ALUMNI DAY
G20 | VCU (13-6, 4-2) at DUQUESNE (14-5, 5-1)
Sat., Jan. 26, 2019 • 2:00 pm ET • Pittsburgh, Pa. • A.J. Palumbo Center (4,390)

TELEVISION: AT&T SportsNet with Tim Benz (pxp) & Ellis Cannon (analyst)
LIVE STREAM: ESPN+
RADIO: WJAS-AM 1320 / iHeartRadio with Ray Goss ('58) & Jarrett Durham ('71)
IN-GAME STATS: StatBroadcast
DUQUESNE GAME NOTES: Click here

Duquesne (14-5, 5-1), owner of the Atlantic 10's longest current win streak at five, hosts VCU (13-6, 4-2) in the second of three-straight home games on Saturday at 2:00 p.m. at Palumbo Center (AT&T SportsNet/ESPN+). The Dukes, who are 14-5 for just the second time since 1980, are looking to post six-straight A-10 wins for the first time since the 2010-11 team, which opened 16-5, won its first eight A-10 games. VCU, coming off a 71-65 loss at Rhode Island, is 2-4 on the road, including a 1-2 mark in A-10 play. DU is 11-2 at home (11-1 at Palumbo Center), including a 3-0 record in A-10 home games. Saturday is DU's annual Alumni Day as Dukes from the past will be honored at halftime. In addition, all-time great Norm Nixon will be recognized in a pre-game ceremony.

TRENDING

• This is just the second time since 1980 that Duquesne has 14 wins through 19 games. The last was 2010-11 (16-5 start).
• This is the first time since 2010-11 that Duquesne has won five consecutive conference games (the 2011 team opened 8-0 on the way to a 10-6 conference record).
• DU is 3-0 in overtime, 3-0 in one-point games and 6-1 in games decided by five or fewer points.
• Freshman guard Sincere Carry leads the A-10 in assist rate and is second in steal percentage according to KenPom. Carry ranks second in the A-10 in both assists (5.8) and steals (2.8) per game.
• First-year Akron transfer Michael Hughes ranked among the nation's Top 10 field goal percentage leaders (.670) before dropping below the min. 5.0 FGM/g (he's at 4.7). The 6-8 center has scored in double digits in 11 of the 16 games he's played.
• Marcus Weathers, has scored in double-digits in all six A-10 games (13.8 ppg. on .540 shooting over that span).
• DU is 17-4 under Keith Dambrot when holding opponents under 70 points. The Dukes are 20-2 when they are the first to reach 70 and 12-0 this season when scoring 70 or more.
• DU's 8.42 steals per game average, which ranks 24th 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's top 10 scorers are freshmen or sophomores. Ninety-five percent of the Dukes' points have come from underclassmen, including all but two points in A-10 play (99.6%), which is the second-highest rate in Division I. Of the 73 points scored by upperclassmen, 67 belonged to junior Mike Lewis II who transferred to Nevada in December. The other six came from Kellon Taylor, who was part of the active roster for one month before opting to concentrate on football and remain with the basketball team as a practice player.

ABOUT THAT A-10 STREAK
DU's five-game Atlantic 10 win streak is tied for its second-best all time:
 

WINS	YEAR	FINAL RECORD
8	2010-11	10-6
5	2018-19	TBD
5	2006-07	6-10
5	1980-81	10-3

DUKES AND RAMS
Series Record: VCU leads 6-0
At Pittsburgh: VCU leads 3-0
At Richmond: VCU leads 3-0
Neutral Site: Never met
A-10 Regular Season: VCU leads 6-0
A-10 Championship: Never met
Dambrot vs. VCU: 0-6
Dambrot vs. VCU at Duquesne: 0-1

• This is the seventh meeting between Duquesne and seventh-year A-10 member VCU ... last year, the Rams defeated the Dukes, 78-67, in Richmond.
• This is the fourth meeting in Pittsburgh and second at Palumbo Center ... VCU won two at PPG Paints Arena (the Rams were ranked #22 and #17 by AP at the time) and the last meeting at AJP, 94-87 on Jan. 4, 2017.
• VCU, picked to finish seventh in the conference's preseason poll, is in its second season under head coach Mike Rhoades.
• Duquesne head coach Keith Dambrot is 0-6 vs. VCU, with the first five meetings coming when Dambrot was at Akron ... the last three losses while at UA came against his former Akron assistant, Shaka Smart ... Dambrot's Zips lost to the Rams in overtime, 76-75, at Akron on Dec. 29, 2011 ... Dambrot's Akron team also fell to Anthony Grant's VCU team, 73-69 at Siegel Center on Dec. 17, 2008.
• VCU (13-6, 4-2) is 2-4 on the road with wins at Texas and Fordham ... the Rams are coming off a 71-65 loss at Rhode Island on Wednesday ... VCU is led by first-year Rice transfer junior guard Marcus Evans (13.4 ppg.).

LAST GAME
Duquesne 77, Saint Louis 73 • Wednesday, Jan. 23, Pittsburgh, Pa.

