G3 | LIPSCOMB (1-2) at DUQUESNE (2-0)
Fri., Nov. 15, 2019 • 7:00 pm ET • McCandless, Pa. • Kerr Fitness Center (1,200)

LIVE STREAM: ESPN+ with Tim Benz & Ellis Cannon
RADIO: WJAS-AM 1320 / iHeartRadio with Ray Goss ('58) & Jarrett Durham ('71)
IN-GAME STATS: Sidearm

Duquesne (2-0), coming off a 66-56 win over Lamar on Tuesday, completes a season-opening three-game homestand vs. 2019 NIT runner-up Lipscomb (1-2) on Friday, Nov. 15 at 7:00 p.m. at Kerr Fitness Center on the campus of La Roche University (ESPN+). This is the second of four non-conference home games the Dukes will play at La Roche while renovation work continues on the on-campus UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse (scheduled to open in 2020-21). The Dukes, who rallied from 14 down in their 94-67 season-opening win over Princeton, erased an early nine-point deficit in the Lamar win. DU, which has five players averaging in double figures, has outscored its opponents 100-58 in the second half on the young season.

TRENDING

• Duquesne has outscored opponents 100-58 in the second half on the young season. A comparison:

DUKES	FG%	3PT%	PTS
1st Half	.362	.321	30.0
2nd Half	.581 (+21.9%)	.500 (+17.9%)	50.0 (+20.0)
OPP	FG%	3PT%	PTS
1st Half	.519	.368	32.5
2nd Half	.373 (-14.6%)	.211 (-15.7%)	29.0 (-3.5)

• DU enters the Lipscomb game with five double-digit scorers, led by sophomore guard Sincere Carry at 19.5 ppg. Carry, who is shooting .652 from the field and 6-of-10 from 3-point, was a preseason third team all-A-10 pick.
• Freshman Maceo Austin had 15 points, five rebounds and two steals vs. Lamar.
• Junior center Michael Hughes scored 15 of his game-high 17 points vs. Lamar in the second half. Hughes, who went 5-of-5 from the field with a pair of dunks, added 10 boards for his fourth career double-double.
• Grad transfer Baylee Steele, who tied his career high with 19 points in the opener vs. Princeton, came off the bench to grab nine rebounds vs. Lamar.
• The win over Lamar was the 450th for third-year DU coach Keith Dambrot, who is in his 22nd season overall.

THE SERIES vs. LIPSCOMB
Series Record: First Meeting

NOTING THE BISONS
Atlantic Sun Conference ... located in Nashville, Tenn. ... this is the first meeting between the Dukes and Bisons ... Lipscomb finished 29-8 last season in advancing to the NIT championship game ... return one starter in 6-3 senior G Michael Buckland (5.7, 2.8, 35 3-pointers, 83 assists, 28 steals) ... is in its first season under head coach Lennie Acuff, who came to Nashville after serving as the highly successful head coach at Alabama Huntsville for 22 seasons (437-214 overall) ... Acuff led UAH to 11 trips to the NCAA Division II tournament, where he advanced to the Elite Eight twice ... Acuff replaced Casey Alexander who accepted the head coaching position at Belmont ... Alexander led Lipscomb to the school's first NCAA tournament appearance in 2018 prior to the 2019 NIT run ... Duquesne is 7-3 all-time against the schools that comprise the current Atlantic Sun Conference ... head coach Keith Dambrot is 1-0 vs. Lipscomb with an 80-73 home win on Jan. 2, 2016 while at Akron.

LIPSCOMB THIS YEAR

• The Bisons are 1-2 on the young season with a home win over Rhodes College (104-55) a 73-70 home loss to Middle Tennessee and a last-second 79-78 loss at Tennessee State on Tuesday night.
• Lipscomb faced Tennessee State without leading scorer and rebounder 6-8, 265 pound center Ahsan Asadullah 15.0, 12.5).
• Lipscomb, which is 0-1 on the road this season, led the nation with 14 road wins last season.
• The Bisons have used a balanced attack in averaging 84.0 ppg. Asadullah leads four players in double figures at 15.0 ppg. Six-five senior guard Andrew Fleming, who has 13 assists with just four turnovers, is averaging 12.7 ppg. while Lipscomb's lone returning starter, 6-5 senior guard Michael Buckland, is 7-of-14 from 3-point and averaging 12.7 ppg.
• Lipscomb, which is shooting .477 as a team, has made nine more free throws (46-63) than its opponents have attempted (25-37).  

