G25 | GEORGE WASHINGTON (7-17, 3-8) at DUQUESNE (16-9, 7-5)
Sat., Feb. 16, 2019 • 12:00 pm ET • Pittsburgh, Pa. • A.J. Palumbo Center (4,390)

TELEVISION: NBCSN with Kyle Draper (pxp) & David Kaplan (analyst)
RADIO: 1320 AM WJAS / iHeartRadio with Ray Goss ('58) & Jarrett Durham ('71)
IN-GAME STATS: StatBroadcast
DUQUESNE GAME NOTES: Click here

Duquesne (16-9, 7-5) plays the second of its two February home games when it hosts George Washington (7-17, 3-8) in the tenth annual Chuck Cooper Classic on Saturday, Feb. 16 at 12:00 p.m. at the Palumbo Center (NBCSN). The game, which honors the legacy of the DU great who was the first African-American drafted by an NBA team, will also be a Red Out with the first 1,500 fans receiving special edition red t-shirts. The Dukes, who are 12-4 at home (12-3 at Palumbo Center), are looking to tie the Palumbo Center record for home victories set last year (13-6). GW, which has dropped its last three A-10 road games, is 2-6 on the road. This is the second game of a home-and-home series. DU took the first meeting, 91-85 in overtime, at the Smith Center on Jan. 20.

TRENDING

• Duquesne's 16-9 overall record and 7-5 Atlantic 10 mark are its best in both categories since 2010-11 (17-8, 9-3).
• Duquesne needs one more victory to eclipse last year's overall and Atlantic 10 win totals (16-16, 7-11).
• 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 & -1). The average ppg. margin in DU's 12 conference games is +1.3.
• 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.
• DU is 8-5 when trailing at the half.
• DU, the A-10's second-leading scoring team (73.3 ppg.), leads the A-10 in blocks (4.9) and steals (8.0) per game and is second in turnovers forced (15.68).
• Freshman guard Sincere Carry, who leads the A-10 in assists (5.8) and is second in steals (2.5) per game, needs two assists to pass T.J. McConnell and move into the fourth spot on the DU list for assists by a freshman. Carry, who has 139 assists, leads the Dukes in scoring in A-10 play at 13.5 ppg.
• Marcus Weathers, has scored in double-digits in 10 of 12 A-10 games (12.3 ppg. on .543 shooting over that span). He is coming off back-to-back 16-point games at Fordham and at La Salle.
• Six-eight center Michael Hughes is second the A-10 in blocks per game at 2.2. He has a league-best 37 rejections (3.1/g.) in conference games only.
• DU is 18-6 under Keith Dambrot when holding opponents under 70 points. The Dukes are 22-3 when they are the first to reach 70 and 14-2 this season when scoring 70 or more.

DUKES AND COLONIALS
Series Record: GW leads 51-31
At Pittsburgh: Duquesne leads 20-19
At Washington, DC: GW leads 28-9
Neutral Site: GW leads 4-2
A-10 Regular Season: GW leads 44-26
A-10 Championship: GW leads 4-2
Dambrot vs. George Washington: 3-1
Dambrot vs. George Washington at Duquesne: 3-0

• This is the 83rd meeting in a series that dates to Jan. 21, 1932 ... GW leads the series 51-31 (44-26 lead in Atlantic 10 regular season) ... in games played in Pittsburgh, Duquesne leads 20-19 ... the Dukes have won the past three in the series, marking their longest series streak since 2008-11 (four in a row).
• Duquesne snapped a five-game series losing streak with a 69-52 win in the first meeting last year in Pittsburgh ... Eric Williams Jr. paced the Dukes with 21 points and 12 rebounds ... GW's 52 points were its fewest in the series since December of 1981.
• Duquesne head coach Keith Dambrot is 3-1 all-time against George Washington, with the loss coming when he was head coach at Central Michigan (87-66 on Dec. 4, 1992 at the Hatter Classic in DeLand, Fla.).
• DU won the first meeting this season, 91-85 in overtime at Smith Center on Jan. 20 (recap on page 43). It was the first time the Dukes posted back-to-back wins at GW since Mar. 1, 1989 (67-62) and Jan. 22, 1990 (80-77).

LAST GAME
La Salle 73, Duquesne 72 • Wednesday, Feb. 13, Philadelphia, Pa.

• Duquesne, down 61-51 with 6:46 left, rallied to take a 71-69 lead with 1:41 to go, but couldn't hold on in a 73-72 defeat at La Salle. Pookie Powell's drive with 4.6 seconds left proved to be the game-winner. DU's Eric Williams Jr. took the inbounds pass the length of the court only to see his running bank shot from left of the key roll off the rim at the final horn.
• Michael Hughes led Duquesne with 18 points. Marcus Weathers scored 16 and Eric Williams Jr. scored 14 of his 15 in the second half for the Dukes, who just missed notching their seventh double-digit comeback of the season. Williams Jr. added a team-high eight rebounds and tied his carer high with four steals and Sincere Carry added nine points and seven assists.
• It was Duquesne's first loss in a one-point game under Keith Dambrot (4-1), first loss this season when DU was the first to reach 70 points (11-1) and second loss this year when scoring 70 or more (14-2).
• Duquesne missed three of four free throws in the final 1:23 (one-of-two by Carry at 1:23 and two by Michael Hughes with the Dukes up 72-71 with 14.5 seconds left).
• There were nine ties and 17 lead changes … La Salle's largest lead was 11 at 59-48 with 8:12 left …Duquesne's largest lead was three at 7-4 … La Salle took the lead for good on Pookie Powell's layup with 4.6 seconds left ... La Salle led for 24:39 … Duquesne led for 9:11 … the game was tied for 6:10.

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 347 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 13th nationally - and first among freshmen - in steals per game (2.54) and 27th nationally - fifth among freshmen - in assists per game (5.79) through Wednesday.
• Sophomore Eric Williams Jr., who was named second team preseason All-Atlantic 10, leads the team in scoring (12.8) 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 fifth among NCAA Division I sophomores.
• Six-eight sophomore center Michael Hughes is tied for third on the team with 14 double-digit scoring games, despite missing the Longwood, Maryland Eastern Shore and Maine games with a knee injury. Hughes, who is shooting .647, 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 4.5). 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 included 6-11 Gavin Bizeau (Plainfield, Ind.), 6-11 Dylan Swingle (Chillicothe, Ohio), 6-10 Austin Rotroff (Wauseon, Ohio) and 6-9 Amari Kelly (Long Island, N.Y.). Six-eleven 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.
• 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.
• DU has already eclipsed its road win total from last season (2-7). The Dukes are 3-4 on the road, with all three wins coming in conference play.
• 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).