Sept. 7, 2004

PITTSBURGH - Four games in 11 days including two versus Dayton and a trip to Xavier highlight the start of the Duquesne Dukes 2004-05 Atlantic 10 schedule released today. Duquesne, coming off a 12-17 (6-10 in the Atlantic 10) finish last season, opens league play at Dayton on Jan. 5. The Dukes will host George Washington - one of the preseason favorites to win the Atlantic 10 West - on Jan. 8 prior to heading to Cincinnati to face Xavier on Jan. 12. DU then plays Dayton for the second time on Jan . 15 in the first of three consecutive home games. More than half (15) of Duquesne's 29 regular-season games will come against teams that made post-season appearances last season. Boston College (24-10) and Pittsburgh (31-5) of the Big East along with Dayton (24-9), Richmond (20-13), Saint Joseph's (30-2) and Xavier (26-11) of the Atlantic 10 all reached the NCAA Tournament a year ago, while George Mason, George Washington (A10), Rhode Island (A10), Temple (A10) and West Virginia all advanced to last year's NIT. The Dukes open the season as part of the four-team exempt NABC Classic at the University of New Mexico on Nov. 12-14. DU faces Santa Clara followed by North Carolina A&T and host New Mexico on consecutive nights in the round-robin formatted event. "I'm very excited about starting the season with three games in three days," said fourth-year Duquesne coach Danny Nee. "It will give us invaluable experience as we open the season." Duquesne returns to Pittsburgh to start the home season on Saturday, November 20 vs. Lafayette. West Virginia (Nov. 24), Akron (Dec. 1), Maryland-Baltimore County (Dec. 11) and Youngstown State (Dec. 31) round out the home non-conference schedule. The Dukes will hit the road to play George Mason (Nov. 27), Pittsburgh (Dec. 4), Ohio (Dec. 18) Boston College (Dec. 22) and Robert Morris (Dec. 29) in non-league play. DU's Atlantic 10 season begins with the four games in 11 days stretch followed by home games vs. Rhode Island (Jan. 19) and St. Bonaventure (Jan. 23 - A10-TV). The Bonnies game is the first of four Atlantic 10 Television games for the Dukes. The Dukes will then hit the road for three in a row at La Salle (Jan. 29), at Richmond (Feb. 1) and at Saint Joseph's (Feb. 5 - A10-TV). Duquesne hosts Xavier (Feb. 13 - A10-TV) and Temple (Feb. 16) before heading to Washington D.C. for a rematch with George Washington (Feb. 19). DU completes the home schedule vs. La Salle (Feb. 23) and Richmond (Feb. 27 - A10-TV) before winding up the regular season with trips to Fordham (Mar. 2) and Massachusetts (Mar. 5). "I think we have a very fair, very competitive schedule," continued Nee. "We have a tough start to the conference season, but, hey, you have to play everyone in your division twice. I really like the schedule, we have three home television games which is good for our program." NOTING THE 2004-05 DUQUESNE SCHEDULE * - Breakdown of games: Home (13), Road (14), Neutral (2). * - More than half of DU's 29 games (15 total) will be against 11 schools that made post-season appearances last season. NCAA (6): Boston College (24-10), Dayton (24-9), Pittsburgh (31-5), Richmond (20-13), Saint Joseph's (30-2) and Xavier (26-11). NIT (5): George Mason (21-9), George Washington (18-12), Rhode Island (20-14), Temple (15-14) and West Virginia (15-13). * - Three of Duquesne's four Atlantic 10 TV Network games will be at home: Jan. 23 vs. St. Bonaventure, Feb. 13 vs. Xavier and Feb. 27 vs. Richmond (Feb. 5 at Saint Joseph's will also be televised). * - Duquesne makes just its fourth appearance - and first appearance in over a decade - at Robert Morris' Sewall Center on Wed., Dec. 29. The last time the Dukes played at RMU was on Dec. 22, 1994. DU is 3-0 all time at Robert Morris. * - The 2004-05 Atlantic 10 Championship will be played for the first time at Cincinnati's U.S. Bank Arena (Mar. 9-12).