Two of the most impressive mid-major conference teams through the first month of the 2023-24 college basketball season continue their respectively grueling schedules with a high-stakes showdown in Las Vegas. 

Both Duquesne from the Atlantic 10 Conference and Santa Clara out of the West Coast Conference have appeared in the FloHoops Mid-Major Power Rankings so far this campaign. Each boasts impressive non-conference wins, and one will leave the Orleans Arena on Dec. 23 with another strong entry into their resume come March. 

Duquesne rides a four-game winning streak into Las Vegas after its 69-67 win over Bradley on Dec. 18 in Akron, Ohio. 

The Dukes' win over the Braves — another squad that has appeared in the FloHoops Mid-Major Power Rankings — culminated in David Dixon's buzzer-beating layup after a Jimmy Clark III steal. 

DAVID DIXON FOR THE LEAD‼️

69-67 Dukes with 0.2 seconds left#GoDukes pic.twitter.com/icwZfqrXRo

— Duquesne Basketball (@DuqMBB) December 19, 2023

Bradley marks Duquesne's third win over an opponent with a KenPom overall ranking inside the top 130, joining the Dukes' opening-week defeat of reigning Coastal Athletic Association champion and preseason CAA favorite Charleston, and a 66-62 win Nov. 29 over UC Irvine. 

Santa Clara is Duquesne's fourth opportunity for a top-130 KenPom win, and the Dukes' sixth such opponent overall. Both teams have faced tough non-league slates leading to this point, with the Broncos drawing their seventh different opponent in the KenPom top 100. The Dukes are Santa Clara's fourth such opponent in the last five games. 

Coach Herb Sendek's team boasts wins over Stanford, Oregon and Washington State, all of which check in the KenPom top 100. Last Saturday's 69-61 defeat of a solid Washington State team followed a heartbreaking, 84-82 loss against a Utah State bunch that has appeared prominently in the FloHoops Mid-Major Power Rankings for a month straight. 

𝙼𝚊𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝙷𝚒𝚜𝚝𝚘𝚛𝚢 📖

The Broncos have defeated three different Pac-12 opponents in the same season for the first time since 1954-55 #StampedeAhead pic.twitter.com/SGu2mq8iNV

— Santa Clara Men's Basketball (@SantaClaraHoops) December 19, 2023

In a meeting of two teams with NCAA Tournament potential, here are three keys to watch when Duquesne and Santa Clara tip off in Las Vegas. 

Block Party Invitation 

A Duquesne defense that ranks 45th in the nation with an opponent 2-point field-goal percentage of 45.3 owes a fair bit of its success to its shot-blocking prowess. The Dukes are No. 25 nationally in the percentage of opponent shots resulting in blocks — 14.1, per KenPom.com metrics — behind Dixon's overwhelming presence in the paint. 

David Dixon:

36 career games
47 blocks
1.31 per game
11 blocks in the past three games

A blocking machine. 🚫🖐️ #GoDukes x @Ohthatsdave_ pic.twitter.com/Eo4XF3IFP7

— Duquesne Basketball (@DuqMBB) December 14, 2023

Dixon averages 2.3 blocked shots per game, good for No. 21 among all Div. I players, but is seventh nationally in the percentage of defensive possessions Duquesne faces in which he delivers a swat. Halil Barre is also averaging more than a block per game. 

Both Dukes defensive standouts effectively use their 6-foot-9 frames to protect the rim, but they face their collectively longest competition yet this season in Santa Clara. 

The Broncos are the fourth-tallest team nationally on average, featuring a primary rotation with 6-foot-10 Johnny O'Neil and 7-foot-1 Francisco Caffaro on the interior with 6-foot-7 Adama Bal, 6-foot-6 Carlos Marshall and 6-foot-5 Tyeree Bryan playing the wings. 

Santa Clara has effectively leveraged its size to avoid blocked shots, ranking in the country's top 25 for percentage of possessions resulting in a swat. A byproduct is the Broncos shooting almost 54 percent on 2-point field-goal attempts. 

Pushing The Pace 

Santa Clara likes to get out and run, averaging 15.6 seconds of possession on offense and playing with one of the faster tempos in all of college basketball. In wins, the Broncos have scored 82.1 points per game. 

Running comes with risk, however, and Santa Clara's gone bust in losses with at least 81 points allowed in each of its five setbacks. Opponents have scored an average of 85.6 points on the Broncos in Santa Clara defeats. 

An average of 16.6 turnovers in their losses have contributed to the Broncos' woes in those contests. More possessions translate to more potential change in possession, and Duquesne has been strong at generating takeaways this season. 

The Dukes average a steal on 8.2 percent of opponent possessions, with three players averaging more than a theft per contest: Dixon at 1.1, Andrei Savrasov at 1.3 and Clark with 2.5. Clark's production is good for 20th among all Div. I players. 

Duquesne can and will pick up the tempo through its turnover creation, but the Dukes have typically played with a slower pace than Santa Clara. In their last loss, Nov. 22 at Nebraska, the Dukes gave up 89 points and a 1.41 point-per-possession pace to the Cornhuskers. 

Getting Hot From Outside 

While the Duquesne defense has been especially great on the interior, its performance beyond the arc will be a development to follow on Saturday. Santa Clara's offense isn't especially reliant on the 3-pointer, but has dangerous weapons in the long game that can help set up the Broncos' inside scoring. 

Bal and Marshall each average around two made 3-pointers per contest. Bal is shooting 37.5 percent from beyond the arc, while Marshall's 45.5 percent clip ranks in the top 100 of all Div. I players. 

big trey from @adama_bal to push the lead back up to 🔟#StampedeAhead pic.twitter.com/sxkge0YllK

— Santa Clara Men's Basketball (@SantaClaraHoops) December 16, 2023

Duquesne, meanwhile, has Kareem Rozier shooting at 45 percent from outside with almost two made per contest. The most frequent Dukes 3-point shooter, however — Dae Dae Grant with 26 made attempts — is only hitting at a 31.3 percent clip. 

If Grant gets hot, however, look out: He's Duquesne's most effective slasher, and once his 3-pointer falls, it only opens the floor more for him to make plays off the dribble. 

12.8 Highlights 📽️

🔹 Dae Dae Grant » 19 pts, 10/10 FT
🔹 Jimmy Clark » 12 pts, 6 stl, 5 ast
🔹 Fousseyni Drame » 11 pts, 7 rbs, 2 stl#GoDukes pic.twitter.com/TFaQbXp6B3

— Duquesne Basketball (@DuqMBB) December 11, 2023