Aug. 23, 2011
PITTSBURGH - A total of seven home games, plus a neutral-site game vs. Pitt at CONSOL Energy Center, highlight the 14-game non-conference portion of Duquesne University's 2010-11 men's basketball schedule announced today.
The Dukes will open the season on the road in the 2K Sports Classic in early November. DU will play one of four possible opening round opponents: Arizona, Mississippi State, St. John's or Texas A&M, before playing three games at a subregional site on Nov. 18-20. The complete bracket for the 2011 2K Sports Classic will be announced at a later date.
Duquesne will open at home against Green Bay on Sunday, November 13 between the 2K Classic opener and subregional round. The Dukes will host Louisiana-Lafayette following the 2K Sports Classic subregional on Saturday, November 26.
The 80th City Game against Pitt will be televised nationally by CBS College Sports on Wednesday, November 30 from CONSOL Energy Center. The Pitt game is set for a 7:00 p.m. start.
The Dukes will stay in Pittsburgh for three weeks beginning with the Pitt game. On Saturday, December 3, DU will host Tennessee Tech with Robert Morris visiting the Palumbo Center on Tuesday, December 6. Duquesne will host Penn State at CONSOL Energy Center on Saturday, December 10 before hitting the road for games at Western Michigan (Saturday, December 17) and at George Mason (Wednesday, December 21).
DU will be home over the holidays with games against Bowling Green on Wednesday, December 28 and Houston Baptist on New Year's Eve.
Season and group tickets are now on sale. Call 412-232-DUKE or go to www.GoDuquesne.com. Individual tickets will go on sale at a later date.
An in-depth look at the 2011-12 non-conference opponents follows:
AN IN-DEPTH LOOK at DU'S 2011-12 NON-CONFERENCE OPPONENTSfour 2K Sports Classic opponents to be added
SCHOOL (2011 RPI) W/L POSTSEASON CONFERENCE W/L FINISHBowling Green (246) 14-19 Mid-American 8-8 6thEat George Mason (24) 27-7 NCAA (3rd round, 1-1) Colonial 16-2 1stGreen Bay (168) 14-18 Horizon 8-10 7thHouston Baptist (345) 5-26 Great West 2-10 t6thLa. Lafayette (215) 14-15 Sun Belt 11-5 t1stPenn State (48) 19-15 NCAA (2nd round, 0-1) Big Ten 9-9 t4thvs. Pitt (12) 28-6 NCAA (3rd round, 1-1) Big East 15-3 1stRobert Morris (101) 18-14 Northeast 12-6 3rdTennessee Tech (193) 20-13 CIT (1st round, 0-1) Ohio Valley 12-6 4that W. Michigan (178) 21-13 CIT (2nd round, 1-1) Mid-American 11-5 1stW* - post-season conference tournament champion
Bowling Green • Mid-American Conference (East) ... Duquesne leads the series 16-9 ... second game of a home-and-home series ... DU has won the past three meetings - including a 90-54 win at BGSU last season - all under current head coach Ron Everhart ... the 36-point margin of victory was Duquesne's largest in a road game since February of 1973 ... the Dukes' average margin of victory in the three Everhart Era wins is +21.6 ppg. (87.3-65.7) ... Bowling Green returns eight players who started at least nine games for last year's 14-19 team ... senior forward Scott Thomas was named second team all-district by the NABC ... Thomas was the only player in the MAC to rank in the top 10 in the league in both rebounding (6.7 per game) and assists (3.5 per game) ... he also ranked third in the conference in steals and was second on the team in scoring (11.2 ppg.) ... BGSU went 2-1 in an August Canadian tour ... the Falcons split with the same A-Game Hoops team that split with Duquesne (W, 91-87 & L, 77-63) ... BGSU also defeated the same Phase 1 Elite squad that the Dukes defeated twice (80-64).
George Mason • Colonial Athletic Association ... George Mason, which has won the past four meetings with Duquesne, leads the series 4-1 ... second game of a home-and-home series ... the Patriots posted the best record in the CAA at 16-2 in 2010-11 ... included in the 16 wins was a 20-point mid-February victory over Final Four participant VCU ... GMU is in its first season under head coach Paul Hewitt ... Hewitt spent the past 11 years as the head coach at Georgia Tech ... Mason returns three starters and nine letterwinners from last year's squad which captured the CAA regular season title and advanced to the NCAA Tournament Third Round while setting a mark for the best single-season record (27-7) in program history ... GMU, which finished the year ranked 11th nationally in 3-point shooting percentage (39.5%), defeated the Dukes 85-79 in double overtime at the Palumbo Center last December ... there were 16 ties and 17 lead changes in the game which was tied at 64-64 at the end of regulation ... the two last met in a home-and-home series in 2003-04 (80-70 loss at home) & 2004-05 (79-58 loss at George Mason) ... GMU advanced to the NCAA Final Four the year after the last series concluded.
Green Bay • Horizon League ... Duquesne leads the series 1-0 ... second game of a home-and-home series ... DU won at Green Bay 81-71 last year ... the Phoenix went on to finish 14-18 including a 10-4 mark at home ... return three starters from last year's team including sophomore Daniel Turner who posted career highs for points (15) and rebounds (12) against the Dukes ... 7-1 center Alec Brown, who averaged 10.2 points and blocked 67 shots as a freshman is also back ... UWGB dropped a pair of conference games to Final Four participant Butler by a total of eight points last season ... 31-year-old Brian Wardle, a five-year assistant at UWGB, is in his second season as head coach ...Green Bay has gone 58-42 (.580) over the past three years with CBI appearances in 2009 & 2010.
