G25 | DUQUESNE (16-8, 7-4) at LA SALLE (7-15, 5-5)
Wed., Feb. 13, 2019 • 7:00 pm ET • Philadelphia, Pa. • Tom Gola Arena (3,400)

LIVE STREAM: ESPN+ with Kale Beers (pxp) & Rich Prendergast (analyst)
RADIO: 1320 AM WJAS / iHeartRadio with Ray Goss ('58) & Jarrett Durham ('71)
IN-GAME STATS: Sidearm
DUQUESNE GAME NOTES: Click here

Duquesne (16-8, 7-4), which notched its sixth double-digit comeback win of the season on Saturday at Fordham, heads to Philadelphia to face La Salle on Wednesday, Feb. 13 at 7:00 p.m. (ESPN+). The La Salle game continues a stretch of five-of-seven on the road for the Dukes, who have just two February home games. Duquesne is 3-3 on the road, with all three wins coming in Atlantic 10 play. DU is looking to tie the school record for A-10 road wins set in 1981 (4-3) and tied in 2009 (4-4) & 2011 (4-4). La Salle, which opened the season 0-10, has won four of its past five to move to 5-5 in conference play. No member of the current Duquesne roster has ever played - nor have any members of the coaching staff coached - in a game at La Salle's Tom Gola Arena.

TRENDING

• Duquesne's 16-8 overall record and 7-4 Atlantic 10 mark are its best in both categories since 2010-11 (17-7, 9-2).
• This is just the third time that a Duquesne team has at least seven wins in its first 11 conference games. The others were in 1981 (8-3) and 2011 (9-2).
• Duquesne has yet to have a conference game decided by fewer than eight points: (-4, +5, +1, +6, +6, +4, -6, +3, -4, -2 & +8).
• DU has erased a 19-point deficit to defeat Rhode Island, a 15-point deficit to defeat Saint Joe's and 18-point deficit to defeat Fordham in A-10 play alone.
• The Dukes have held their past two opponents (St. Bonaventure & Fordham) to .319 shooting (44-138, 12-51 from 3-point) and 58.5 ppg.
• Duquesne is 8-5 when trailing at the half.
• DU is 3-2 in A-10 road games. The school record for A-10 road wins is four, done three times (last in 2010-11).
• The Dukes are 3-0 in overtime, 3-0 in one-point games and 7-3 in games decided by five or fewer points.
• Duquesne leads the A-10 in blocks (5.0) and steals (7.8) per game and is second in turnovers forced (15.58).
• Freshman guard Sincere Carry is second in the A-10 in assist rate and third in steal percentage according to KenPom. Carry leads the A-10 in assists (5.7) and is second in steals (2.7) per game. Carry leads the Dukes in scoring in A-10 play at 14.0 ppg.
• Marcus Weathers, has scored in double-digits in nine of 11 A-10 games (12.0 ppg. on .536 shooting over that span). He is coming off a 16-12 double-double at Fordham.
• Six-eight center Michael Hughes is second the A-10 in blocks per game at 2.3. He has a league-best 36 rejections (3.3/g.) in conference games only.
• DU is 18-6 under Keith Dambrot when holding opponents under 70 points. The Dukes are 22-2 when they are the first to reach 70 and 14-1 this season when scoring 70 or more.

DUKES AND EXPLORERS
Series Record: La Salle leads 43-32
At Pittsburgh: Duquesne leads 20-14
At Philadelphia: La Salle leads 26-10
Neutral Site: La Salle leads 3-2
A-10 Regular Season: La Salle leads 22-15
A-10 Championship: La Salle leads 2-0
MCC Regular Season: La Salle led 2-0
Dambrot vs. La Salle: 1-0

• This is the 76th meeting in a series that dates to Feb. 10, 1940 ... La Salle leads 43-32, including a 22-15 advantage in Atlantic 10 regular season games  ... the Explorers have won seven of the past nine ... in games played in Philly, La Salle leads 26-10, however Duquesne has won four of the past eight in Philadelphia ... this is the first meeting between Duquesne head coach Keith Dambrot and La Salle's Ashley Howard.
• The past 16 meetings have been dead even in total points (1,298-1,298) ... the Dukes have won seven and the Explorers nine of the past 16 ... the average score for both teams in those games is 81.1-81.1.
• Last year's meeting reflected the recent closeness of the series with Duquesne pulling out a 101-94 win in triple overtime at the Palumbo Center. Duquesne trailed by six with 32 seconds remaining in the first overtime.

