G13 | SAINT LOUIS (11-2, 0-0) at DUQUESNE (10-2, 0-0)
Thurs., Jan. 2 • 7:00 pm ET • Moon Township, Pa. • UPMC Events Center (4,000)

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 (10-2, 0-0), which opened the season with 10 consecutive wins, is looking to snap a two-game losing streak when it faces Saint Louis (11-2, 0-0) in the Atlantic 10 opener on Thursday, Jan. 2 at 7:00 p.m. at UPMC Events Center on the campus of Robert Morris University (ESPN+). This is the first "home" game at RMU for Duquesne whose on-campus arena - UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse - is undergoing a season-long renovation. This is Duquesne's first home game since Dec. 9. DU has played more games in the Bahamas (3), Florida (2) and Ohio (2) than it has within Pittsburgh's city limits. Duquesne played its opener vs. Princeton at PPG Paints Arena and four additional nonconference home games at La Roche University, located 10 miles north of DU's downtown campus. The UPMC Events Center is 18 miles from campus.

TRENDING

• This is just the third time in school history that the Dukes enter conference play with 10 wins (10-3 in 2007-08 & 10-3 in 2015-16 are the others).
• It is the fourth time DU has posted 10 wins prior to the New Year (10-4 in 2017-18, 10-3 in 2015-16 & 10-0 in 1953-54 are the others).
• The Dukes ranked tied for 11th nationally in blocks/g. (6.0) through Dec. 30.
• DU is the nation's seventh-best free throw shooting team at .792.
• The balanced Dukes have six players averaging between 9.0 and 13.5 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 484-393 in the second half (+7.5 ppg.).
• Junior Marcus Weathers has led the Dukes in points and rebounds in each of the past four games. He is averaging 20.8 points and 10.0 rebounds on .721 shooting (31-of-43) over that span.
• Guard Sincere Carry is one of four who ranks among the Top 10 D-I sophomores in both career assist and career steals averages. Siena's Jalen Pickett, Duke's Tre Jones and Kentucky's Ashton Hagans are the others (thru Dec. 30).
• Junior center Michael Hughes, who ranks 9th nationally in block percentage (KenPom), is shooting .624.
• Six-eleven grad transfer Baylee Steele is third on the team with 15 3-pointers (15-of-46, .326). He entered the season 2-of-11 from the arc in 68 career Division I games.
• Under Keith Dambrot, DU 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.

DUKES AND BILLIKENS
Series Record: Tied 15-15
At Pittsburgh: Duquesne leads 9-5
At St. Louis: Saint Louis leads 8-4
Neutral Site: Tied 2-2
A-10 Regular Season: Saint Louis leads 13-11
A-10 Championship: Saint Louis leads 2-1
Dambrot vs. Saint Louis: 2-2

• This is the 31st game between Duquesne and Saint Louis, with the series knotted at 15-15 ... in games at Pittsburgh, DU leads 9-5 ... Duquesne has won the past five in Pittsburgh ... DU had won five in a row prior to an 87-81 Billikens win in St. Louis in 2016-17 ... DU snapped a three-game series losing streak with a 76-69 win at Pittsburgh in 2017-18.
• Saint Louis had won seven of eight - including five in a row, before DU's upset win over the No. 10 (AP) Billikens at Chaifetz Arena on Feb. 27, 2014 ... the Dukes have won eight of 13 since, including the upset win.
• This is the 11th time the Dukes and Billikens are playing home-and-home ... DU swept the series in 2016 and SLU has swept twice (2010 & 2012) ... the two have split seven times (2009, 2011, 2014, 2015, 2017. 2018 & 2019).
• SLU, the defending A-10 Champion, was picked to finish seventh in the conference's preseason poll - one spot ahead of Duquesne ... this is the third road game for the Billikens who own Power 5 wins at Boston College (64-54) and at Kansas State (66-63).

WORTH NOTING

• 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.
• DU's Nov. 12 win over Lamar was the 450th for third-year DU coach Keith Dambrot, who is in his 22nd season.