G13 | NJIT (11-3) at DUQUESNE (9-3)  
Mon., Dec. 31, 2018 • 2:00 pm ET • Pittsburgh, Pa. • A.J. Palumbo Center (4,390)

LIVE STREAM: 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 GAME NOTES: Click here

Duquesne (9-3), coming off an eight-day layoff, returns to action to face NJIT (11-3) in its final regular season nonconference game on Monday, Dec. 31 at 2:00 p.m. (ESPN+) at Palumbo Center. The Dukes, who saw a 13-game home nonconference win streak snapped by Penn State on Dec. 19 at PPG Paints Arena, are 16-3 in non-league home games under second-year head coach Keith Dambrot. DU, which is 8-0 at Palumbo Center this season, is facing an NJIT team with six road wins. NJIT and Stony Brook were the only two schools to begin the week with six road victories. NJIT is among those "also receiving votes" in this week's AP Top 25. Duquesne is looking to match the school record for wins entering conference play set in 2007-08 and matched in 2015-16 (both 10-3).

TRENDING

• Duquesne has erased double-digit deficits in three of its wins: -18 vs. Longwood, -14 vs. UIC and -12 vs. Eastern Kentucky. DU trailed by double digits in the second half in all three games.
• The Dukes are 4-2 when trailing at the half. Last year DU was 1-10 when down at intermission.
• Freshman guard Sincere Carry averaged 14.5 points, 5.5 rebounds, 5.0 assists and 5.0 steals in DU's two games last week to earn A-10 Rookie of the Week honors. Carry ranked first nationally among freshmen in steals per game (3.17) and sixth among freshmen in assists per game (5.92) through Dec. 28.
• Sophomore Eric Williams Jr. was named A-10 co-Player of the Week after averaging 21.0 points and 10.5 rebounds on .522 shooting in games vs. Penn State and Eastern Kentucky. His jump hook with 14 seconds left proved to be the game-winner in the OT win over EKU.
• It was just the third time in school history - and first time since March 1, 2009 (Aaron Jackson and rookie Eric Evans) - that Duquesne has had a Player and Rookie of the Week in the same week.
• First-year Akron transfer Michael Hughes ranks sixth nationally in field goal percentage (.697). The 6-8 center has scored in double digits in eight of the nine games he's played, including the past seven in a row.
• 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.
• DU's 9.50 steals per game average, which ranks tied for 11th nationally, is the highest by a Dukes' team since Ron Everhart's 2011 squad - led by freshman guard T.J. McConnell - led the nation at 9.91 spg. DU has posted double-digit steals in each of its past three games: 11 vs. Maine, 13 vs. Penn State and 12 vs. Eastern Kentucky. Duquesne posted  season-high 15 steals on Nov. 25 vs. UMass Lowell.

DUKES AND HIGHLANDERS
Series Record:  Tied 1-1
At Pittsburgh:  NJIT leads 1-0
At Newark, N.J.:  Duquesne leads 1-0
Neutral Site:  Never met
Dambrot vs. NJIT:  First meeting

SERIES MEETINGS

Jan. 29, 2014	A	W	71-64	+7
Nov. 29, 2014	H	L	81-84	-3

SERIES QUICK NOTES

• New Jersey Institute of Technology, which competes in the Atlantic Sun Conference, is located in Newark, N.J.
• The series is tied at 1-1. Duquesne defeated the Highlanders, 71-64 in Newark on Jan. 29, 2014. The next season, NJIT returned the favor with an 84-81 win at Palumbo Center on Nov. 29. Seven days later the 2014-15 Highlanders defeated No. 17 (AP) Michigan in Ann Arbor.
• NJIT returns four starters from last year's fourth-place ASUN Conference team. Two of the three players from that team earned ASUN honors are back. Six-ten senior Abdul Lewis (11.5, 8.3) was named second team and sophomore guard Zach Cooks (19.3, 5.3, 35 3-pointers) was a unanimous selection to the ASUN All-Freshman Team.
• NJIT, in its third season under head coach Brian Kennedy, is coming off an 80-59 loss at No. 22 Houston on Friday. The Highlanders, who led by 10 at one point, trailed by four at the half. NJIT has road wins at Binghamton, Wagner, LIU Brooklyn, Drexel, Fordham and Fairleigh Dickinson.
• NJIT has appeared in the "others receiving votes" category in each of the past three AP Top 25 polls. It is the first time in program history that NJIT has been recognized by The Associated Press.
• Duquesne is 7-2 all-time against the schools that comprise the current Atlantic Sun Conference.

NOTING THE DUKES

• 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 348 of 353 schools in KenPom's listing of "most experienced" college teams. Of the 11 newcomers, 10 have seen action so far this season. The Dukes have seven freshmen and five sophomores on the 2018-19 roster.
• 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.
• 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 three losses have come at the hands of Power 5 schools Notre Dame (ACC), Pitt (ACC) and Penn State (Big Ten).
• Eight players have either led or tied for the team lead in scoring in 12 games.
• 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. Through Friday, Carry ranked tied for fourth nationally - and first among freshmen - in steals per game (3.17) and tied for 31st nationally - 6th among freshmen - in assists per game (5.92).
• Sophomore Eric Williams Jr., who was named second team preseason All-Atlantic 10, leads the team in scoring (14.2) and rebounding (7.3). 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., who earned A-10 co-Player of the Week honors on Dec. 24, has four 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 Dec. 5 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, has seen action in three games since rejoining the team.
• 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.
• Guard Mike Lewis II, who scored 979 points in 76 games (72 starts) at Duquesne (12.9 ppg), announced his plan to transfer on Dec. 27. Lewis II averaged 5.6 ppg. in 12 games this season. He scored in double digits 53 times (twice this season) and topped the 20-point mark 17 times as a Duke.