87th City Game
G6 | DUQUESNE (4-1) at PITT (6-1)
Friday, Nov. 30, 2018 • 7:00 pm ET • Pittsburgh, Pa. • PPG Paints Arena (19,000)

VIDEO: ACC Network Extra with Dan Gutowsky (pxp) & Curtis Aiken (analyst)
RADIO: WJAS-AM 1320 / iHeartRadio with Ray Goss ('58) & Jarrett Durham ('71)
IN-GAME STATS: Sidearm Stats
COMPLETE DUQUESNE GAME NOTES (PDF): Click Here

Duquesne, off to a 4-1 start under second-year head coach Keith Dambrot, makes the one-block trek to PPG Paints Arena to face Pitt (6-1) in the 87th version of the City Game on Friday, Nov. 30 at 7:00 p.m. (ACC Network Extra). The Dukes, who opened by going 3-1 in the Gotham Classic, added an 83-71 win over UMass Lowell on Sunday. DU was ranked 40th in the initial NCAA Evaluation Tool (N.E.T.) released Monday. The ranking was the best of any A-10 school. Duquesne, which snapped a 15-game series losing streak against the Panthers with a 64-55 win on Dec. 2, 2016, will be looking to win two of three in the series for the first time since 1982 when Mike Rice's Dukes defeated the Panthers on Feb. 15, 1981 & Jan. 14, 1982 (around an Eastern 8 Tournament loss on Mar. 7, 1981). This is Dambrot's third game vs. Pitt. On Nov. 21, 2008, Dambrot's Akron Zips dropped an 86-67 decision to No. 6 (AP) Pitt in the Legends Classic at Petersen Events Center. Pitt won last year's meeting, 76-64.

TRENDING

• Five players have either led or tied for the team lead in scoring in DU's first five games.
• Five Dukes, including three freshmen (Austin Rotroff, Sincere Carry & Lamar Norman Jr.) have hit three 3-pointers in a game on the young season.
• The Dukes, led by freshman Sincere Carry's 33 dishes, are averaging 15.6 assists per game. DU averaged 11.9 apg. last season. Carry began the week ranked 7th nationally by Kenpom.com in assist rate.
• Eric Williams Jr., who has a pair of double-doubles this season (18-11 vs, UIC and 14-10 vs. Radford), has led the Dukes in rebounding in four of five games. He is coming off a season-high 22-point outing vs. UMass Lowell.
• DU is 13-3 under Keith Dambrot when holding opponents under 70 points. The Dukes are also 13-2 when they are the first to reach the 70-point mark.
• Duquesne is 18-1 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 9.20 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. The Dukes' 15 steals vs. UMass Lowell were two shy of the school record.

THE SERIES
This is the 87th meeting between Duquesne and Pitt in a series that dates back to Jan. 13, 1932 ... Pitt holds a 54-32 advantage overall ... this is the ninth meeting at PPG Paints Arena ... No. 3 (AP) Pitt defeated Duquesne 80-66 in the inaugural game at PPG in 2010, and went on to win the next five, before Duquesne ended the streak with a 64-55 win in 2016-17 ... nine 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 ... 2018-19 marks the 49th consecutive season the two teams have met ... the last time Duquesne and Pitt did not play was in 1969-70 ... DU snapped a 15-game Pitt series win streak with a 64-55 win on Dec. 2, 2016 ... the Dukes erased a 10-point first half deficit by outscoring the Panthers 44-25 over the final 23:09 ... Emile Blackman  led three Duquesne players in double figures with a game-high 21 points ... DU ended 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 three of the past 21 meetings.

DUKES AND THE ACC
Duquesne is 7-28 against the Atlantic Coast Conference, including a 2-8 mark at neutral sites. The neutral wins came over Duke on Dec. 15, 1961 (66-61) in a Steel Bowl game at Fitzgerald Field House and on Dec. 2, 2016 over Pitt at PPG Paints Arena. DU's last win over an ACC opponent prior to the Pitt win was on Dec. 28, 2006 in overtime at Boston College (98-93). Aaron Jackson, who is currently playing professionally in China, led the Dukes with 19 points and seven 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. DU head coach Keith Dambrot is 1-7 against Atlantic Coast conference schools, including an 0-2 mark at Duquesne (a loss to Pitt last year and a 67-56 loss at Notre Dame this season). Dambrot was 0-1 vs. then-Big East member Pitt while at Akron. Of the eight meetings, two have been on the road and six at neutral sites (the win came at Florida State (65-60 in OT) in a Mar. 18, 2008 NIT first round game).

DAMBROT WITH EIGHT POWER 5 WINS
Duquesne head coach Keith Dambrot is 8-20 all time vs. Power 5 schools, with the eight wins coming by an average margin of 12 points. He has posted the eight wins, despite having never played a Power 5 school at home (3-11 on the road and 5-9 at neutral sites). Here are Dambrot's Power 5 wins, all of which came when he was the head coach at Akron:
 

12/20/05	vs. Mississippi St.	W	83-72	N	San Juan Shootout
3/18/08	@ Florida State	W	65-60	A	NIT First Round
11/9/11	@ Mississippi St.	W	68-58	A
11/18/12	vs. Penn State	W	85-60	N	Puerto Rico Tipoff
12/22/13	vs. Oregon State	W	83-71	N	Diamond Head Classic
11/20/14	vs. USC	W	66-46	N	Charleston (SC) Classic
11/23/14	vs. South Carolina	W	68-63	N	Charleston (SC) Classic
11/18/15	@ Arkansas	W	88-80	A

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 at Notre Dame (21-15, NIT last year) 52-51 with 6:31 left in their fourth Gotham Classic game.
• The Dukes (4-1) enter the Pitt game looking to post five November wins for just the third time since playing November games became common in the late 1990s. DU's top November win totals are 6-0 in 2007-08 and 5-1 in 2015-16.
• 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).
• Despite having never faced a Power 5 school on his home floor, Dambrot has posted eight wins over Power 5 schools - all while at Akron (see above).
• 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. Only two Dukes (Mike Lewis II and Eric Williams Jr.) have seen action in a City Game. Forward Kellon Taylor, who played in last year's game, is still with the football team for their second round FCS Playoff game at South Dakota State on Saturday.
• 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 of the PDF game notes). Carry, who added nine more assists vs. UMass Lowell, is shooting .500 with 33 assists and 11 steals in 144 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 (15.2) and rebounding (8.6) 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 five 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 five games, while Frankie Hughes and Dunn-Martin have seen significant action in all five games off the bench.
• 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 69 career games.