GOTHAM CLASSIC
G3 | RADFORD (3-0) at DUQUESNE (2-0)
Saturday, Nov. 17, 2018 • 12:00 ET • Akron, Ohio • LeBron James Arena (1,800)

TELEVISION: ESPN+ with Ray Goss ('58) (pxp) & Jarrett Durham ('71) (analyst)
RADIO: 3WS HD2 with Ray Goss ('58) & Jarrett Durham ('71)
IN-GAME STATS: StatBroadcast http://duqstats.com

Duquesne, which improved to 2-0 with a dramatic 89-88 overtime comeback win over UIC on Monday, heads to Akron for a "home" game vs. 2018 NCAA Tournament participant - and Big South Conference preseason favorite - Radford (3-0) on Saturday, Nov. 17 at Noon (ESPN+) at LeBron James Arena on the campus of St. Vincent-St. Mary High School. The third of four season-opening Gotham Classic games for Duquesne will be a homecoming for second-year DU head coach Keith Dambrot, who led St.Vincent-St. Mary - and a young freshman/sophomore LeBron James - to back-to-back state titles in 1999-00 and 2000-01. Dambrot, an Akron native, led the University of Akron - his alma mater - to 305 wins and three NCAA Tournament appearances in 13 seasons prior to moving on to Duquesne. The move of the home game was necessitated by the NCAA Division III volleyball national championship which is being played at Duquesne's on-campus A.J. Palumbo Center November 15-17.

TRENDING

• The Dukes rallied from a 14-point second-half deficit - and 12-point deficit with 3:16 left - to defeat UIC in overtime on Monday (see recap on p. 26 of PDF game notes).
• Through two games, Duquesne is shooting .559 and averaging 49 points in the second half.
• The Dukes, led by freshman Sincere Carry's 17 assists (with one turnover) are averaging 17.5 assists per game. DU averaged 11.9 apg. last season.Carry's 32 points vs. UIC tied the second-most by a DU freshman (record of 34 was set by teammate Eric Williams Jr. last season). Carry, who went 13-of-20 from the field, added 6 rebounds, 8 assists and 4 steals in the comback win. His layup with :01 in regulation forced OT.Eric Williams Jr., who scored 17 in the win over William & Mary, followed with a 18-11 double-double vs. UIC. It was his 12th double-double in 34 career games.
• The Dukes have forced 36 turnovers in two games.
• DU is 12-2 under Keith Dambrot when holding opponents under 70 points. The Dukes are also 12-2 when they are the first to reach the 70-point mark.
• Five Dukes, including three freshmen, have hit three 3-pointers in a game on the young season:

• Tavian Dunn-Martin, So.	3-7	William & Mary
  Austin Rotroff, Fr.	3-3	William & Mary
  Sincere Carry, Fr.	3-6	UIC
  Lamar Norman Jr., Fr.	3-3	UIC
  Eric Williams Jr., So.	3-9	UIC

VS. RADFORD
Series Record: Duquesne leads 5-1
At Pittsburgh: Duquesne leads 3-0
At Radford, Va.: Duquesne leads 2-1
Dambrot vs. Radford: 1-0 (at Akron)
 

Jan. 3, 1996	A	L	64-65
Jan. 4, 1997	H	W	102-92
Dec. 6, 1997	H	W	88-82
Dec. 5, 1998	A	W	71-67
Dec. 10, 2008	A	W	94-75
Nov. 29, 2009	H	W	71-63

NOTING RADFORD
Big South Conference ... located in Radford, Va. ... DU leads the series 5-1, including a 3-0 advantage in games at Pittsburgh ... the Dukes have won the past five meetings, including a 71-63 decision in the last game between the two on Nov. 29, 2009 ... the '09 game completed a home-and-home series ... Radford, the 2018 Big South champion and 2019 favorite, was in Pittsburgh last March as an NCAA tournament participant ... the Highlanders defeated LIU Brooklyn in Dayton before falling to eventual national champion Villanova at PPG Paints Arena ... Radford, which is coming off a school-record 23-win season (23-13), is led by 2018 NABC District 3 Coach of the Year Mike Jones, who is in his eighth season ...  the Highlanders return three starters including their top two scorers in 6-5 senior forward Ed Polite Jr. (13.3, 7.9) and 6-0 sophomore guard Carlik Jones (11.8, 113 assists) ... RU is coming off a win 63-60 at Notre Dame on Wednesday ... Caleb Tanner led the way with 20 points (six 3-pointers)... Polite Jr. added 16 points and 11 boards ... Radford shot 56% in the second half in erasing a 10-point first half deficit.

