There aren’t two teams in the Atlantic 10 with more opposite starts to the season than these two teams here. Duquesne Basketball started out 0-6, while Dayton went 10-3 in the non-conference that included wins over Marquette and UConn, being ranked at one point.
But that has flipped in the first few weeks of league play. The Dukes are tied for second in the standings at 4-1, coming off a home win over St. Bonaventure. Meanwhile, the Flyers have stumbled as of late, losing to UMass, GW, and George Mason to be 2-3 in the standings.
It’s an important game for both sides, with Duquesne Basketball looking to be a program they’ve historuically struggled with in the regular-season. Here are three keys to the matchup.
1. Limit impact of Malachi Smith
After missing all of last season with an injury, Smith has returned as the lead guard for Dayton. He’s averaging 11.3 ppg and 5.7 apg on 46% shooting. He has three games of 14+ points in A-10 play so far and has been a bigger focal point of the offense so far. Between that and his ability to find shooters on the perimeter, look for the Dukes to try and gameplan him out of the game.
2. Take advantage of suddenly average defense
In the DaRon Holmes era, Dayton was one of the top team defenses in the country. They were solid on that end in the non-con but have been one of the worst teams in league play. They’re currently last in three-point defense, giving up 40% from deep. Meanwhile, Duquesne is top-5 in attempts, makes, and percentage in league play and has overcome its slow start in that category. With Posh Alexander potentially out again with a foot injury, that’s another capable perimeter defender the Dukes won’t have to deal with.
3. Getting Jahsean Corbett back on track
The biggest individual matchup in the game will be at the four-spot, with Corbett taking on Nate Santos, who leads Dayton with 14.4 rpg, shooting 40% from deep on five attempts a game. Corbett should be able to defend him well on the perimeter but he has a good chance to score on him inside.
After scoring a career-high 29 points at Davidson, the senior forward has struggled in the last three games for the Dukes, averaging 4.7 ppg on just 4/22 shooting. Duquesne was able to win without Corbett giving them much but against Dayton, they’ll need him to get back to being a double-digit contributor to get another league win.