LAST GAME
Duquesne 74, Fordham 66 • Saturday, Feb. 9, Bronx, N.Y.

• Duquesne trailed 51-33 with 13:56 left. It was DU's sixth double-digit comeback this season and third in A-10 play (-15 vs. Saint Joe's and -19 vs. Rhode Island are the others).
• The Dukes, who were coming off a season-low 49 points vs. St. Bonaventure, outscored Fordham 50-26 in the second half.
• Duquesne broke the game open with an 18-2 run over a 4:10 stretch of the second half. Sincere Carry scored seven and Tavian Dunn-Martin had six during the run.
• Marcus Weathers (16-12) and Michael Hughes (11-12) both posted double-doubles. Weathers' three 3-pointers (3-5) were a new career high.
• Sincere Carry scored 11 of his 14 in the second half and Tavian Dunn-Martin came off the bench to score all 10 of his points in the second 20 minutes.
• Duquesne went 7-of-16 from 3-point in the second half, with Dunn-Martin leading the way by going 3-of-6.
• There were two ties and two lead changes … Fordham's largest lead was 18 the last of which came at 51-33 with 13:56 left …Duquesne's largest lead was nine at 72-63 with 26 seconds left … Duquesne took the lead for good on Tavian Dunn-Martin's 3-pointer that made it 60-59 with 4:06 left ... Fordham led for 28:22 … Duquesne led for 9:30 … the game was tied for 1:39.

