G5 | UMASS LOWELL (4-3) at DUQUESNE (3-1)
Sunday, Nov. 25, 2018 • 1:00 pm ET • Pittsburgh, Pa. • A.J. Palumbo Center (4,390)

TELEVISION: ESPN+ with Tim Benz (pxp) & Ellis Cannon (analyst)
RADIO: WJAS-AM 1320 / iHeartRadio with Ray Goss ('58) & Jarrett Durham ('71)
IN-GAME STATS: StatBroadcast http://duqstats.com

Duquesne, coming off a 3-1 season-opening performance in four Gotham Classic games, returns home to face UMass Lowell (4-3) on Sunday, Nov. 25 at 1:00 p.m. (ESPN+). The Dukes have been idle since a 67-56 loss at Notre Dame in the Classic's showcase game on Nov. 20. This is DU's first game in the Palumbo Center since Nov. 12 (Duquesne hosted Radford in Akron, Ohio on Nov. 17). DU's first four opponents averaged 20.8 wins last season. The Dukes own wins over preseason Big South favorite Radford (69-64) and Horizon League preseason third place pick UIC (89-88 in OT).

The UMass Lowell game begins a stretch of nine consecutive games in Pittsburgh for the Dukes. DU will play seven times at the Palumbo Center and twice at PPG Paints Arena (vs. Pitt on Nov. 30 & vs. Penn State on Dec. 19) before hitting the road for their Atlantic 10 opener at Davidson on Jan. 5.

TRENDING

• Duquesne has had five different leading scorers in its first four games:

Austin Rotroff - 17 vs. William.& Mary
Eric Williams Jr. - 17 vs. William. & Mary
Sincere Carry - 32 vs. UIC
Mike Lewis II - 15 vs. Radford
Tavian Dunn-Martin - 14 vs. Notre Dame

• Five Dukes, including three freshmen, have hit three 3-pointers in a game on the young season:

Tavian Dunn-Martin, So. - (3-7 vs. William & Mary)
Austin Rotroff, Fr. - (3-3 vs. William & Mary)
Sincere Carry, Fr. - (3-6 vs. UIC)
Lamar Norman Jr., Fr. - (3-3 vs. UIC)
Eric Williams Jr., So. - (3-9 vs. UIC)
Eric Williams Jr., So. - (3-6 vs. Radford)
Tavian Dunn-Martin, So. - (3-4 vs. Notre Dame)

• The Dukes, led by freshman Sincere Carry's 24 dishes, are averaging 14.5 assists per game. DU averaged 11.9 apg. last season.
• Eric Williams Jr., who has a pair of double-doubles this season (18-11 vs, UIC and 14-10 vs. Radfod), has led the Dukes in rebounding in all four games.
• DU is 13-3 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.
• Duquesne is 17-1 under Dambrot when leading with five minutes left.
• DU is 2-1 when trailing at the half this season (UIC & Radford), after going 1-10 when behind after 20 minutes last year.
• DU's 7.75 steals per game average is the most by a Dukes' team since Ron Everhart's 2011 squad - led by freshman guard T.J. McConnell - led the nation with 9.91 spg.

VS. UMASS LOWELL
Series Record: Duquesne leads 2-0
At Pittsburgh: Duquesne leads 1-0
At Lowell, Mass.: Duquesne leads 1-0
 

Dec. 21, 2013	A	W	95-77
Dec. 20, 2014	H	W	79-63

NOTING THE RIVER HAWKS
American East Conference ... located in Lowell, Mass. ... this is the third meeting between the Dukes and River Hawks ... DU swept a home-and-home series in 2013-14 (95-77 at Lowell) and 2014-15 (79-63 at Palumbo Center) ... UML completed the four-year transition from Division II to Division I prior to the 2017-18 season ... the River Hawks finished last year 12-18, matching the program's DI single-season record for wins and marking the fifth consecutive year with double-digit victories ... UML led the America East with a 76.2 ppg. scoring average ... sophomore Obadiah Noel, a five-time AE Rookie of the Week, earned a spot on the America East All-Rookie Team ... sixth-year head coach Pat Duquette brought in a seven-man recruiting class ... Duquette came to UML following three years as the associate head coach to Bill Coen at Northeastern, which followed 13 years as an assistant/associate head coach to Al Skinner at Boston College.

• Duquesne is 12-4 all-time vs. schools that comprise the current America East Conference, including a 9-3 record at home

NOTING THE DUKES

• Duquesne's three Gotham Classic wins came over opponents who averaged 20.7 wins last season: William & Mary (19-12), UIC (20-16, CIT) & Radford (23-13, NCAA). The Dukes led Notre Dame (21-15, NIT last year) 52-51 with 6:31 left.
• Second-year head coach Keith 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. The Dukes have seven freshmen and five sophomores on the 2018-19 roster. Of the 11 newcomers, 10 have seen action so far this season.
• Freshman guard Sincere Carry had an eye-opening debut. The 6-1 point guar 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.10). Carry is shooting .486 with 24 assists and nine steals in 131 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.
• Sophomore Eric Williams Jr., who was named second team preseason All-Atlantic 10, has picked up where he left off last year, with team-high scoring (13.5) and rebounding (9.5) averages. The All-Rookie Team pick was the third-leading freshman scorer in the A-10 (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. George Mason. Williams Jr. has two double-doubles in four games this season.
• 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). Michael Hughes and Weathers have started all four games, while Frankie Hughes and Dunn-Martin have seen significant action in all four games.
• 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.) - is sitting 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 56 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 52 of 68 career games.