Both Bowling Green and Duquesne are looking to get back to .500 on the season. Which team has the edge in this matchup against each other?
TV schedule: Wednesday, December 1st, 7:00 pm ET. ESPN+
Arena: UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
After beating Rider to start out the season, Duquesne had lost four straight games in a row. That included games against Northeastern and Colorado, with the Buffaloes’ defeat coming hard considering the Dukes were leading by double figures before ultimately losing in overtime. They did salvage their trip to the Paradise Jam Event by beating Bradley and just recently defeated American, 88-79.
Duquesne was trailing by as much as nine points in the first half before a late charge gave them a 1-point lead at the break. A 50-point second-half explosion gave them the victory, led by 23 points from Leon Ayers III, along with 21 points, six assists, and six steals from freshman Primo Spears. Now at 3-4 with two straight wins, the Dukes remain at home to take on Bowling Green.
The Falcons (3-4) are coming off a 75-57 win over Chicago State, led by 18 points from Joe Reece and 17 from Daeqwon Plowden, who leads the team on the season with 15.3 ppg and 6.9 rpg. He and Reece are the lone double-digit scorers but seniors, Myron Gordon and Trey Diggs are right on the cusp. Offense hasn’t been the problem for the MAC program but rather on defense, where they rank 300th in opponents scoring at 75.7 ppg. Duquesne hasn’t been very high-scoring in their own right but the season-high 88 against the Eagles could be a sign of things to come.
From a matchup standpoint, things are fairly even sizewise in the frontcourt between Plowden and Reece of Bowling Green and Tre Williams and Kevin Easley of Duquesne. The Falcons rely on their forwards more in terms of offensive production, while the Dukes have more reliable scoring options on the perimeter. However, the upperclassmen-heavy guards that the Falcons have could frustrate the freshman Spears for Duquense, who needs him to be effective on both ends.
Both teams have had their fair shares of ups and downs but Duquesne has shown to be better defensively and with them being at home, should be more comfortable on Wednesday night in their offense. This should be a fairly high-scoring game but I give the edge to the Dukes in a tight one.
Prediction: Duquesne 77, Bowling Green 71