WORTH NOTING

• The Dukes are in their third season under head coach Keith Dambrot. Dambrot, who inherited a 10-22 team in 2017-18, posted a 16-16 record in 2018 and guided a 2019 team - with a roster that saw 97 percent of its points come from freshmen and sophomores - to 19 wins (19-13) and a 10-8 Atlantic 10 finish (T6th). The Dukes, who were picked to finish 11th in last year's A-10 preseason poll, tied the school record for conference wins and posted the school's highest win total since 2011.
• Duquesne was picked to finish eighth in the 2019-20 Atlantic 10 preseason poll. The Dukes have exceeded their preseason A-10 pick in each of their first two seasons under Dambrot. The 2018 team, picked to finish last, ended up tied for 10th. Last year DU, picked 11th, ended up tied for sixth. It was the first time since 2009 (picked 12th, finished tied for fifth) that a Duquesne team exceeded its preseason pick by five or more spots.
• Duquesne returns three starters - 2019 Atlantic 10 All-Rookie Team member 6-1 So. G Sincere Carry (12.1, 3.6, 161 assists, 68 steals), 6-8 Jr. C Michael Hughes (11.2, 6.5, 66 blocks) and 6-5 Jr. F Marcus Weathers (10.0, 6.4). NOTE: A fourth starter, 6-4 Jr. G Frankie Hughes (8.9, 2.2, 71 3-pointers), underwent season-ending knee surgery on October 7 to repair a torn meniscus.
• Additional key returnees include 2019 Atlantic 10 Sixth Man of the Year 5-8 Jr. G Tavian Dunn-Martin (7.8, 1.4, 81 assists, 47 3-pointers), 6-3 So., G Lamar Norman Jr. (4.8, 1.6), 6-10 So. F Austin Rotroff (4.2, 2.4) and 6-9 So. F Amari Kelly (2.1, 2.1). Rotroff and Kelly are both coming off season-ending ACL injuries suffered in separate games vs. Saint Louis last season (Rotroff on Jan. 23 in Pittsburgh and Kelly on Mar. 6 in St. Louis). Caleb Davis, DU's lone senior, is also back.
• The Dukes welcome six newcomers including 6-5 Fr. G Maceo Austin (Sharon, Pa.), 6-1 Fr. G Evan Buckley (Ashburn, Va.), 6-11 Fr. C James Ellis (Pittsburgh, Pa.), 6-3 Fr. G Jake Harper (Dayton, Ohio), 6-5 Fr. G Ashton Miller (Scotch Plains, N.J.) and 6-11 Gr. C Baylee Steele (Norwalk, Iowa/Utah Valley University). Steele, who began his career at Des Moines Area Community College, spent one year at Eastern Michigan (4.4, 4.1 in 2016-17) before transferring to Utah Valley University, where he was one of two players to start all 35 games for the 25-10 CBI second round Wolverines (8.5, 7.2 in 2018-19). The fourth graduate transfer in Duquesne basketball history came to the Bluff having played in 68 Division I games with a team-high 57 career starts.
• With the loss of Frankie Hughes (knee surgery), Duquesne returned over 60 percent of its scoring from a team the led the Atlantic 10 with a 73.5 ppg. average. Six of DU's top eight point producers from last season are back. All but two of DU's 1,295 points in conference play last year (99.8%) came from freshmen and sophomores.
• Head Coach Keith Dambrot's 35 wins were the most by a DU coach through his first two seasons. His 16 wins in 2018 were the most by a DU first-year coach since Dudey Moore went 17-5 in 1948-49. DU's 19 wins last season were its most since 2011.
• The Dukes prepared for the season with a trip to the Bahamas August 5-11. It was the third-ever foreign tour for Duquesne which traveled to Toronto to play four games in three days over Labor Day weekend in 2007 and also went to Ireland for a four-game tour in August of 2015. DU was allowed 10 practices prior to departing.
• Duquesne rallied from 14 points down in the first half to defeat Princeton in the season opener. It was the ninth time a Keith Dambrot-coached DU team erased a double-digit deficit to win (eight came last year). DU set Dambrot Era highs for field goals (36), points in a half (57 in the second) and points off turnovers (34) vs. Princeton.
• First-year grad transfer Baylee Steele tied his career high with 19 points vs. the Tigers. His three 3-pointers and five steals were both career highs.
• Marcus Weathers was 6-of-7 from the field and 4-of-4 from the line in scoring 16 points vs. Princeton. His seven rebounds were a team high.