AKRON, OHIO - Marcus Weathers tied his career high with 19 points and grabbed a career-best 13 rebounds to help 9-0 Duquesne to its best start in 51 years with a stifling 71-49 win over Radford at Ellet High School in Akron, Ohio.

Duquesne, which shot 50.9 percent, held Radford to 31.6 percent shooting in matching the school's best start since 1968-69.

It was the sixth time this season, and fourth-straight game, that the Dukes - who entered the game ranked 12th nationally in scoring defense - have held an opponent under 60 points.

It was the eighth career double-double for Weathers, who went 8-of 11 from the field. Sincere Carry had six assists and Maceo Austin added five for the Dukes who assisted on 20 of 27 field goals.

Second-year Akron transfers Tavian Dunn-Martin and Michael Hughes had 12 and 11 points respectively for DU.

Duquesne, which never trailed, got nine points from Weathers and eight from Hughes in jumping out to a 40-23 halftime lead. The Dukes shot 56 percent in the opening 20 minutes in outscoring the Highlanders 20-6 in the paint.

DU went on a 9-0 run, started and ended by baskets from Baylee Steele, to go up 20-6. The Dukes' largest lead was the 17-point halftime margin.

The Dukes took their first 20-point lead at 45-25 on a Dunn-Martin 3-pointer early in the second half. DU held Radford to six points on 3-of-15 shooting in building the lead to 52-29 with 11:50 to go.

Duquesne's largest lead was 26 points, the last of which came at 65-39 with 5:20 remaining.

Duquesne heads to St. Petersburg, Fla. to face Austin Peay in the first round of the St. Pete Shootout at McArthur Center on the campus of Eckerd College on Saturday, Dec. 21. The Dukes conclude the two-game event vs. UAB on Sunday, Dec. 22. Both games will tip at 2:30 p.m.

NOTES

• This is the first time since 1968-69 (also 9-0) that a Duquesne team has opened 9-0.
• Duquesne, which received one vote in the Dec. 9 Associated Press Top 25 (it was the first time DU received a vote in the poll since Feb. 7, 2011), began the day as one of five undefeated teams in NCAA Division I.
• The nine-game win streak is Duquesne's longest since Ron Everhart's 2010-11 Dukes reeled off 11 in a row from Dec. 31 through Feb. 2.
• This was Duquesne's fourth neutral-site win (DU went 3-0 in winning the Junkanoo Jam Championship in Bimini, Bahamas Nov. 21-24). The four neutral-site victories are the most by a Dukes team since the 1976-77 NCAA team went 4-2. DU has three regular-season neutral site games remaining, in addition to the Atlantic 10 Championship at Brooklyn's Barclays Center.
• DU, which assisted on 20 of 27 field goals, has 44 assists on 65 field goals over its past two games.
• The 22-point margin of victory was DU's fifth-largest ever in a neutral-site game. It is DU's second 20+-point neutral-site win this season. The other was 71-50 over Loyola Marymount in the final game of the Junkanoo Jam on Nov. 24.
• Duquesne, which never trailed posted a largest lead of +26, the last of which came at 65-39 with 5:20 left.