Cleveland Classic
G12 | DUQUESNE (10-1) vs. MARSHALL (5-7)
Sun., Dec. 29 • 2:30 pm ET • Cleveland, Ohio • Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse (19,432)

LIVE STREAM: None
RADIO: WJAS-AM 1320 / iHeartRadio with Ray Goss ('58) & Jarrett Durham ('71)
IN-GAME STATS: Sidearm Stats

Duquesne (10-1), which saw its season-opening 10-game win streak snapped in a 77-68 loss to UAB at the St. Pete Shootout on Dec. 22, returns to action to face Marshall (5-7) in the second game of the Cleveland Classic on Sunday, Dec. 29 at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse (2:30 p.m., no stream). The DU/MU game will be preceded by #2 (AP) Ohio State vs. #22 (AP) West Virginia at Noon. DU's 10-0 start was the school's best since 1953-54 and the 10-game win streak was the  longest since February of 2011. The Dukes need one win to break the school record for pre-New Year's wins set in 1953-54 (10-0) and tied in 2015-16 (10-3) & 2017-18 (10-4). The Dukes also need one victory to tie the school record for nonconference wins set in 1978-79 (11-4) and tied in 1979-80 (11-6) & 2015-16 (11-4).

TRENDING

• The Dukes entered Christmas break ranked 10th nationally in blocks per game (6.0), 20th in scoring defense (59.8) & 23rd in 3-point defense (.274).
• DU is the nation's seventh-best free throw shooting team at .796.
• The balanced Dukes have five players averaging between 9.6 and 12.5 points per game. Six players have either led, or tied for the team lead, in scoring and five have scored 20 or more in a game.
• DU is outscoring opponents 452-348 in the second half (+9.5 ppg.).
• Junior center Michael Hughes, who ranks 6th nationally in block percentage (KenPom), is shooting .712.
• Junior Marcus Weathers is averaging 18.5 points and 8.3 rebounds in DU's past four games. He is shooting .707 (29-of-41) over that span. He has led the Dukes in points and rebounds in each of the past three games.
• Six-eleven grad transfer Baylee Steele is third on the team with 15 3-pointers (15-of-43, .349). He entered the season 2-of-11 from the arc in 68 career Division I games.
• DU's Nov. 12 win over Lamar was the 450th for third-year DU coach Keith Dambrot, who is in his 22nd season.

WORTH NOTING

• Duquesne is 28-9 in nonconference games under third-year head coach Keith Dambrot: 21-4 at home, 0-1 on the road and 7-4 at neutral sites (two of the neutral losses were to Pitt at PPG Paints Arena).
• DU's 10-0 start was the best since the 1953-54 team opened with 22-straight wins. Sid Dambrot, the father of DU head coach Keith Dambrot, was a senior guard on the '54 team which reached No. 1 in the AP poll. The 10-game win streak was the program's longest since Ron Everhart's Dukes reeled off 11 in a row from Dec. 31 to Feb. 2 in 2010-11.
• Duquesne was among others receiving votes in the Dec. 9 & 16 AP Top 25 polls (1 in each poll). It was the first time since 2011: Jan. 24 (1), Jan. 31 (15) & Feb. 7 (1), that DU received votes. DU's last AP poll appearance was at No. 20 on Feb. 8, 1972 (15-2).
• Duquesne has come back from double-digit deficits to win four times this season: -14 vs. Princeton, -12 vs. both Indiana State & Loyola Marymount and -11 vs. VMI. Dambrot's Dukes have erased a total of 12 double-digit deficits in the past two seasons.
• Lipscomb's 36 points in Duquesne's 58-36 Nov. 15 win, were the fewest by a DU opponent in 39 years (since a 34-33 NIT loss to Saint Peter's on 3/10/80).
• Duquesne went 3-0 in earning the Junkanoo Jam Championship on Nov. 21-24 in Bimini, Bahamas. It was DU's first in-season tournament title since the 2002 Florida International University New Years Classic on Dec. 27-28 at Miami when Danny Nee's Dukes defeated St. Francis, N.Y. (67-57) and Florida International (71-68 in OT). Sincere Carry was named Junkanoo Jam MVP with Michael Hughes joining Carry on the All-Tournament Team.
• Duquesne has produced the fourth and fifth-largest margins of victory in neutral-site games in program history this season (+22, 71-49 over Radford in Akron & +21, 71-50 over Loyola Marymount in Bimini, Bahamas). DU has five 20+-point wins this season (+27 over Princeton, +22 over Lipscomb and +36 over Columbia are the others).
• The Dukes prepared for the season with a trip to Nassau, 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.
• Under Keith Dambrot, Duquesne is ... 36-3 when leading with 5:00 left ... 35-10 when scoring 70 or more points ... 30-3 when the first to 70 points in a game ... 27-7 when holding opponents under 70.

