Duquesne Basketball: Preview of games vs Stony Brook, Princeton, and Rider

After beating College of Charleston, Duquesne Basketball is 2-0, with a trio of home games coming up. Who should the Dukes look out for?

The neutral site matchup against College of Charleston was one of the marquee non-conference games for Duquesne Basketball. It’s likely to be a Quad 2 victory for whoever wins the game between them. And that’s the Dukes, who ended up with a convincing 90-72 win, thanks to 57 points in the second half.

Now with a 2-0 record, Duquesne comes back home for a trio of matchups before the big road battle versus Nebraska. Here’s a preview of each team and what the A-10 team needs to watch for.

Monday – Stony Brook Seawolves

After moving from the America East to the CAA, the Seawolves have changed its roster to take on tougher competition. They added some key transfers in Dean Noll (12.0 ppg) and Andre Snoddy (6.5 ppg and 5.0 rpg). He and 7’1 center Keenan Fitzmorris give them some solid size.

With double-digit scoring guards Toby Onyekonwu and Jared Frey, Stony Brook has some legit shooters, better than both Cleveland State and College of Charleston. Whether or not they can handle Duquesne’s overall athleticism is a complete question.

Wednesday – Princeton Tigers

Despite losing its two best players from last week’s Sweet 16 roster, Princeton looks to be just as formidable. They already have wins over both Rutgers and preseason CAA contender, Hofstra. The two starters that are back, guard Matt Allocco and forward Caden Pierce, are each averaging 17.0 ppg, with the team making 21 total 3PT in two games.

As they showed against Arizona, Princeton is fine against bigger teams and can run offense to take advantage. So it won’t be about being bigger but rather being more efficient. An offensive drought in this game could be fatal. For a team like this that’s willing to play slow, Duquesne’s guards and how many mistakes they can avoid making will be key in this matchup.

Friday – Rider Broncs

Rider returns its top two scorers from a team that finished second in the MAAC last season. Forward Mervin James and UMass transfer TJ Weeks are combining to average 30 ppg, 15.5 rpg, and 6.0 apg and is the key to the offense. They lost by 30 points to Marquette and don’t have a ton of size but does have a lot of experience players and can play fairly deep.

The Broncs might be the weakest of the trio but like Cleveland State, have some starpower at the top that can keep the team in the game. So the Dukes will have to take them serious but should be favored. As long as they can remain healthy and avoid a letdown, this team should be able to go 3-0 by next weekend.