G11 | PENN STATE (5-5) at DUQUESNE (8-2)  
Wed., Dec. 19, 2018 • 7:00 pm ET • Pittsburgh, Pa. • PPG Paints Arena (19,000)

TELEVISION: CBSSN with Jason Knapp (pxp) & Steve Lappas (analyst)
RADIO: BIG 104.7 FM / iHeartRadio with Ray Goss ('58) & Jarrett Durham ('71)
IN-GAME STATS: StatBroadcast http://duqstats.com
DUQUESNE GAME NOTES: Click here

Duquesne (8-2), winner of four in a row, crosses Forbes and Fifth Avenues to host Penn State (5-5) at PPG Paints Arena on Wednesday, Dec. 19 at 7:00 p.m. (CBSSN). It is DU's lone home game at the home of the NHL Pittsburgh Penguins this season. The Dukes, who are off to just their third 8-2 start in 46 years, are looking to extend their home win streak to nine. Duquesne has won its past 13 nonconference home games to bring its record to 15-2 in non-league home games under second-year head coach Keith Dambrot. Dambrot is 1-1 all time vs. Penn State, with an 85-60 win at the Puerto Rico Tipoff on Nov. 18, 2012 and a 78-72 loss at Bryce Jordan Center on Nov. 25, 2014. Both games were played while Dambrot was at Akron. This is the first time Dambrot will face PSU in a "home" game. Duquesne is 0-2 in games at PPG under Dambrot, with both loss coming to Pitt (including 74-53 neutral-site defeat on Nov. 30).

TRENDING

• DU, which held Maryland Eastern Shore to a then-opponent low 57 points in last Thursday's 72-57 win, followed that by limiting Maine to 46 in a 72-46 victory on Sunday.
• DU is 15-3 under Keith Dambrot when holding opponents under 70 points. The Dukes are also 17-2 when they are the first to reach the 70-point mark.
• Guard Sincere Carry ranked first nationally among freshmen in steals per game (2.80) and sixth in assists per game (6.10) through Sunday.
• First-year Miami, Ohio transfer Marcus Weathers has scored in double figures in four of his past five games. He is coming off a season-high 13-point outing vs. Maine.
• The Dukes are 3-2 when trailing at the half. Last year DU was 1-10 when down at intermission. Duquesne has erased 14- and 18-point deficits (vs. UIC and Longwood respectively) this season.
• Duquesne is 22-1 under Dambrot when leading with five minutes left.
• DU's 8.90 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 at 9.91 spg.
• First-year Akron transfer Michael Hughes was ranked fifth nationally in FG% (.709 overall) prior to missing DU's past three games with a knee injury. He is averaging 19.7 points on 24-of-30 shooting in his past three games. His status for Penn State is to be determined.
• Junior guard Mike Lewis II needs 23 points to become Duquesne's 39th 1,000-point scorer. Lewis II scored 452 points as a freshman and added 460 last season. Lewis II, the lone player on the current roster who has faced Penn State, scored a team-high 19 as a freshman in an 82-74 loss at State College on Nov. 13, 2016.

DUQUESNE vs. PENN STATE
Series Record:  Penn State leads 28-20
At Pittsburgh:  Duquesne leads 14-8
At State College, Pa.:  Penn State leads 18-4
Neutral Site:  Tied 2-2
Eastern 8/A-10:  Tied 12-12
Eastern 8/A-10 Tour.:  Duquesne led 2-1

PAST 10 MEETINGS

Dec. 1, 1992	H	W	76-65
Dec. 4, 1993	A	L	64-96
Nov. 30, 1994	H	L	69-70
Dec. 4, 2010	A	L	73-77
Dec. 10, 2011	H^	W	66-59
Dec. 29, 2012	A	L	74-84
Dec. 11, 2013	H^	L	59-68
Dec. 10, 2014	A	L	62-64
Nov. 20, 2015	H^	W	78-52
Nov. 13, 2016	A	L	74-82

  ^ - at PPG Paints Arena

• This is the 49th game in a series that dates to Feb. 9, 1924 ... the two resumed the long-time series with home-and-home meetings in 2010-11 and 2011-12 ... the two played for seven consecutive seasons through 2017.
• PSU leads the series 28-20 ... in games at Pittsburgh, DU leads 14-8 ... Duquesne has won two of the past three meetings at home (both at PPG Paints Arena) ... DU, which is 6-19 all time vs. the Big Ten, is 3-2 vs. Big Ten schools at home.
• Second-year Duquesne coach Keith Dambrot is 1-1 all-time vs. Penn State, with an 85-60 win over the Nittany Lions at the Puerto Rico Tipoff on Nov. 18, 2012 and a 78-72 loss at Bryce Jordan Center on Nov. 25, 2014. This is the first time Dambrot will face PSU in a "home" game.
• In the last Pittsburgh meeting, Derrick Colter tied his career-high with 26 points - including six 3-pointers - as Duquesne tied its school record with 17 3-pointers in a 78-52 win over Penn State at PPG Paints Arena ... the 26-point margin of victory was Duquesne's largest in the 47-game series history ... the 78 points were DU's most against the Nittany Lions since an 87-81 overtime win at home on Jan. 19, 1991 ... the Dukes finished 17-of-34 from the arc ... DU's coach in that game was Jim Ferry, who is currently on the staff at Penn State.
• DU and PSU shared membership in the Eastern 8 (precursor to the Atlantic 10) for 12 seasons (1977-79 & 1983-91).

NOTING THE DUKES

• Duquesne's three Gotham Classic wins came over opponents who averaged 20.7 wins last season in 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. DU's two losses have come at the hands of Power 5 schools - and ACC members - Notre Dame and Pitt.
• Duquesne 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. DU is ranked 349 of 353 schools in KenPom's listing of "most experienced" college teams.
• 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.
• 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). All four have seen significant action this season.
• Eight players (Eric Williams Jr., Austin Rotroff, Sincere Carry, Mike Lewis II, Tavian Dunn-Martin, Michael Hughes, Lamar Norman Jr. and Marcus Weathers) have either led or tied for the team lead in scoring in 10 games. Eleven players are averaging double-digit minutes.
• 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).
• Freshman point guard Sincere Carry had an eye-opening debut, with seven points and nine assists (without a turnover) vs. William & Mary. He 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.11). Through Sunday, Carry ranked sixth nationally - and first among freshmen - in steals per game and 25th nationally - and 6th among freshmen - in assists per game.
• Sophomore Eric Williams Jr., who was named second team preseason All-Atlantic 10, is second on the team in scoring (12.8) and first in rebounding (6.6). The A-10 All-Rookie Team pick 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 three double-doubles this season.
• Forward Kellon Taylor, a two-sport athlete who plays receiver for DU's FCS football team, was in uniform for the first time for the Marshall game. Taylor caught a team-high five passes for a team-best 97 yards in the Dukes' second round FCS Playoff loss at South Dakota State Dec. 1. It was the first time DU advanced to the second round of the FCS Playoffs. Taylor, who finished second on the team with 44 catches for 576 yards and two TDs, had a team-high seven rebounds in 13 minutes off the bench vs. Maine on Sunday.
• 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.