Duquesne (2-4) completes the four-game Bluegrass Showcase when it hosts Cleveland State (1-3) at 2:00 p.m. on Sunday, Nov. 27 at the Palumbo Center (A-10 Network). CSU is 1-2 in Showcase games with a home win over Canisius (67-64) and road losses at UT Martin (74-85) and at No. 1 (AP) Kentucky (70-101). DU is 0-3 in the Showcase with losses to Canisius (78-77 at home), at No. 2 (AP) Kentucky (93-59) and to UT Martin (66-63 at home).
THE SERIES
- Cleveland State competes in the Horizon League. The Vikings were picked to finish eighth in the league's preseason poll.
- Cleveland State leads the series 2-1. This is the first meeting between the two since a home-and-home series in 2001-02 and 2002-03. The two have split games in Pittsburgh with CSU winning the last meeting, 74-67 on Nov. 27, 2002 at Palumbo Center.
- CSU is coming off a 9-23 season (4-14/9th in Horizon League). The Vikings return four starters and six of the top seven scorers from that team.
- Cleveland State is in its 11th season under veteran head coach Gary Waters, who is in his 21st overall season as a Division I head coach. Waters has led the Vikings to five 20-win seasons and six postseason appearances, including the 2009 NCAA Tournament. His Vikings teams have also played in three NITs (2008, 2011 & 2012)
- DU head coach Jim Ferry is 2-0 all-time vs. the Horizon League with an 84-74 win over Youngstown State on Nov. 21, 2012 (his fifth game at Duquesne) and a 96-92 overtime win over Milwaukee at the Gulf Coast Showcase in Estero, Fla. on Nov. 24, 2015.
- Six-foot freshman guard Kasheem Thomas has been an early-season surprise for the Vikings. The Quebec native is averaging 4.8 assists in 27 minutes per game. He brings a 1.9-to-1 assist-to-turnover ratio into the Duquesne game.
- Six-four sophomore guard Rob Edwards scored a career-high 28 points (12-of-21) in CSU's 101-70 loss at No. 1 (AP) Kentucky on Wednesday. CSU, which shot .391, was outrebounded 47-36 and outscored in the paint 52-20.
LAST GAME
Jacolby Mobley hit a 3-pointer at the final horn to give UT Martin a 66-63 win over Duquesne at Palumbo Center on Wednesday night ... the three-point final margin was UTM's largest of the game .. DU, which led by 16 (52-36) with 13:32 left, held the lead for 32:43 of the 40 minutes ... the Dukes, who limited UT Martin to an opponent season-low .348 shooting, missed 17 of their last 19 field goal attempts to finish at .375... UTM outrebounded DU 49-38 ... the Skyhawks turned 16 offensive boards into 14 second-chance points ... Emile Blackman led DU with 19 points ... Isiaha Mike added 15 ... Rene Castro scored all 11 of his points in the first half for the Dukes ... Duquesne finished 6-of-23 from 3-point.
QUICK NOTES
- Duquesne, which saw its non-conference home win streak snapped at 11 on a Canisius game-winner with :01.9 left on Nov. 18, suffered a second-straight last-second defeat when UT Martin's Jacolby Mobley hit a 3-pointer at the buzzer to defeat the Dukes, 66-63, on Wednesday night.
- DU's top four scorers are first-year players: Sophomore Tarin Smith, a first-year transfer from Nebraska, is averaging 12.5 points per game. He is followed by freshman Isiaha Mike (11.7 ppg.), first-year graduate transfer Emile Blackman (10.8 ppg.) and fellow freshman Mike Lewis II (7.7 ppg.).
- The Dukes have had four different leading scorers (Tarin Smith, Mike Lewis II, Rene Castro and Emile Blackman) and five different leading rebounders (Blackman, Smith, Nakye Sanders, Darius Lewis and Isiaha Mike) in its first six games. Blackman, Lewis, Mike and Sanders have all had double-digit rebound games on the young season.
- Freshmen Isiaha Mike and Mike Lewis II both started the season opener vs. Loyola, Md., marking just the third time in the past 30 years - and first since 2006-07 - that multiple freshmen started the season opener. DU's top four in minutes played (Emile Blackman and Tarin Smith along with Mike & Lewis II) are in their first season in a Dukes uniform.
- 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. Smith has scored in double digits in four of DU's first six games.
- 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, who had 48 points in his first 19 games in a Duquesne uniform, added 11 points - all in the first half - vs. UT Martin.
NEXT UP
DU hosts UMBC on Wednesday, Nov. 30 at 7:00 p.m. at Palumbo Center (A-10 Network).
