne Faces Chicago State In Final Game of Homestand

Duquesne will play their final non-conference game of the regular season when they take on Chicago State at UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse Wednesday night.

Duquesne Outlook

Duquesne is coming off of back-t0-back wins against rivals at home, a 56-54 win vs. St. Bonaventure last Tuesday, Jan. 22 and a 68-59 victory over Fordham back on Saturday.

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The Dukes struggled offensively against the Rams, not scoring in the first four minutes and going 1-for-13 from 3-point range all game, but managed to find success inside the arc, shooting 23-for-38, 60.5%.

First-year guard and walk-on Jake DiMichele continues to excel for Duquesne, scoring a team-high and season-high 15 points in the win. While he missed all four 3-point attempts, he made all of his six shots inside and made three free throws to round out his day.

Dukes sophomore forward David Dixon had a solid game, scoring 12 points on 5-for-7 shooting from the floor and grabbing six rebounds against the Rams.

Senior guard Jimmy Clark III led the home team with his passing, seven assists to just one turnover, and also added 12 points in the victory.

The best news for the Dukes saw senior guard Dae Dae Grant return to the team after missing the past three games. He scored seven points, a perfect 5-of-5 from the foul line, plus four rebounds and two assists against the Rams.

Duquesne also held Fordham to 36.8% shooting from the field and 4-for-22, 18.2% from behind the arc, as their defense continues to improve through their A-10 schedule.

The Dukes stand at 11-8 overall and 2-5 in the A-10, ending a five game losing streak to start conference play and finally starting to build some momentum heading into February.

Chicago State Outlook

Duquesne and Chicago State have met once all-time, a victory for the home team back in 1973, when the road team still played in the NAIA.

Chicago State has had an interesting history, pertaining to their movements around divisions and conferences over the last few decades. They joined Division I as an independent in the 1984-85 season, played in the now-defunct East Coast Conference in the 1993-94 season, then moved to the Mid-Continent Conference, presently known as the Summit League, and stayed there from 1994-2006.

They would then spend the next two seasons as an independent before playing in the now-defunct Great West from 2009-13. The Cougars then joined the WAC from 2013-22 and have spent the last two seasons as an independent. They will join the Northeast Conference (NEC) starting next season.

Chicago State, with all the moving around they’ve done and serving as the lone independent program in Division I, has one of the more unique schedules around.

They have played 16 of their 26 games on the road and their past two games, which they won by 50 points or more, came against teams not in Division I.

Their biggest win of the season came against then ranked No. 25 Northwestern, 75-71, in nearby Evanston, Ill., on Dec. 13. The win served as the first for Chicago State against Northwestern in 14 attempts and their first ever against a ranked team, losing their past 18 contests.

Chicago State comes into this matchup 11-15 on the season and 5-9 on the road. They have won their past four games, with the first two vs. Fairleigh Dickinson and Stetson at home. They are 2-10 against teams that come in Quad I through Quad III, but 7-5 against teams in Quad IV, where they themselves reside.

The Cougars do not have their two best players in first-year forwards and twins Matt and Ryan Bewley. The two had five-star ratings coming out of high school, but since they signed with Overtime Elite Academy (OTE), which is a basketball league that provides a different option for top basketball players coming out of high school, the NCAA ruled them ineligible. The ruling mainly came from the fact they accepted $100,000 to play with in OTE and that they had “non-amateur” status.

Junior guard Wesley Cardet Jr. leads the team with 18.8 points and 2.4 assists per game, and his 4.6 rebounds per game ranks tied second. Fellow junior guard Jahsean Corbett is first with 7.8 rebounds per game and second with 14.6 points per game.

Chicago State is also solid defensively, ranked tied No. 16 in Division I averaging 9.2 steals per game. Junior guard Brent Davis leads the team with 2.3 steals per game, while junior forward Noble Crawford is second with 2.1 steals per game. Crawford is also first on Chicago State with 22 blocks and fellow junior forward Cameron Jernigan is second with 21 blocks.

Keys for a Duquesne Victory

Duquesne comes in the better of the two squads and most expect they will win this game, but that doesn’t mean everything is straight forward for them.

Continuing their good defensive play with Dixon, as well as forwards in graduate students Dusan Mahorcic and Fousseyni Drame and senior Tre Williams has kept players from attacking the paint with success, something that Dukes head coach Keith Dambrot has loved from his team.

Clark and Grant back makes this team into one of the best in the A-10 and a game like this should prove vital for getting Grant back to 100% after dealing with concussion issues the past two weeks.

The emergence of DiMichele has given Duquesne a great option to score from outside and driving to the basket as well, allowing for other players to have better opportunities offensively.

Chicago State also lacks heigh compared to Duquesne, with no player over 6-foot-10. Duquesne has nine players 6-foot-7 and above, as they feature as one of the tallest teams in the Atlantic-10.

Executing the basics and committing less mistakes should lead the Dukes to a victory, but if they turn the ball over and allow the Cougars to score with ease, it will make for an uncomfortable night.

Odds

Duquesne come into this game heavily favored over Chicago State. ESPNBet and FanDuel have them at -11.5 favorites, DraftKings has them at -11 and BetRivers has them at -12.5. ESPNBet and FanDuel both have the over/under at 132.5 points, while both DraftKings and BetRivers have it at 132 points.

The money line, or wager for a team to win, varies wildly for each site. ESPNBet has it at -700 for Duquesne and +500 for Chicago State, FanDuel has it at -800 for Duquesne and +520 for Chicago State, BetRivers has it at -910 for Duquesne and +575 for Chicago State and DraftKings has it at -625 for Duquesne and +455 for Chicago State.

How to Watch

Duquesne will take on Chicago State at 7:00 p.m. on SportsNet Pittsburgh on television and ESPN+ for streaming., with Tim Benz on play-by-play & Ellis Cannon serving as color commentator.