G27 | DUQUESNE (17-9, 8-5) at GEORGE MASON (15-11, 9-4)
Sat., Feb. 23, 2019 • 4:00 pm ET • Fairfax, Va. • EagleBank Arena (7,860)

TV/LIVE STREAM: MASN / ESPN+ with Bill Rohland (pxp) & Craig Esherick (analyst)
RADIO: 1320 AM WJAS / iHeartRadio with Ray Goss ('58) & Jarrett Durham ('71)
IN-GAME STATS: Sidearm
DUQUESNE GAME NOTES: Click here

Duquesne (17-9, 8-5), which has been idle since its 85-69 win over GW last Saturday, heads to Fairfax, Va. to face George Mason (15-11, 9-4) on Saturday at 4:00 p.m. (MASN/ESPN+) in a key Atlantic 10 clash. The Dukes, who are in a three-way tie for fifth in the A-10 with Saint Louis & St. Bonaventure at 8-5, are in the hunt for a top four finish and potential double bye at the A-10 Championship. Mason is currently tied for third place with Dayton at 9-4. Four of Duquesne's last five games are against teams currently within one game of the Dukes (Mason, St. Bonaventure, Saint Louis and Dayton) in the A-10 standings. The Dukes, who are 3-4 on the road (3-3 in conference), are looking to tie the school record for A-10 road wins set in 1981 (4-3) and tied in 2009 & 2011 (4-4).

Atlantic 10 Standings

TRENDING

• Duquesne's 17-9 overall record and 8-5 Atlantic 10 mark are its best in both categories since 2010-11 (17-9, 9-4).
• Duquesne has eclipsed last year's overall and Atlantic 10 win totals (16-16, 7-11) and also clinched a winning season.
• DU's eight Atlantic 10 wins are its most through 13 league games since 2010-11 (9-4). A victory Saturday will clinch Duquesne's sixth winning conference season in 42 years of A-10 play.
• Duquesne's 16-point win over GW was its first A-10 game decided by more than eight points. The average ppg. margin in DU's 13 conference games is +2.5. DU's five A-10 losses have come by a total of 17 points.
• 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 on school record pace for 3-pointers attempted per game (26.4).
• DU, the A-10's second-leading scoring team (73.7 ppg.), leads the A-10 in blocks (4.9) and steals (8.0) per game and is second in turnovers forced (15.73).
• Freshman guard Sincere Carry, who leads the A-10 in assists (5.8) and is second in steals (2.5) per game, needs four assists to pass Kenya Hunter and move into the third spot on the DU list for assists by a freshman. Carry, who has 145 assists, leads the Dukes in scoring in A-10 play at 13.7 ppg.
• Marcus Weathers, has scored in double-digits in 11 of 13 A-10 games (12.3 ppg. on .533 shooting over that span).
• Six-eight center Michael Hughes is second the A-10 in blocks per game at 2.3. He has a league-best 41 rejections (3.2/g.) in conference games only.
• DU is 19-6 under Keith Dambrot when holding opponents under 70 points. The Dukes are 23-3 when they are the first to reach 70 and 15-2 this season when scoring 70 or more.

DUKES AND PATRIOTS
Series Record: Tied 6-6
At Pittsburgh: Tied 3-3
At Fairfax: Tied 3-3
Neutral Site: 0-0
A-10 Regular Season: Duquesne leads 4-2
A-10 Championship: 0-0
Dambrot vs. George Mason: 1-0

• This is the 13th meeting in a relatively new series that dates to New Year's Eve of 2001 ... the series is tied at 6-6, including 3-3 at both home sites ... this is the seventh meeting between the two as members of the Atlantic 10 Conference ... Duquesne leads 4-2 in A-10 regular season games.
• Duquesne has won five of the past seven meetings, including three of the past four at Mason (the lone loss was 63-62 on Mar. 1, 2017).
• George Mason (15-11, 9-4), which is in its fourth-year under head coach Dave Paulsen, was picked to finish fourth in the A-10 preseason poll.
• Mason, which is led by senior guard Otis Livingston III (13.8 ppg., 4.2 apg.) & junior guard Justin Keir (14.5 ppg., 6.6 rpg.), is coming off a 79-56 loss at St. Bonaventure on Sunday. The Patriots, who opened A-10 play 7-1, are 10-4 at home, including a 5-1 mark in conference games. Davidson is the only A-10 team to defeat Mason at EagleBank Arena.
• DU head coach Keith Dambrot is 1-0 all-time vs. George Mason (a 95-89 2OT win in Pittsburgh last year).

LAST GAME
Duquesne 85, George Washington 69 • Saturday, Feb. 16, Pittsburgh, Pa.

• Frankie Hughes hit a career-high seven 3-pointers (7-of-15, 21 points) and Eric Williams Jr. tied his season high with 22 points in leading Duquesne to an 85-69 win over George Washington at the Palumbo Center. It was DU's first conference game decided by more than eight points.
• Sincere Carry added 15 points and six assists, Marcus Weathers had 12 points and eight rebounds and Michael Hughes added nine rebounds and four blocks for the Dukes who swept the regular-season series.
• Duquesne's six turnovers were the fewest by a Keith Dambrot-coached Duquesne team. The previous low was seven, accomplished three times last year.
• There was one tie and six lead changes … George Washington's largest lead was two at 33-31 with 6:51 left in the first half …Duquesne's largest lead was 18 at 85-67 with three seconds left … Duquesne took the lead for good on Frankie Hughes' 3-pointer that made it 34-33 with 6:50 left in the first half ... George Washington led for 0:57 … Duquesne led for 38:11 … the game was tied for 0:52.

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 (behind only Mount St. Mary's). 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 33 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 15th nationally - and first among freshmen - in steals per game (2.52) and 26th nationally - fifth among freshmen - in assists per game (5.80) through Wednesday.
• Sophomore Eric Williams Jr., who was named second team preseason All-Atlantic 10, leads the team in scoring (13.2) 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 has earned A-10 co-Player of the Week honors twice (Dec. 24 & Feb. 18), 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 has scored in double-digits 14 times, despite missing the Longwood, Maryland Eastern Shore and Maine games with a knee injury. Hughes, who is shooting .643, 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 4.4). 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.
• 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 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. DU needs one more A-10 road win to tie the school record of four set in 1981 (4-3) and tied in 2009 & 2011 (4-4).
• 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 (13-4) 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 in each of the past two years (13-6 last year) - 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).