G29 | UMASS (10-18, 3-12) at DUQUESNE (18-10, 9-6)  
Sat., Mar. 2, 2019 • 2:00 pm ET • Pittsburgh, Pa. • A.J. Palumbo Center (4,390)

TELEVISION: AT&T SportsNet with Tim Benz (pxp) & Josh Taylor (analyst)
LIVE STREAM: ESPN+
RADIO: 1320 AM WJAS / iHeartRadio with Ray Goss ('58) & Jarrett Durham ('71)
IN-GAME STATS: StatBroadcast
DUQUESNE GAME NOTES: Click here

Duquesne (18-10, 9-6), which saw its two-game win streak snapped at St. Bonaventure on Wednesday, returns home to take on UMass (10-18, 3-12) on Saturday at 2:00 p.m. (AT&T SportsNet/ESPN+). DU, picked to finish 11th in the A-10 preseason poll, enters the weekend alone in sixth place in the conference standings. DU is one win shy of tying the school record for conference wins set in 1981 (10-3) and matched in 1991 (10-8) & 2011 (10-6). The Dukes are also looking to clinch the program's sixth winning season in Atlantic 10 play (1980, 1981, 1991, 2009 & 2011). Duquesne (13-4 at home) needs one more home win to set a new Palumbo Center record (DU was 13-6 at home last year). The last time a DU team to posted 14 home victories was in 1981 (14-2). Saturday's men's game will be followed by the Duquesne women's Senior Day game vs. St. Bonaventure at 4:30 p.m.

TRENDING

• This is Duquesne's best overall and A-10 record through 28 games (18-10, 9-6) since 2010-11 (18-10, 10-5).
• DU needs one victory to clinch a winning conference record for just the sixth time in school history (1980, 1981, 1991, 2009 & 2011 are the others). This is just the ninth time Duquesne is guaranteed of a .500 or better record in 42 A-10 seasons.
• DU's nine A-10 wins are one shy of the school record set in 1981 (10-3) and matched in 1991 (10-8) & 2011 (10-6).
• Thirteen of DU's 15 A-10 games have been decided by single digits, including five by three or fewer points.
• DU has come back from double-digit deficits to win seven times, including four in A-10 play alone: -19 vs. Rhode Island, -15 vs. Saint Joe's, -18 at Fordham and a -19 at George Mason.
• DU is on school record pace for 3-pointers attempted per game (26.6). The current record is 26.0 set in 2015-16.
• DU leads the A-10 in blocks (4.7) and steals (8.1) per g. and is second in scoring (73.0) turnovers forced (15.68).
• Freshman guard Sincere Carry, who leads the A-10 in assists (5.8) and is second in steals (2.52) 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. Carry has missed the past two games (knee). DU is 1-2 without Carry this season (he also missed the VCU game on Jan. 26).
• Six-eight center Michael Hughes is second the A-10 in blocks per game at 2.2. He has a league-best 43 rejections (2.9/g.) in conference games only.
• Frankie Hughes, is tied for 2nd in the A-10 with 42 3-pointers in league games. Hughes is the 6th player in school history to attempt 200+ "3's" in a season (201).
• DU is 23-3 under Keith Dambrot when they are the first to reach 70 points and 16-2 this year when scoring 70 or more.

MOST ATLANTIC 10 WINS IN SCHOOL HISTORY

A-10 Record	Year
10-3	1981
10-8	1991
10-6	2011
9-6*	2019
9-9	1986
9-7	2009

* - Duquesne has three A-10 games remaining


DUKES AND MINUTEMEN
Series Record: UMass leads 40-26
At Pittsburgh: Duquesne leads 15-14
At Amherst/Springfield: UMass leads *22-7
Neutral Site: UMass leads 4-3
A-10 Regular Season: UMass leads 34-20
A-10 Championship: Tied 5-5
Dambrot vs. UMass: 0-2
Dambrot vs. UMass at Duquesne: 0-1
* - includes A-10 Tournament first round game in 2012

• This is the 67th game in a series that dates back to Jan. 11, 1975. Massachusetts leads the series 40-26. In games played in Pittsburgh, Duquesne leads 15-14.
• UMass has won six of the past seven meetings ... DU's last two series wins have both come at home (80-69 on Jan. 18, 2012 & 96-66 on Feb. 15, 2017).
• Danny Nee's Dukes snapped a 16-game series losing streak (dating back to 1991) with a 78-69 win over the Minutemen on February 6, 2002 at the Palumbo Center. Since then, UMass has won 12 and Duquesne eight.
• The Minutemen are 1-9 on the road, including an 0-7 mark in Atlantic 10 road games ... UMass has lost by three at Saint Louis, five at Dayton, two at Saint Joseph's and 80-75 in overtime at George Mason ... UMass is coming off a 72-48 loss to Dayton at Mullins Center ... the Minuteman faced the Flyers without five key contributors - including leading scorer Luwane Pipkins (16.6 ppg.) and leading rebounder Rashaan Holloway (8.9, 5.4) ... UMass is one of the better scoring teams in the A-10 at 70.1 ppg.

LAST GAME
St. Bonaventure 68, Duquesne 47 • Wednesday, Feb. 27, Olean, N.Y.

• Duquesne Keith Dambrot Era lows for points (47), field goals made (15) and field goal percentage (.283) in the defeat.
• Freshman Lamar Norman Jr. came off the bench to lead the Dukes with a career-high 20 points. He was the lone DU player in double figures. Norman Jr., who tied his career-high with four 3-pointers (4-of-8) also added a career-best four steals in 32 minutes.
• Duquesne played without second leading scorer (12.3 ppg.) and leading assist (145) and steals (63) man freshman point guard Sincere Carry (knee) for the second-straight game.
• Seven of DU's 15 field goals were 3-pointers.
• St. Bonaventure shot a DU opponent-best .551.
• There were zero ties and two lead changes … St. Bonaventure's largest lead was the 21-point final margin …Duquesne's largest lead was a 3-2 … St. Bonaventure led for 39:07 … Duquesne led for 0:30 … the game was tied for 0:23.

NOTING THE DUKES

• Duquesne needs two victories to reach the 20-win mark for just the 14th time in its 103-year history. The last DU team to win 20 was the 2009 NIT squad (21-13). Duquesne has had just two 20-win seasons (21-13 in 2009 & 20-10 in 1981) in the past 46 years.
• 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 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 346 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 34 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 (2.52) and 27th 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 (12.5) and rebounding (7.6). 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 8.2 career rebounds per game average ranks fifth among NCAA Division I sophomores.
• Six-eight sophomore center Michael Hughes has scored in double-digits 15 times, despite missing the Longwood, Maryland Eastern Shore and Maine games with a knee injury. Hughes is shooting .620, which is the second-highest single-season percentage in school history (record is .649 set by Fred Moon in 1979-80, min. 200 points). The 250-pound center, who has scored 20 or more three times, never topped six points in a game as a freshman while at Akron. Hughes ranks 25th nationally in blocked shots per game (2.20).
• The Dukes, who were 1-10 with trailing at the half last season, are 9-6 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.
• The Dukes, who are 4-5 on the road - including a 4-4 mark in conference road games, have tied the school record for A-10 road wins set in 1981 (4-3) and tied in 2009 & 2011 (4-4).
• Duquesne has erased double-digit deficits in seven 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 & -19 at George Mason. 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).
• 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.