THE SERIES VS. MARSHALL
Series Record: Duquesne leads 4-1
At Pittsburgh: Duquesne leads 3-0
At Huntington, W.Va.: Marshall leads 1-0
Neutral Site: Duquesne leads 1-0
Dambrot vs. Marshall: 8-0 (7-0 at Akron)
 

Dec. 5, 1969	H1	W	120-75
Jan. 23, 1974	A	L	75-78
Feb. 13, 1975	H	W	83-72
Dec. 29, 1978	N1	W	88-83
Dec. 5, 2018	H	W	93-82

H1 - Steel Bowl, Pittsburgh Civic Arena
N1 - West Virginia Classic, Morgantown, W.Va.

NOTES
Conference USA ... located in Huntington, W.Va. ... Duquesne leads the series 4-1 ... this is the second consecutive season the Dukes and Thundering Herd will meet ... the two combined for 175 points in a 93-82 Duquesne win at the Palumbo Center last year ... the Palumbo Center meeting was the first between the two schools since an 88-83 Duquesne win in the first round of the West Virginia Classic in Morgantown, W.Va. on Dec. 29, 1978 ... Marshall went on to finish last season 23-14 in winning the CIT championship ... the Herd return two of their top defensive players in 5-11 junior Jarrod West (5.6 ppg., 61 assists), who set a school record with 80 steals in 2019, and 6-9 junior F Jannson Williams (9.0, 5.1, 62 3-pointers) whose 101 career blocks in two years are on pace to break Hassan Whiteside's career record of 182 ... Marshall was one of seven schools to attempt over 1,000 3-pointers last season (1,058 attempts ranked fifth nationally) ... the Herd is in its sixth season under head coach Dan D'Antoni who has won 11, 17, 20, 25 & 23 games in his first five years ... he is the first Marshall coach to post three-straight 20-win seasons since Cam Henderson in 1946, 1947 and 1948 ... Duquesne head coach Keith Dambrot is 8-0 all time against Marshall, including a 7-0 mark during his 13 seasons at Akron.

MORE ON MARSHALL

• This is Marshall's first neutral-site game.
• Sincere Carry had 19 points, seven assists and five steals and Michael Hughes tied his then career high with 20 points in Duquesne's 93-82 win over Marshall last year at the Palumbo Center ... DU shot .579  in the victory ... Duquesne's largest lead was 18 at 42-24 with 4:54 left in the first half ... Marshall's largest lead was 5-0 ... Duquesne led for 37:22 minutes, Marshall led for 2:26 ... the game was tied for 0:12.

NONCONFERENCE NOTE
The Duquesne record for nonconference wins is 11, set in 1978-79 and matched in 1979-80 and 2015-16. The 2019-20 Dukes have one regular-season nonconference game remaining:
 

MOST NONCONFERENCE WINS
11-4 (.733)	1978-79
10-1 (.909)	2019-20
10-3 (.769) - 11-4 including postseason	2015-16
10-5 (.667) - 11-6 including postseason	1979-80
10-3 (.769)	2007-08

Head coach Keith Dambrot, who is 28-9 in nonconference play at Duquesne, is the owner of three of the top six nonconference winning percentages in school history (in bold):
 

TOP NONCONFERENCE WINNING PCT. (includes postseason)
.909	10-1	2019-20
.769	10-3	2007-08
.733	11-4	2015-16
.733	11-4	1978-79
.692	9-4	2018-19
.692	9-4	2017-18