Houston Baptist • Great West Conference ... Duquesne leads the series 1-0 ... second game of a home-and-home series ... DU defeated HBU 81-64 in Houston last season ... Houston Baptist was 0-15 on the road last season ... the Huskies are looking to replace four starters ... incoming 5-8 freshman guard Marcel Smith played side-by-side in the backcourt with DU sophomore Mike Talley at Detroit's Melvindale ABT ... the two led ABT to a state title in 2010.
Louisiana-Lafayette • Sun Belt Conference (West) ... this will be the first meeting between the Dukes and Ragin Cajuns ... first game of a home-and-home series ... Louisiana finished the 2011 season as one of the hottest teams in the nation, winning 11 in a row before bowing to Western Kentucky in the Sun Belt Championship quarterfinals to finish 14-15 ... the 11-game win streak, which tied the second-longest in school history, followed a 3-14 start ... ULL returns three starters including 6-5, 225-pound Second Team All-Sun Belt forward J.J. Thomas ... the bearded Louisiana native led the team in scoring (11.6 ppg.) on his way to being named Louisiana Freshman of the Year by the Bayou State's sportswriters ... head coach Bob Marlin, who is entering his second season, was cited as one of nation's most underappreciated Division I basketball coaches by ESPN's Jay Bilas this summer.
Penn State • Big Ten Conference ... PSU leads the series 24-18 ... second game of a home-and-home series ... this will be the first meeting between the former Eastern 8 rivals in Pittsburgh since a 70-69 Penn State win at the Palumbo Center on Nov. 30, 1994 ... this year's game will be played at CONSOL Energy Center ... last year, the Nittany Lions defeated the Dukes 77-73 at Bryce Jordan Center in the first meeting between the two since November of 1994 ... the Nittany Lions ranked 11th nationally in fewest turnovers per game at 10.5 ... PSU is in its first season under Patrick Chambers who was hired on June 6 ... DU and PSU shared membership in the Eastern 8 for 12 seasons (1977-79 & 1983-91) ... in regular season conference play the two tied at 12-12 ... Duquesne is 12-7 versus PSU in games played in Pittsburgh ... Penn State won seven of its last 10 Big Ten games to advance to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2001 last season.
Pittsburgh • Big East Conference ... Pitt leads series 48-31 ... this will be the 80th meeting between the two schools ... the Panthers and Dukes, who played in the last college basketball game at Mellon Arena on Dec. 2, 2009 (a 67-58 double-overtime Pitt win), christened the CONSOL Energy Center last season (an 80-66 Pitt win) ... the two will meet again at CONSOL this season ... Pitt returns two starters and seven of its top-10 letterwinners from a squad that won the Big East regular season title outright with a 15-3 record, finished 28-6 overall, garnered a No. 1 seed upon entering the NCAA Championship and advanced to the NCAA Tournament for the 10th consecutive season ... senior guard Ashton Gibbs (16.8 ppg.) ranked third nationally in 3-point percentage (49.9%) and fifth in 3-pointers per game (3.3) last season.
Robert Morris • Northeast Conference ... DU leads the series 15-6 ... RMU, under second-year head coach Andy Toole, saw a streak of three straight postseason tournament appearances snapped last season ... Duquesne, which is looking to avenge a 69-63 loss at Sewall Center last season, is 7-1 against the Colonials at Palumbo Center ... RMU finished third in the NEC at 12-6 and advanced to its third straight NEC Tournament championship game before falling in overtime to Long Island, 85-82 ... the Colonials return four starters and eight letterwinners.
Tennessee Tech • Ohio Valley Conference ... this will be the first meeting between the Dukes and Golden Eagles ... TTU returns 80 percent of its scoring from a team that went 20-13 in advancing to the OVC Tournament title game and earning a CIT bid ... 6-6 senior forward Kevin Murphy (17.0 ppg.), who has been named the team's Offensive Player of the Year for the past three seasons, led the team with 560 points - including a pair of 30-point games - last season ... senior guard Zac Swansey, a second-year transfer from Georgia, handed out 212 assists (6.4 apg. ranked 7th nationally) to go along with 68 steals last season ... TTU ranked 9th nationally in field goal percentage (.479) and 29th in rebound margin (+4.8) in 2011 ... TTU is in its first season under head coach Steve Payne who served on the Tennessee Tech staff as associate head coach for the past nine seasons.
Western Michigan • Mid-American Conference (West) ... this will be the first meeting between the Dukes and Broncos ... first game of a home-and-home series ... WMU finished 21-13 last year on the way to the CIT ... it was the eighth 20-win season in program history and the fourth under head coach Steve Hawkins, who began in 2004 ... the Broncos finished 11-5 in the MAC, good for the MAC West title ... WMU advanced to the semifinals of the MAC Tournament, defeating Bowling Green 67-56 before falling to eventual champion Akron ... Juwan Howard Jr. (9.3, 4.0) was named to the 2010-11 CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Freshman All-America team ... he was one of three Mid-American Conference players named to the list ... the game will mark a homecoming for the three Michigan natives on the Duquesne roster: Eric Evans, Jerry Jones and Mike Talley.
