Duquesne returned home last week from the Cornhusker Classic championship game knowing its 10-point loss to Nebraska was a product of some poor choices in a game it led for much of the way.

In spite of it, the Dukes enjoyed three days off during a Thanksgiving holiday stretch, the most coach Keith Dambrot said he has allowed during in his time on the Bluff.

Then, he said, when the Dukes returned to the court, they practiced poorly all three days leading up to Wednesday night’s 66-62 victory over UC Irvine at UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse.

With another six-day layoff until the next game Wednesday at Marshall, it was suggested that Dambrot’s players take another three days off before getting back to work.

“Oh, no,” Dambrot said. “We have some deficiencies now that are pretty telling, one of which isn’t how hard we play. We play hard, and we try to play the right way. We just have to fix our decision-making, at times, and try to get more settled as a coaching staff and team as to who’s going to play and when.”

But Duquesne sophomore David Dixon said there’s plenty of minutes to go around. It’s a matter of taking advantage of them.

“We’re all really good basketball players,” he said. “We’re all looking for our opportunities, and when it’s given to us, we’re taking full advantage of it and going to work.”

In this case, Dixon did just that.

So did Andrei Savrasov, the graduate transfer from Georgia Southern, where he was a second-team all-Sun Belt Conference pick a year ago.

Savrasov enjoyed his best game at Duquesne, scoring 15 points, and Dixon sank a pair of free throws with 4.1 seconds left to lead the Dukes (5-2), who ended UC Irvine’s six-game winning streak.

Among the Anteaters’ victories is a 70-60 upset of then-No. 16 Southern California.

Duquesne nearly let an 11-point lead slip away in the closing minutes.

“We had them on the ropes,” Dambrot said.

After Savrasov made a 3-pointer from the right wing to give the Dukes a 61-50 cushion with 4 minutes, 11 seconds left, UC Irvine (6-2) rallied with an 8-0 run, capped by Justin Hohn’s 3-pointer with 1:18 to go.

Dixon missed the front end of a 1-and-1 for Duquesne, and Dae Dae Grant stole the ball and was fouled before hitting both ends of a 1-and-1 with 28 seconds to go for a 63-58 Dukes lead.

Savrasov shot 6 for 10, including 3 for 4 from 3-point range, and finished with seven rebounds and two steals.

Dixon, a 6-foot-9 sophomore, who was slowed early in the season while recovering from knee surgery, scored 12 points on 5-of-9 shooting. He added five rebounds and five blocked shots, where he ranked fourth in the Atlantic 10 heading into the game.

“He dominated the defensive end, at times,” Dambrot said. “He’s an explosive guy. He’s just scratching the surface. Dave is a great kid, an unbelievable person. So you’re happy for him.”

Dixon now has 17 blocks (2.4 bpg) while averaging just 16 1/2 minutes per game off the bench.

“Every night, I eat, sleep and drink blocking shots,” he said. “I’m going to sleep really good tonight.”

Don’t forget those game-securing free throws. He was 2 for 3 against UC Irvine and has made 7 of 13 overall. But those, he said, were big, especially after he had missed one earlier in the half.

“It’s like clockwork because I shoot a whole lot of free throws,” Dixon said. “I know I missed the first one, but I knew those two shots were going in. Andrei kind of helped me with that. He told me, ‘Your shots are going in. Don’t worry about anything.’ ”

Savrasov responded: “He won us the game. I’m proud of him.”

Grant, Duquesne’s leading scorer (20.8 ppg), added 11 points for the Dukes.

Savrasov, who has struggled to find rhythm since joining the Dukes, appeared relieved as he basked in the postgame euphoria.

Dambrot said he hasn’t considered abandoning anyone in his original starting lineup, Savrasov included. The 6-7 Russian-born Savrasov was averaging 6.7 points and 3.8 rebounds per game coming in.

“It just shows how much my teammates and coaches believe in me, how much they trust me,” he said, “even through it’s not been a really good period for some of my games, where I had stretches that I couldn’t knock down some shots and missed some easy layups.

“They help me a lot, I know the work I put in every day, and I know this game will help me down the stretch to getting back into my groove and being the player I can be.”

After Grant gave the Dukes their five-point lead, Andre Henry hit a pair of free throws to pull UC Irvine within 63-60 before Jimmy Clark III made 1 of 2 free throws.

UC Irvine got within 64-62 on Dean Keeler’s putback with 7 seconds remaining.

The Dukes were unable to get the ball in to a sure ball-handler, and Dixon wound up with it and was fouled before making both at a critical time.

Hohn and Henry led UC Irvine with 13 points apiece. Derin Saran added 12 for the Anteaters, who head to Utah State on Dec. 2.

Duquesne trailed for much of the first half before seizing a 35-31 lead at the break. The Dukes opened up a 48-39 lead 6 1/2 minutes into the second half on a dunk by Dixon.

It was 51-42 when Savrasov connected on a 3-pointer at the 11:45 mark before UC Irvine climbed back into it.

Duquesne rallied from a 27-16 first-half deficit to take its first lead, Fousseyni Drame’s pull-up jumper capping a 12-0 run that put the Dukes ahead, 28-27, with 4:52 to go before intermission.

Copyright ©2025— Trib Total Media, LLC (TribLIVE.com)