NOTING THE DUKES

• Duquesne's roster features 11 newcomers, including four eligible Division I transfers. The 11 newcomers are tied for third-most of any NCAA Division I program.  DU has seven freshmen and five sophomores on the 2018-19 roster.
• Ninety-six percent of the Dukes' points have come from underclassmen, including all but two points in A-10 play (99.8%), which is the second-highest rate in Division I. Of the 73 points scored by upperclassmen, 67 belonged to junior Mike Lewis II who transferred to Nevada in December. The other six came from Kellon Taylor, who was part of the active roster for one month before opting to concentrate on football and remain with the basketball team as a practice player.
• DU is ranked 348 of 353 schools in KenPom's listing of "most experienced" college teams. Only one member of the current roster - sophomore Eric Williams Jr. - entered conference play having seen action in an Atlantic 10 game.
• Four first-year Division I sophomore transfers are seeing significant action in 2018-19: 5-8 G Tavian Dunn-Martin (Akron), 6-4 G Frankie Hughes (Missouri), 6-8 C Michael Hughes (Akron) and 6-5 F Marcus Weathers (Miami, Ohio). All four practiced with the team while sitting out last season.
• Second-year head coach Keith Dambrot's 16 wins in 2017-18 were the most by a DU first-year coach since Dudey Moore went 17-5 in 1948-49. Moore coached Keith's father, Sid, from 1952-54 during his highly-successful 10 seasons on the Bluff. There were 10 coaches between Moore and Dambrot. Dambrot engineered the seventh-best single-season improvement in school history in 2018 (+6.0, from 10-22 in 2016-17 to 16-16 last year). Dambrot's 32 wins are the most by a Duquesne coach in his second season.
• Two-time A-10 Rookie of the Week Sincere Carry  has solidified himself as one of the nation's top impact freshmen. The 6-1 point guard ranked tied for 11th nationally - and first among freshmen - in steals per game (2.65) and 28th nationally - fifth among freshmen - in assists per game (5.74) through Sunday.
• Sophomore Eric Williams Jr., who was named second team preseason All-Atlantic 10, leads the team in scoring (12.7) and rebounding (7.9). The 2018 A-10 All-Rookie Team pick set DU single-game freshman records for points (34 vs. George Mason) and rebounds (16 vs. Stetson) in a game last season. He also broke the school record for 3-pointers in a game with nine vs. George Mason. Williams Jr., who earned A-10 co-Player of the Week honors on Dec. 24, has six double-doubles this season (17 for his career). Williams Jr.'s 8.4 career rebounds per game average ranks fourth among NCAA Division I sophomores.
• Six-eight sophomore center Michael Hughes is tied for third on the team with 13 double-digit scoring games, despite missing the Longwood, Maryland Eastern Shore and Maine games with a knee injury. Hughes, who is shooting .641, is challenging the school single-season field goal percentage record of .649 set by Fred Moon in 1979-80 (min. 200 points). The 250-pound center ranked among the nation's Top 10 field goal percentage leaders before dropping below the min. 5.0 FGM/g (he's at 4.3). Hughes, who has scored 20 or more three times, never topped six points in a game as a freshman while at Akron.  
• Dambrot and his staff assembled the tallest recruiting class in school history. The seven-man group includes 6-11 Gavin Bizeau (Plainfield, Ind.), 6-11 Dylan Swingle (Chillicothe, Ohio), 6-10 Austin Rotroff (Wauseon, Ohio), 6-9 Amari Kelly (Long Island, N.Y.), 6-3 Lamar Norman Jr. (Grand Rapids, Mich.), 6-2 Brandon Wade (Ann Arbor, Mich.) and 6-1 Sincere Carry (Solon, Ohio). An eighth recruit - 6-11 James Ellis (Pittsburgh, Pa.) - is sitting out in 2018-19. Duquesne had never had a recruiting class with more than two players 6-9 or taller.
• DU has already eclipsed its road win total from last season (2-7). The Dukes are 3-3 on the road, with all three wins coming in conference play.
• Duquesne was picked to finish 11th in the Atlantic 10 preseason poll of coaches and media released on October 18. Eric Williams Jr. was named preseason second team All-A-10. He is the first Duke since Damian Saunders (2010-11) to earn preseason second team all-conference honors.
• The Dukes, who were 1-10 with trailing at the half last season, are 8-5 when trailing at the half in 2018-19.
• Duquesne has erased double-digit deficits in six of its wins: -18 vs. Longwood, -14 vs. UIC, -12 vs. Eastern Kentucky, -15 vs. Saint Joseph's, -19 vs. Rhode Island & -18 at Fordham. DU trailed by double digits in the second half in all but the SJU game (eight points in that one). The Dukes were down eight with 13:09 left in their Jan. 16 win at Richmond and trailed by five with 58 seconds left in regulation of the overtime win at George Washington.
• Duquesne's 74-68 win at Richmond on Jan. 16 was its first at UR since Dec. 20, 1993 (ending a streak of 10 consecutive defeats). It was also Duquesne's second win over the Spiders in 24 tries since Richmond joined the A-10 in 2001-02. The victory also ended an eight-game series losing streak. DU followed that with a 91-85 OT win at George Washington, marking the first time since 1989 & 1990 that a Duquesne team has won two in a row at GW. DU's 75-72 win over Rhode Island ended an eight-game home losing streak to the Rams (which dated back to Jan. 10, 2001).
• DU's five-game A-10 win streak, which ended on Jan. 26, tied the second-longest in school history.
• Duquesne has posted 10 home wins (12-4) for the second-straight season. It is the first time since 2010-11 & 2011-12 that the Dukes have won 10 or more home games in back-to-back years. DU's 13 home wins last year (13-6) - in addition to being a Palumbo Center record - were the most at home since 1981 (14-2).
• Duquesne's three Gotham Classic wins came over opponents who averaged 20.7 wins last season in William & Mary (19-12), UIC (20-16, CIT) & Radford (23-13, NCAA). The Dukes led at Notre Dame (21-15, NIT last year) 52-51 with 6:31 left in their fourth Gotham Classic game. Three of DU's nonconference losses came at the hands of Power 5 schools Notre Dame (ACC), Pitt (ACC) and Penn State (Big Ten).