Duquesne (3-5), coming off a November that included a school-record eight games, faces Pitt (6-1) in the annual City Game at PPG Paints Arena on Friday, Dec. 2 at 7:00 p.m. (ACC Extra available on ESPN3/WatchESPN). The Dukes, whose first eight games fell on the final 20 days of November, are coming off an 81-72 home loss to UMBC on Wednesday. Pitt won at Maryland, 73-59, on Tuesday night.
THE SERIES
This is the 85th meeting between Duquesne and Pitt in a series that dates back to Jan. 13, 1932 ... Pitt holds a 53-31 advantage overall ... this is the seventh meeting at PPG Paints Arena ... No. 3 (AP) Pitt defeated Duquesne 80-66 in the inaugural game at PPG in 2010, and has gone on to win the next five ... seven years ago, the Dukes and Panthers played in the final basketball game at Mellon Arena, with Pitt emerging with a 67-58 double overtime win ... Duquesne, which never trailed in regulation, led by 16 with 17:32 left ... the seven games before that alternated between Pitt's Petersen Events Center and Duquesne's A.J. Palumbo Center ... 2016-17 marks the 47th consecutive season the two teams have met ... the last time Duquesne and Pitt did not play was in 1969-70 ... DU snapped an eight-game Pitt win streak with an 80-69 win on Feb. 5, 1998 and won again at Mellon Arena on Dec. 21, 2000 by a 71-70 count, giving the Dukes wins in two of the past 18 meetings ... Pitt has won the past 15 ... the 15-game streak is a series high for either team ... DU head coach Jim Ferry is 0-6 against Atlantic Coast conference schools with a 90-86 loss at Virginia on Nov. 22, 2002 (his first season at LIU Brooklyn), a 101-87 NCAA Tournament loss to No. 7 North Carolina in Charlotte, N.C. on Mar. 17, 2011 and a 73-67 loss at Georgia Tech on Dec. 29, 2015 in addition to the three losses to Pitt.
- This is the first neutral-site game of the season for the Dukes. Pitt is 1-1 in neutral games with a loss to SMU and win over Marquette at Madison Square Garden on Nov. 17-18. DU is 0-2 on the road with losses at Penn State and at then-No. 2 (AP) Kentucky.
- Duquesne is 6-26 against the Atlantic Coast Conference, including a 1-7 mark at neutral sites. The neutral win was over Duke on Dec. 15, 1961 (66-61) in a Steel Bowl game at Fitzgerald Field House. DU's last win over an ACC opponent was on Dec. 28, 2006 in overtime at Boston College (98-93). Aaron Jackson, who is currently playing professionally for CSKA in Russia, led the Dukes with 19 points and 7 rebounds. The win, in addition to being Duquesne's first ever on an Atlantic Coast Conference school's home floor, was also DU's first victory over an ACC team since a 91-84 home win over No. 10 (AP) Florida State on Dec. 15, 1992. BC was in the "others receiving votes" category of the AP poll at the time of the game.
- Duquesne is 48-30 under Jim Ferry when scoring 70 points or more. Duquesne has reached the 70-point mark once in the past 15 Pitt games (60.6 ppg. over that span). DU scored 70 or more against the Panthers in their last win, 71-70 at Mellon Arena on Dec. 21, 2000. Last year, Pitt defeated the Dukes 96-75.
- Pitt has dominated Duquesne on the glass in recent years, including double-digit rebounding margins in seven of the past eight games. During its current 15-game series win streak, Pitt has outrebounded DU by an average margin of +12.5 rpg. (44.3-to-31.8). The last time Duquesne outrebounded Pitt was in its last series win - a 34-29 margin in a 71-70 win at the Civic Arena on Dec. 12, 2000.
TRENDING
- Four of DU's top five scorers are first-year players. Sophomore Tarin Smith, a first-year transfer from Nebraska, is averaging 11.0 points per game. He is followed by first-year graduate transfer Emile Blackman (10.1 ppg.) and freshmen Isiaha Mike & Mike Lewis II at 9.6 ppg. each. Lewis II has been named A-10 Rookie of the Week twice on the young season.
- The Dukes have had four different leading scorers (Tarin Smith, Mike Lewis II, Rene Castro & Emile Blackman) and five different leading rebounders (Blackman, Smith, Nakye Sanders, Darius Lewis & Isiaha Mike) in their first eight games. Blackman, Lewis, Mike and Sanders have all had double-digit rebound games and Smith, Lewis II and Castro have all posted 20-point games.
- Emile Blackman enters Friday's game needing six points to reach 1,000 for his career. The first-year grad transfer scored 913 in two seasons at Niagara.
- Duquesne has yet to play with its complete roster this season. Sophomore guard Josh Steel missed the first five games, plus the UMBC game (suspension) and grad transfer Kale Abrahamson has yet to play due to a broken bone suffered in DU's Nov. 5 exhibition game.
- Mike Lewis II has earned A-10 Rookie of the Week honors twice (Nov. 14 & 28). He is DU's first two-time ROW since Derrick Colter in 2013 (three times).
- Duquesne broke out of a three-game, 15-of-65 (.231) 3-point shooting slump by hitting 6-of-14 from the arc on Wednesday vs. Cleveland State. DU is 15-of-40 (.375) from 3-point in its last two games.
- DU has held three teams under 40 percent shooting this season (Loyola, Md. at .365, UT Martin at .348 and Cleveland State at .385).
- Sophomore forward Nakye Sanders has missed just seven shots this season (16-23, .696).
- Center Jordan Robinson has scored 12 points in 16 minutes off the bench in DU's past two games. He is 6-of-10 from the field over that span.
LAST GAME - UMBC 81, DUQUESNE 72
Rene Castro came of the bench to lead four Dukes in double figures with 15 points, but it wasn't enough as the Dukes fell to UMBC, 81-72, at Palumbo Center ... the Retrievers erased a seven-point Duquesne lead by hitting 15 of their final 17 shots - including seven 3-pointers - to take a 52-43 halftime lead ... Duquesne briefly cut the lead to thee in the early moments of the second half, but UMBC, which finished 12-of-23 from the arc, hit three 3-pointers during a 12-2 run to take a 13-point lead with 14:39 left ... DU would get no closer than five the rest of the way ... the Dukes had their second-best shooting night of the season at 49.2 percent, but couldn't overcome 17 turnovers ... eight of the 10 who played had at least one turnover ... DU attempted a Jim Ferry Era low three free throws (3-of-3) in getting outscored 13-3 from the line (UMBC was 13-of-17) ... Jordan Robinson had his best game of the season with 8 points in 9 minutes off the bench ... DU held UMBC to 32 percent shooting in the second half, but shot 36.4 percent itself over the final 20 minutes ... UMBC, which scored 38 points in the final 10:04 of the first half, was the third team to score over 80 against the Dukes this season (at Kentucky with 93 and at Penn State with 82 are the others).
NEXT UP
Duquesne takes on its second consecutive local rival when it faces Robert Morris at PPG Paints Arena on Tuesday, Dec. 6 at 7:00 p.m. (NEC Front Row).
