Duquesne Basketball
Dae Dae Grant Scores 31 in Duquesne Rout of Saint Louis at Home, 81-66
PITTSBURGH — Duquesne dominated Saint Louis from start to finish for a convincing 81-66 victory at UPMC Cooper Field House Tuesday night.
The Dukes’ (16-10 overall, 6-7 Atlantic 10) win against the Billikens (9-17 overall, 2-11 Atlantic-10) makes it seven out of their last nine games and six out of their past A-10 games, after starting conference play 0-5. This also ends a two game losing streak against the Billikens and improves the Dukes to 11-6 against them at home in the all-time series.
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Duquesne started the game on an 8-2 run by the first media timeout, thanks to three baskets from senior forward Tre Williams and then to 15-2 with 14:10 remaining, with graduate student forward Dusan Mahorcic scored a bucket and two free throws.
Senior guard Dae Dae Grant then took advantage of terrible defense from the Billikens, scoring a mid-range jumper for an and-one, a 3-pointer and then another 3-pointer that he converted for an and-one, to get 10 points in just over a minute, putting the Dukes up 25-4 with 12:26 left in the first half.
Fellow senior guard Jimmy Clark III scored the next seven points on two free throws, a 3-pointer, and an emphatic dunk on the fast break off a steal, keeping Duquesne up 32-14.
We got two words for you: JIMMY. CLARK.🤯🤯🤯#GoDukes | @TreClark_11 pic.twitter.com/qyTHkrkfuH
— Duquesne Basketball (@DuqMBB) February 21, 2024
The Billikens improved offensively towards the end of the first half, but the Dukes kept it going themselves, with Clark getting up to 11 points and Grant leading with 13 points, for a 41-27 advantage.
Grant continued his scoring efforts to start off the second half, making a mid-range jumper and back-to-back 3-pointers within 40 seconds and then an and-one opportunity off of a mid-range jumper to get up to 24 points and Duquesne to a 54-35 lead.
Duquesne's 2024 March Madness Tournament coverage is sponsored by Leon's Billiards & More, Moon Golf Club and Archie's on Carson! Their contributions have allowed us to cover the Dukes run in Omaha, Nebraska. We appreciate their support!
Bring the house down, Dae Dae!🤩#GoDukes | @DGrant_03 pic.twitter.com/pLADyp0Bpv
— Duquesne Basketball (@DuqMBB) February 21, 2024
The Dukes held the Billikens defensively, never letting them come even close the rest of the game.
Grant scored 31 points in the victory, shooting 10-for-19 from the field, 6-for-13 from 3-point range and a perfect 5-for-5 from the foul line. The 31 points match his high in the A-10 this season, dropping the same total on the road against Rhode Island on Feb. 3.
Clark had an excellent game for the Dukes, scoring 19 points, including shooting 7-for-8 from the free throw line. He also made six steals against the Billkens to tie a career high.
Duquesne shot 50.9% from the field against Saint Louis, their second best mark in the A-10 behind URI and their third best on the season. Their 12 steals also tied a season-high, making the same against Cleary and Bradley, both in December.
Duquesne will go back on the road, as they take on rival Fordham Friday night, 8:30 p.m. on ESPN2, looking to win their second game against them this season.
