Dayton at Duquesne: What to know about tonight’s game

On Saturday after Dayton beat Loyola Chicago 83-81 on an alley-oop pass from Malachi Smith to Amaël L’Etang in the final seconds of overtime, Grant answered a question about the progression of L’Etang this season and then veered off in another direction.

“To me, it’s always got to be the team,” Grant said. “We’re in a day and age where everybody wants to make it about so much other stuff, man, and it gets in these kids’ heads. It’s just really hard for them. You fight it as a coach. You fight it because you see that they can get sidetracked.”

Grant said it’s important to focus on “what it’s supposed to be about and stop trying to make it something else. It’s the team. That’s where the joy is. Not everybody gets to do it. I don’t know if all of you (the media in the press conference) have had a chance to be a part of the team. Man, there’s nothing (like it). Where else can you get that? You can’t get that anywhere else in life.”

Grant said it’s important to understand the joy he saw when he walked into the locker room after the victory and saw the “excitement that they had for each other in coming together and getting the win. Where else are you finding that? Let’s keep it about that. That’s what it’s about.”

Joy and excitement were in short supply in the Dayton locker room in the first weeks of 2025 after three straight losses to George Washington, Massachusetts and George Mason. Dayton’s chances of earning a NCAA tournament at-large berth and winning the Atlantic 10 Conference regular-season championship took big hits. It has a slim margin for error now with 13 A-10 games to play.

To keep the good feelings going after a memorable victory at UD Arena, the Flyers (12-6, 2-3) will have to win a true road game for the first time this season. They play Duquesne (9-9, 4-1) at 7 p.m. Tuesday at UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse in Pittsburgh. Here are 10 things to know about the game:

1. Series history: Dayton leads the series 63-25. The Flyers had won five straight games against the Dukes and 11 of the last 12 games in the series before losing 65-57 in the Atlantic 10 Conference tournament quarterfinals last March. Duquesne then won the tournament to earn its first NCAA tournament berth since 1977.

Dayton swept the regular-season series last season, beating Duquesne 72-62 in Pittsburgh and then 75-59 at UD Arena.

2. UD injury news: Dayton guard Marvel Allen has not been on the bench for the last two games. He underwent a second knee surgery last week. UD announced in November he would miss the season with a knee injury and would need two surgeries. The first one took place just before the season started.

“It’s going to be a long process for him,” Grant said. “His family was in town for a few days. He’s not mobile as of yet, so we really haven’t seen him. From what I heard, it’s just a matter of allowing the process to take its course, and hopefully he’ll make a full recovery.”

Post Alexander missed his second straight game with a foot injury Saturday, though he did not wear a protective boot as he sat on the bench during the game as he did in the previous game against George Mason.

Zed Key landed on his back after a foul in the first half Saturday. He returned to the game in the second half but wasn’t moving well. He returned to the bench after a two-minute stint and didn’t play again.

“Hopefully, it’s nothing that’ll keep him out,” Grant said, “but we’ll have to wait and see.”

3. New coach: Dru Joyce III, Duquesne’s associate head coach the last two seasons, took over the program when Keith Dambrot retired after last season. Joyce played high school basketball at Akron St. Vincent-St. Mary with LeBron James.

Dambrot had a record of 116-96 in seven seasons.

4. Season summary: Duquesne opened the season with six straight losses to Lipscomb, Princeton, DePaul, Milwaukee, South Dakota State and Hampton. It has since won nine of its last 12 games.

Duquesne beat UC Irvine 72-54 for its best non-conference victory on Dec. 21. Irvine is now 17-2.

In A-10 play, Duquesne is 3-0 at home with victories against Rhode Island, Saint Joseph’s and St. Bonaventure. On the road, it lost to Davidson and beat George Washington.

In a 75-57 victory against St. Bonaventure on Saturday, Duquesne shot 41.2% (14 of 34) from 3-point range.

5. Standings update: George Mason (14-5, 5-1) has a half-game lead over Virginia Commonwealth (14-4, 4-1), Saint Louis (11-7, 4-1) and Duquesne (9-9, 4-1).

Dayton is tied for eighth place with Saint Joseph’s (11-7, 2-3), Davidson (12-6, 2-3), George Washington (13-5, 2-3), Loyola Chicago (11-7, 2-3) and La Salle (10-8, 2-3).

6. Roster losses: Duquesne’s two leading scorers, guards Dae Dae Grant (16.4 points per game) and Jimmy Clark (15.0), played their final seasons of college basketball last season.

7. Top returners: David Dixon, a 6-9 junior forward, ranked third in scoring last season (7.2) and ranks seventh this season (5.8).

• Jake DiMichele, a 6-4 sophomore guard, ranked fifth in scoring (6.4) last season and is second (10.9) this season.

8. Top newcomers: Tre Dinkins, a 6-2 junior guard, leads the team in scoring (11.3). He played the last two seasons at Canisius.

• Jahsean Corbett, a 6-6 senior forward, ranks third in scoring (9.8) and first in rebounding (5.8). He played the last three seasons at Chicago State.

9. Strengths and Weaknesses: Duquesne has shot 35.8% from 3-point range in A-10 play. That’s the fourth-best mark in the conference. Dayton ranks ninth (33%).

Duquesne shoots 64.2% from the free-throw line. It ranks 350th in the country out of 364 teams. Dayton shoots 73.5%, which ranks 132nd.

10. Odds & Ends: KenPom.com gives Dayton an 59% chance of winning and predicts a 69-67 score. Dayton fell from No. 59 to No. 67 in the Pomeroy ratings after beating Loyola. Duquesne ranked as low as No. 231 in December and is now No. 123.

• Dayton ranks 74th in the NCAA Evaluation Tool. It is the second highest-ranked A-10 team behind No. 56 VCU. No. 136 Duquesne is the 10th highest-ranked A-10 team.

This is a Quad 3 game for Dayton and a Quad 2 game for Duquesne

Dayton is 2-3 in Quad 1 games, 1-1 in Quad 2, 3-2 in Quad 3 and 5-0 in Quad 4. Duquesne is 0-0 in Quad 1, 2-3 in Quad 2, 4-3 in Quad 3 and 2-3 in Quad 4.

TUESDAY’S GAME

Dayton at Duquesne, 7 p.m., ESPN+, 95.7, 1290