• Duquesne extended its win streak to five with the win. It was also DU's fifth-straight home win over the Billikens.
• Marcus Weathers led the Dukes with a career high-tying 19 points and 9 rebounds. Eric Williams added his sixth double-double (16-12) and freshman Sincere Carry had 10 points, 7 assists and 3 steals.
• Weathers, who entered the game shooting .547 from the foul line, went 11-of-13 from the stripe. He is now 26-of-32 (.813) from the line in A-10 play. He was 14-of-34 (.412) from the line in non-conference games.
• DU was just the third team - and first non-Power 5 school - to score 70 or more vs. SLU (Pitt and Florida State are the others).
• The Dukes prevailed despite shooting .377 and being outrebounded 54-31, mainly by holding SLU to .388 (2-of-20 from 3-point) and outscoring the Billikens 25-11 off turnovers.
• Freshman Gavin Bizeau, who entered the game with five points in seven games, came off the bench to score seven points in eight minutes.
• There were two ties and one lead change … Saint Louis' largest lead was eight at 34-26 with 2:37 left in the first half …Duquesne's largest lead was eight at 67-59 with 4:59 to go … Duquesne took the lead for good on a Sincere Carry 3-pointer with 16:36 left ... Saint Louis led for 19:09 (all in the first half) … Duquesne led for 18:45 (all in the second half) … the game was tied for 1:55.

NOTING THE DUKES

• Duquesne's roster features 11 newcomers, including four eligible Division I transfers. The 11 newcomers are tied for third-most of any NCAA Division I program. Of the 11 newcomers, 10 have seen action so far this season. DU has seven freshmen and five sophomores on the 2018-19 roster.
• DU is ranked 348 of 353 schools in KenPom's listing of "most experienced" college teams. Only one member of the current roster - sophomore Eric Williams Jr. - entered conference play having seen action in an Atlantic 10 game.
• DU has added four Division I sophomore transfers, all of whom have seen significant action in 2018-19: 5-8 G Tavian Dunn-Martin (Akron), 6-4 G Frankie Hughes (Missouri), 6-8 C Michael Hughes (Akron) and 6-5 F Marcus Weathers (Miami, Ohio). All four practiced with the team while sitting out last season.
• 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).
• Two-time A-10 Rookie of the Week Sincere Carry had an eye-opening debut, with seven points and nine assists (without a turnover) vs. William & Mary. The freshman point guard 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 Wednesday, Carry ranked fifth nationally - and first among freshmen - in steals per game (2.79) and 25th nationally - fifth among freshmen - in assists per game (5.84).
• Sophomore Eric Williams Jr., who was named second team preseason All-Atlantic 10, leads the team in scoring (13.2) and rebounding (7.8). The 2018 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 six double-doubles this season (17 for his career).
• Six-eight sophomore center Michael Hughes is tied for second on the team lead with 11 double-digit games, despite missing the Longwood, Maryland Eastern Shore and Maine games with a knee injury. Hughes, who is shooting .670, is on pace to shatter the school single-season field goal percentage record of .649 set by Fred Moon in 1979-80 (min. 200 points). Hughes never scored more than six points in a game as a freshman while at Akron.  
• 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.
• Duquesne has erased double-digit deficits in four of its wins: -18 vs. Longwood, -14 vs. UIC, -12 vs. Eastern Kentucky & -15 vs. Saint Joseph's. DU trailed by double digits in the second half in all but the SJU game (eight points in that one). The Dukes were down eight with 13:09 left in their Jan. 16 win at Richmond and trailed by five with 58 seconds left of the overtime win at George Washington.
• The Longwood comeback was the best by a Duquesne team since DU erased a 19-point deficit vs. Radford on Dec. 6, 1997 (a span of 21 years)
• The Dukes, who were 1-10 with trailing at the half last season, are 6-4 when trailing at the half in 2018-19.
• Duquesne's 74-68 win at Richmond on Jan. 16 win was DU's first at UR since Dec. 20, 1993 (ending a streak of 10 consecutive defeats). It was also Duquesne's second win over the Spiders in 24 tries since Richmond joined the A-10 in 2001-02. The victory also ended an eight-game series losing streak. DU followed that with a 91-85 OT win at George Washington, marking the first time since 1989 & 1990 that a Duquesne team has won two in a row at GW.
• DU has matched its road win total from last season (2-7). The Dukes are 2-2 on the road this year.
• Duquesne has posted 10 home wins (11-2) for the second-straight season. It is the first time since 2010-11 & 2011-12 that the Dukes have won 10 or more home games in back-to-back years. DU's 13 home wins last year (13-6) - in addition to being a Palumbo Center record - were the most at home since 1981 (14-2).
• 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. Three of DU's nonconference losses came at the hands of Power 5 schools Notre Dame (ACC), Pitt (ACC) and Penn State (Big Ten).
• Junior guard Mike Lewis II, who scored 979 points in 76 games (72 starts) at Duquesne (12.9 ppg), transferred to Nevada in December. 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. Junior forward Kellon Taylor, a two-sport athlete who dressed for eight games this season, has decided to concentrate on football. He is currently serving as a practice player. Taylor played in 47 career games.