Sept. 29, 2011

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2012 Duquesne Non-Conference Opponent Breakdown

PITTSBURGH- The Duquesne men's basketball team will open the 2011-12 season on Nov. 9 at Arizona as part of the opening round of the 2K Sports Classic it was announced today.

The game, which will be televised nationally by ESPNU at 9:00 (EST), will be followed by three subregional games at Valparaiso, Ind. on Nov. 18-20.

The Dukes will face Division II University of the District of Columbia at 6:00 p.m. (EST) on Nov. 18, Akron at 6:00 p.m. (EST) on Nov. 19 and host Valparaiso at 4:30 p.m. (EST) on Nov. 20 in the subregional.

This will be Duquesne's first game against Arizona since 1987. It will also be head coach Ron Everhart's fourth meeting with third-year UA coach Sean Miller who was at Xavier from 2005-09. Everhart went 2-1 against Miller's Musketeers including a 72-68 home win over the then-No. 9 (AP) Musketeers in the last meeting on Feb. 7, 2009. DU, which leads the overall series with Arizona 3-1, will be making its first trip to Tucson.

The Arizona game will be Duquesne's second consecutive road game against a Pac-12 school, as DU saw last season end with a 77-75 defeat at Oregon in the second round of the College Basketball Invitational.

Duquesne's three Division I opponents in the Classic, all of which advanced to post-season play in 2010-11, averaged 25.3 wins and had an average RPI of 66.7 last year.

DU will open its home season against Green Bay on Nov. 13 between 2K Sports Classic games.

For a more detailed look at DU's history against its 2K Sports Classic opponents see below.

AN IN-DEPTH LOOK AT DU'S 2K CLASSIC OPPONENTS

ARIZONA• Pac-12 Conference ... 2K Sports Classic opponent ... Duquesne leads the series 3-1 ... it will be DU's first trip to Tucson ... the first three meetings - all Duquesne wins - were at Pittsburgh ... it will be the first game between the two since a 133-78 Arizona win in the first round of the Great Alaska Shootout on Nov. 27, 1987 ... the 133 points are an Arizona single-game record ... UA, which was ranked No. 17 (AP) at the time of the game, was led by Sean Elliott, Steve Kerr, Kenny Lofton and Anthony Cook ... the Wildcats, under Lute Olson, went on to finish 35-3 and advance to the NCAA Final Four ... Arizona third-year head coach Sean Miller went 4-2 against the Dukes while head coach at Xavier from 2004-05 through 2008-09 ... DU head coach Ron Everhart was 2-1 against Miller's Xavier teams including a 72-68 home win over the then-No. 9 (AP) Musketeers in the last meeting on Feb. 7, 2009 ... Arizona returns four key contributors from last year's 30-8 Pac-10 Conference regular-season championship team which advanced to the NCAA Tournament West Regional final ... UA ranked fifth nationally in 3-point percentage defense and 10th in 3-point shooting percentage in advancing to the Elite Eight ... the Wildcats, who are considered a Top 10 preseason caliber team, have brought in a recruiting class ranked No. 7 in the nation by ESPN.com ... all four incoming recruits are ranked among ESPN.com's top 100.

AKRON • Mid-American Conference (East) ... 2K Sports Classic opponent ... Duquesne leads the series 12-8, however Akron has won the past six meetings ... UA won 11 of its final 14 games (including four in the MAC Championship) to advance to the 2011 NCAA Tournament ... it was the Zips' second NCAA Tournament appearance in three years ... has appeared in the MAC title game five consecutive times ... the Zips are one of 20 NCAA Division I schools to post six-straight 20-win seasons ... head coach Keith Dambrot's father, Sid, helped Duquesne to a 70-15 record and three NIT and one NCAA appearance from 1952 through 1954 ... senior forward Nikola Cvetinovic was a second team All-MAC pick last season ... 7-0 junior McKeesport HS grad Zeke Marshall broke the Akron single-season blocks record with 92 (19th nationally in bpg.) on his way to earning MAC Tournament MVP ... returning guard Alex Abreu set the UA freshmen single-season mark for assists with 128 in 2010 ... Akron won the last meeting 87-74 at the Palumbo Center on Feb. 26, 2007 ... Duquesne's last series win was at home on Nov. 30, 1996 ... Akron concluded its first foreign trip since 1999 with a perfect 5-0 record in August ... the squad finished the trip averaging 87.2 ppg while holding five opponents to just 63.0 ppg (+24.2 ppg).

VALPARAISO • Horizon League ... 2K Sports Classic opponent ... Duquesne leads the series 2-0 ... this will be the first meeting between the Dukes and Crusaders since a 63-39 DU win at McKeesport High School on Feb. 17, 1947 ... it will also be the first meeting between the two schools outside the city of Pittsburgh (DU also won at home, 48-34, on Dec. 31, 1933) ... Valpo is in its first season under head coach Bryce Drew who took over from his father, Homer, this summer ... Homer served as head coach for 22 seasons ... the Crusaders received votes in the ESPN/USA Today Coaches Poll for four straight weeks in 2010-11, and made their tenth postseason appearance in the last 16 years, earning a home game in the CIT ... Valpo was 13-4 at home last season with wins over Butler, Cleveland State and Milwaukee ... the Crusaders ranked 18th in field goal percentage (47.4%) and 21st in assists per game (15.8) in 2010 ... juniors Ryan Broekhoff (Frankston, Victoria, Australia/Australian Institute of Sport) and Richie Edwards (Lakeland, Fla./Lakeland [Hillsborough C.C.]) led the Australia and New Zealand teams, respectively, in scoring at the 26th World University Games in Shenzhen, China in August.

UNIVERSITY OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA • Division II ... 2K Sports Classic opponent ... this will be the first meeting between the Dukes and Firebirds and third consecutive season the Dukes will face a D-II opponent ... DU defeated Arkansas-Monticello 75-72 in overtime at the O'Reilly Auto Parts CBE Classic in Cullowhee, N.C. in November of 2009 and opened last season with a 110-67 win at home over Bluefield State ... UDC, which returns four starters from a team that won 11 of its last 18 games to finish 11-15, is in its fourth season under head coach Jeff Ruland ... Ruland, a former NBA player, led his alma mater Iona College to three 20-win seasons, three MAAC Championships and three NCAA Tournament appearances from 1999 through 2007 ... UDC returns a Division-I transfer backcourt in seniors Brandon Herbert (19.9 ppg.) and Nigel Munson (18.4 ppg.) ... the 6-0 Herbert, who began his career at Binghamton, hit 71 3-pointers while shooting 42.3 percent from the arc in 2011 ... Munson, a 6-2 transfer from Virginia Tech, handed out 121 assists and shot 80 percent from the foul line ... the duo was named co-MVP of the team in 2011 ... UDC improved from 1-20 to 11-15 last season.