I think we win this one but I'm not going to overreact to a loss.  On the road against a top 4 team is no easy business.  

This is a huge game against St.Louis,we need to win to get into top 100 rankings and shake things up
in A10.Dukes lose and we are going to have difficulty being top 4 team and Dukes get less respect.Can
we win this game,yes we have a good shot.I think St.Joes is a better team than St..Louis.

Again thanks PR for your game day statistics. 👍 I don’t like the offensive & defensive statistics for this game. Plus SLU at home. Should have a good crowd for Saturday night. Dukes got to stop Jemerson from raining threes. Fortunately Dukes on a roll. Huge opportunity to make a statement with a win. Go Dukes.

If we are really going to make noise and think about a a10 tournament championship this game goes a long way  if we win.It feels like Duquesne is going to make a powerful statement with a win and if the shots are falling and Grant plays well  folks will start taking notice.GO BLUFFITES.

VBC wrote:

PhoenixRising2 wrote:

The magic number tonight is 70 - if the Dukes can hold Saint Louis to under 70 points, I believe that the Dukes will walk away with a win.  Saint Louis' record is 1-8 when they score less than 70.

For me, one of the big keys tonight is Quincy McGriff. His size and skill set can help negate Saint Louis' bigger lineup (starting 5 at 6-0, 6-5, 6-5, 6-6 and 6-9) if he steps up and plays defense.  Likely, Clark will be matched up against Jimerson.  

Another key will be how the game is going to be called.  Likely, we will have 3 refs from the Midwest that haven't called a Dukes game this year.  Maybe this will work in our favor as compared to what we have seen in some A10 games.

Line is up to 5 points.

I'm thinking Jimmy Clark will be matched up with Yuri Collins and Dae Dae will get Jimerson.  If those 2 do a good job on defense and Tre Williams does the same against Okoro then we can keep SLU in the 50s or 60s and get a win.

Another player I'm looking at is St. Louis native Joe Reese.  A big game from Joe in front of friends and family would be a big help in getting a win.
 

You would like to have 2 Clarks to guard Collins and Jimerson.  I just don't know who Brewer/Rozier will be able to guard if it is not Collins; Pickett or Perkins are significant size matchup issues for our small guards.

Good point on Joe Reece's homecoming game.

Collins is the head of the snake.  Everything goes through him. Excited to see how Dambrot elects to cut the head off. Do we put Clark’s size on him and make someone else create their game? Or de we risk Brewer on Collins and let him throw over/around him? I think I would prefer to disrupt Collins’ rhythm with Clark, Grant on Jimerson, and dare Perkins who is coming off a major injury last season to iso on Brewer. From the games I have watched, the more we can disrupt Collins, the better. Easier said than done though when dealing with the top assist man in the nation.

PhoenixRising2 wrote:

A win tonight puts the Dukes into a 3 way tie for 3rd place (Fordham got crushed by VCU this afternoon).

I believe with the tie breakers will hold the 4th seed and a double bye while being tied for 3rd..  If we can get this one we have a chance at getting into the double bye group and never looking back. A win tonight and 13-5 is not out of the question.
 

Guess I don't understand: how can you have defensive goaltending without touching the ball, the rim, or the net?

Okoro pushes in the back on every shot.

Up by 15, then sit back in half court then up  by only  2 at half?  This is a shame. Not only let them back in the game, it's like KD is helping St. L. back in it. Second half better be at a fast pace or forget about it.

CityDuke wrote:

NapaDuke wrote:

My God, more half-court even less scoring.!!!

Napa, it may have appeared we slowed the game down but we did not. We just failed to get stops for that stretch and/or whistles allowed them to set their defense. I would expect us to keep running every chance we get.

No, at least 4 times with the rebound we slowed up in transition in the last 4 plus minutes to set a half-court when we had the ball and a lane to the basket. We didn't take it. That's not how to defeat this team. But St. Louis did just that?

Last edited by NapaDuke (2/18/2023 8:58 pm)

You don't pull your hot hands (Brewer and Grant on offense, and Clark on defense) when you jump out to a 15 point lead. Brewer was in a zone man. Should have gotten 15 minutes playing time, but instead, Rozier comes in and it's a 2 point game at half. Thinking Brewer was a plus ten and Rozier a minus 15 from what I watched. Not gonna win this game unless you put your best players out there for the majority of minutes. Sorry not to see Dixon playing. He could have really helped especially on defense, as Reese is a bit of a defensive liability at this point (understatement of the year). Got to win this game Dukes. The double bye is on the line and a win might give you a tad of respect among the masses who see this program as a joke. Not that I give a shoot about what they think. C'mon Dukes make a statement just once.