NOTING THE DUKES

• The Dukes are off to their second-straight 2-0 start under second-year head coach Keith Dambrot. DU is looking to go 3-0 for just the second time since 2009-10 (2015-16 was the last).
• DU's two Gotham Classic wins have come over opponents that averaged 19.5 wins last season: William & Mary (19-12) and UIC (20-16, CIT). The Dukes' next two Gotham foes won 20 last year: Radford (23-13, NCAA) and Notre Dame (21-15, NIT).
• Dambrot's 16 wins in 2017-18 were the most by a DU first-year coach since Dudey Moore went 17-5 in 1948-49. Moore coached Keith's father, Sid, from 1952-54 during his highly-successful 10 seasons on the Bluff. There were 10 coaches between Moore and Dambrot. Dambrot engineered the seventh-best single-season improvement in school history in 2018 (+6.0, from 10-22 in 2016-17 to 16-16 last year).
• DU has a roster that features 11 newcomers, including four eligible Division I transfers. The 11 newcomers are tied for third-most of any NCAA Division I program.
• Freshman guard Sincere Carry has been outstanding through two games. He opened with seven points and nine assists (without a turnover) vs. William & Mary, and followed that with 32 points and eight more assists vs. UIC. The nine assists tied the sixth-most by a DU freshman, while the 32 points tied the second-highest total by a Dukes freshman (see p. 12 of PDF game notes) . Carry is shooting .593 (16-of-27) with 17 assists, six steals and one turnover in a team-high 67 total minutes.
• Six-ten freshman forward Austin Rotroff was named A-10 co-Rookie of the Week on Nov. 12 following his opening game 17-point, seven-rebound outing vs. William & Mary. Rotroff went 6-of-7 from the field (3-of-3 from 3-point) vs. the Tribe.
• Eric Williams Jr., who earned a spot on the 2018 A-10 All-Rookie Team, has picked up where he left off with 17 and 18 points in DU's first two games. The Michigan native posted his 12th career double-double with 18 points and 11 rebounds in the win over UIC. Williams Jr. was the third-leading freshman scorer in the conference (14.3 ppg.) as well as the conference's top freshman rebounder (8.8 rpg.). The versatile swingman set DU single-game freshman records for points (34 vs. George Mason) and rebounds (16 vs. Stetson) in a game last season. He also broke the school record for 3-pointers in a game with nine vs. Mason.
• DU has added four Division I transfers, all of whom practiced with the team while sitting out in 2017-18: 5-8 So. G Tavian Dunn-Martin (Akron), 6-4 So. G Frankie Hughes (Missouri), 6-8 So. C Michael Hughes (Akron) and 6-5 So. F Marcus Weathers (Miami, Ohio).
• Dambrot and his staff assembled the tallest recruiting class in school history. The seven-man group includes 6-11 Gavin Bizeau (Plainfield, Ind.), 6-11 Dylan Swingle (Chillicothe, Ohio), 6-10 Austin Rotroff (Wauseon, Ohio), 6-9 Amari Kelly (Long Island, N.Y.), 6-3 Lamar Norman Jr. (Grand Rapids, Mich.), 6-2 Brandon Wade (Ann Arbor, Mich.) and 6-1 Sincere Carry (Solon, Ohio). An eighth recruit - 6-11 James Ellis (Pittsburgh, Pa.) - will sit out in 2018-19. Duquesne had never had a recruiting class with more than two players 6-9 or taller.
• Duquesne was picked to finish 11th in the Atlantic 10 preseason poll of conference coaches and media released on October 18. Eric Williams Jr. was named preseason second team All-A-10. He is the first Duke since Damian Saunders (2010-11) to earn preseason second team all-conference honors.
• Junior guard Mike Lewis II needs 76 points to become Duquesne's 39th 1,000-point scorer. Lewis II scored 452 points as a freshman and added 460 last season. He has scored in double digits in 51 of 66 career games.