THE SERIES
- Canisius competes in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference.
- This is the first of four games as part of the Bluegrass Showcase (at #2 (AP) Kentucky, UT Martin & Cleveland State are the others).
- Duquesne leads the series 10-5, including a 7-1 advantage in games played in Pittsburgh.
- This is the first meeting since an 86-77 Duquesne double overtime win at Palumbo Center on Dec. 16, 2009.
- DU head coach Jim Ferry 1-1 against the Golden Griffins with both meetings coming while he was at LIU.
- Canisius returns three double-digit scorers in senior Phil Valenti (14.6 ppg., 6.1 rpg.), junior Kassius Robertson (14.1 ppg., 86 3-pointers) and junior Jermaine Crumpton (10.4) (last year stats listed) from last year's 14-19 (8-12/T7th in MAAC) team.
- Canisius is in its first season under head coach Reggie Witherspoon who took over for the retired Jim Baron in May. The Buffalo native, who served as head coach at the University at Buffalo for 14 seasons from 1999-13, returned home from Chattanooga where he was an assistant last season.
- Duquesne is 42-23 all-time against the schools that comprise the current MAAC.
- Canisius is coming off a 67-64 loss at Cleveland State on Tuesday ... the Griffs, who led 36-31 at the half, were within one with 1:48 left ... Jermaine Crumpton led Canisius with 21 points in 24 minutes ... Kassius Robertson added 13 (4-of-5 from 3-point) ... Canisius had 17 assists on 23-made field goals ... Cleveland State shot 51.7 percent in the second half ... the Vikings had 15 offensive rebounds ... Canisius got nine points from its bench ... Cleveland State's largest lead was four.
QUICK NOTES
- Duquesne (2-1), playing its second of three games in five days, takes on Canisius (0-2) as part of the Bluegrass Showcase on Friday night at 7:00 p.m. at the Palumbo Center. The Dukes opened the current stretch with an 89-75 home win over Saint Francis U Wed. night. DU has won its last 11 non-conference home games dating back to Dec. 28, 2014.
- Duquesne is in its fifth season under head coach Jim Ferry, who came to DU after leading LIU Brooklyn to back-to-back NCAA Tournament appearances (2011 & 2012). Ferry led the Dukes to 17 wins and a CBI appearance last year. The 2015-16 Dukes (17-17) posted the most wins in the Ferry Era (previous 13-17 in 2014) and finished with the school's eighth non-losing season in the past 35 years. It was just the seventh time in the past 44 seasons that a Duquesne team posted 17 wins. DU returns two starters (Darius Lewis & Eric James) from that team. This is the 101st season for Duquesne basketball.
- Four of DU's top five scorers are first-year players. Leading scorer Tarin Smith (14.7 ppg.) is a first-year transfer from Nebraska and second (Isiaha Mike, 10.3 ppg.), fourth (Mike Lewis II, 9.0 ppg.) and fifth-leading scorers (Spencer Littleson, 7.3 ppg.) are all first-year freshmen. Lewis II, Smith & Mike have started all three games. A fourth starter, Emile Blackman (5.0 ppg.) is a first-year grad transfer from Niagara. Darius Lewis (7.0 ppg.) is the lone returnee in the current starting five.
- The Dukes broke out of a two-game .413 shooting start (10-of-35 from 3-point) to hit 52.5 percent of their shots in the win over Saint Francis U. DU went 13-of-25 from the arc. vs. the Red Flash.
- Duquesne, which entered the SFU game with 19 assists in its first two games, assisted on 21 of 32 field goals.
- The Dukes are looking toward seven newcomers to help replace 71.5 percent of the scoring, 64.9 percent of the minutes and 77.4 percent of the team's assists gone from last year's team.
- One transfer who practiced with the team while sitting out last season is eligible in 2016-17: 6-2 So. G Tarin Smith (Nebraska). Smith scored a career-high 23 points (8-11 from field) vs. Saint Francis U.
- Second-year transfer guard Rene Castro (Butler) came off the bench to score a career-high 26 points (6-9 from 3-point) against Saint Francis U. Castro had 48 points in his first 19 games in a Duquesne uniform.
- DU will leave Pittsburgh Saturday afternoon to continue play in the Bluegrass Showcase at No. 2 (AP) Kentucky on Sunday, Nov. 20 at 9:00 p.m. (ESPNU) (please note change from ESPN).
