Much-Improved Duquesne Near Top of A-10

Former Akron Coach Dambrot has Dukes on Rise in First Season on Bench

In our continued pursuit of profit and value ‘Dogs, let’s take a shot with Duquesne (+5) on road at St. Louis. Dukes may not be ranked or crack top-25 soon, but improvement noted.

Wed., Jan. 17

Much improved Duquesne (13-5) is 4-1 SU/ATS in league play covering the number by margin with four outright ‘Dog wins the past month. Triple OT win Sat saw offense come to life in 101-94 win over LaSalle. Center Jordan Robinson had a career-best game wtih a double-double, and the Dukes have four guards averaging double-digit scoring. Saturday’s performance might be an indication the Dukes could be more balanced moving forward and play the style coach Dambrot prefers – inside out. Dukes still undervalued under 1st-year former Akron coach Dambrot, who has turned Duquesne around after his Akron teams averaged 24 wins per year the past 5 seasons.

Team stats

St. Louis is 1-4 in league play and Dukes play w/dbl revenge having lost to STL in the A-10 tourney last season. Billikens are also one of the worst shooting teams in the country and play at a snails pace. Despite St. Louis’ best offensive game of the season Saturday, its defensive lapses were troublesome in a loss at George Mason. Having lost four of its last five games with lone win over Richmond (4-13), St. Louis is still learning it’s way through the process under coach Ford.  Better team with decent points as ‘Dog is Top Play.