Duquesne is opening its 104th season - and third under head coach Keith Dambrot - vs. Princeton on Tuesday, Nov. 5 at 6:00 p.m. (ESPN+) at PPG Paints Arena. This is the first of six home games the Dukes will play at the home of the NHL Pittsburgh Penguins. Duquesne will also play at La Roche University (4 games) and Robert Morris University (4 games) while renovation work continues on the on-campus UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse (scheduled to open in 2020-21). DU is 86-17 in season-opening games, including an 81-4 record when opening the season at home. Dambrot is 16-5 all time in season openers: 2-0 at Tiffin, Ashland and Central Michigan, 8-5 at Akron and 2-0 at Duquesne. He is 12-1 when opening a season at home and 16-4 in non-conference home games at DU.

The men's game will be followed by the Duquesne women's season opener vs. Kent State.

THE SERIES vs. PRINCETON
Series Record: Princeton leads 2-1
At Pittsburgh: First Meeting
At Princeton, N.J.: Princeton leads 1-0
Neutral: Tied 1-1
 

DATE	SITE	W/L	SCORE
Mar. 21, 1952	N1	W	60-49
Dec. 27, 1973	N2	L	62-72
Mar. 17, 2010	A1	L	51-66

N1 - NCAA East Regional, Chicago, Ill. (Duquesne ranked No. 4)
N2 - Holiday Festival, Madison Square Garden, New York City, N.Y.
A1 - College Basketball Invitational

SERIES NOTES
Ivy League ... located in Princeton, N.J. ... Princeton leads the series 2-1 ... the Tigers are one of two Ivy League schools on the 2019-20 schedule (joining Columbia) ... this will be the first meeting between the Dukes and Princeton in Pittsburgh ... Princeton has won the past two meetings, including a 66-51 CBI first round win at the Tigers' Jadwin Gym on Mar. 17, 2010 ... Princeton returns nearly two-thirds of its scoring from last year's 16-12, 8-6 Ivy League team ... the Tigers have four returnees who started at least 10 games last year, including 6-9 All-Ivy senior C Richmond Arirguzah (12.1, 6.4, .693 from field) ... Princeton is in its ninth season under head coach Mitch Henderson ... Henderson, the third-winningest head coach in program history, has guided the Tigers to four 20-win seasons and four postseason appearances (2017 NCAA, 2016 NIT and 2012 & 2014 CBI).

WORTH NOTING

• The Dukes are entering 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 (seven career games played), 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 has played in 68 Division I games with a team-high 57 career starts.
• With the loss of Frankie Hughes (knee surgery), Duquesne returns 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 are 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.

CHARITY EXHIBITION - West Virginia 78, Duquesne 70 at WVU Coliseum, Friday, Nov. 1
Duquesne rallied from a 13-point first half deficit to pull within four in the early going of the second half, but could get no closer in a in a 78-70 loss to the Mountaineers. Huntington, W.Va. native Tavian Dunn-Martin led the Dukes with 22 points, including five 3-pointers. First-year graduate transfer Baylee Steele added a nine points and 10 rebounds off the bench. Sincere Carry had 11 points, five rebounds and six assists and Michael Hughes added 11 rebounds for the Dukes who shot .365.
 
EXHIBITION NOTES

• The game, which was set-up to benefit the Dayton Oregon District Tragedy Fund, was played before a crowd of 9,706.
• Marcus Weathers, Michael Hughes, Maceo Austin, Tavian Dunn-Martin and Sincere Carry started for the Dukes. Nine players saw action.
• Sophomore Austin Rotroff made his first appearance since suffering a season-ending ACL injury last year vs. Saint Louis (Jan. 23).
• Freshman Evan Buckley went 2-of-2 from the field and 4-of-4 from the line in scoring nine points in 12 minutes off the bench.