June 26, 2008
PITTSBURGH - A Thanksgiving weekend trip to Durham, N.C. to face national power Duke highlights the list of Duquesne's 2008-09 non-conference men's basketball opponents released today.
In addition to the Blue Devils, Duquesne will also face 2007-08 NCAA Tournament teams Pittsburgh and West Virginia in addition to NIT participant Robert Morris. Each of the four teams posted more than 25 wins last season.
The Dukes will play seven times at home and six on the road in non-league action beginning with the season opener at home versus High Point on Friday, Nov. 14.
Home opponents include Bowling Green, Furman, High Point, North Carolina Central, Oakland and Rice along with WVU.
In addition to Duke, Pittsburgh and Robert Morris, Duquesne will face Radford, Saint Francis, Pa. and South Carolina Upstate on the road.
Dates and times for the non-conference games will be released at a later date, although it has been confirmed that the Duke game will be played the day after Thanksgiving (Nov. 28) and will be televised nationally by ESPN2.
Third-year head coach Ron Everhart will be without the five leading scorers from last year's 17-13 team which posted the school's first winning record since 1993-94. Everhart will take a roster that includes 11 freshmen and sophomores into the 2008-09 season.
"I think we've been able to put together a non-conference schedule that will be both challenging and provide us with a chance to develop as a team," said Everhart. "Our goal is to prepare as best we can for the Atlantic 10. We hope to continue to improve and build on the success our program achieved last season."
Duke, coached by Hall of Famer Mike Krzyzewski, has more wins than any other NCAA Division I program this decade. The Blue Devils have won 189 of their past 192 non-conference games at Cameron Indoor Stadium.
"Cameron Indoor Stadium is one of the special places in college basketball ," said Everhart. "I'm hoping the experience of playing in that environment - and on national television - will benefit our team down the road," said Everhart. "I have nothing but respect for coach K and what he has accomplished at Duke. It will be a real honor to compete against them."
Duquesne and Duke have met five times with Duke holding a 4-1 advantage. Duquesne's last appearance at Durham was on Feb. 10, 1975 when John Cinicola's Dukes, featuring sophomore point guard Norm Nixon, dropped an 80-73 decision in front of a crowd of 4,200.
2008-09 DUQUESNE MEN'S BASKETBALLNON-CONFERENCE OPPONENTS
Home Opponents Road OpponentsBowling Green DukeFurman PittsburghHigh Point RadfordNorth Carolina Central Robert MorrisOakland Saint Francis, Pa.Rice South Carolina UpstateWest Virginia
• Game dates and times to be announced •
• Atlantic 10 schedule to be released at a later date •
