G24 | DUQUESNE (15-8, 6-4) at FORDHAM (10-12, 1-8)
Sat., Feb. 9, 2019 • 2:00 pm ET • Bronx, N.Y. • Rose Hill Gym (3,200)

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

Duquesne (15-8, 6-4) heads to New York City for its first rematch of the season when it takes on Fordham (10-12, 1-8) at 2:00 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 9 (ESPN+). The Dukes, who defeated the Rams in Pittsburgh (66-61) on Jan. 9, will be looking for their fourth-straight victory at Rose Hill Gym. The Fordham game continues a stretch of five-of-seven on the road for the Dukes, who have just two February home games. Duquesne (2-3 on the road), which has already tied last year's road win total (2-7), is facing a Fordham team that is 8-6 at home. Fordham is one of five schools the Dukes are facing twice in conference play, the others are Dayton, George Washington, St. Bonaventure and Saint Louis.

TRENDING

• Duquesne has yet to have a conference game decided by fewer than six points: (-4, +5, +1, +6, +6, +4, -6, +3, -4 & -2).
• DU is 3-0 in overtime, 3-0 in one-point games and 7-3 in games decided by five or fewer points.
• DU leads the A-10 in blocks (5.0) and steals (7.8) per game and is second in turnovers forced (15.78).
• The Dukes, who are coming off a season-low 49 points vs. St. Bonaventure, are second in the A-10 in scoring (73.3).
• This is just the eighth time in 42 A-10 seasons that the Dukes have six or more wins in their first 10 conference games.
• Freshman guard Sincere Carry leads the A-10 in assist rate and is third in steal percentage according to KenPom. Carry ranks first in the A-10 in assists (5.8) and 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 eight of 10 A-10 games (11.6 ppg. on .534 shooting over that span) He has pulled down nine rebounds three times in conference play.
• Six-eight center Michael Hughes is second the A-10 in blocks per game at 2.4. He has 35 rejections (3.5/g.) in conference games only.
• DU is 17-6 under Keith Dambrot when holding opponents under 70 points. The Dukes are 21-2 when they are the first to reach 70 and 13-1 this season when scoring 70 or more.

DUKES AND RAMS
Series Record: Duquesne leads 23-16
At Pittsburgh: Duquesne leads 12-7
At Bronx: Duquesne leads 10-7
Neutral Site: Fordham leads 2-1
A-10 Regular Season: Duquesne leads 16-13
A-10 Championship: Fordham leads 1-0
Dambrot vs. Fordham: 2-1

• This is the 40th game in a series that dates to Dec. 22, 1949. Duquesne leads 23-16. In games played in the Bronx, the Dukes lead 10-7. DU has won five of the past six at Rose Hill Gym, including the last three in a row.
• Duquesne snapped a five-game series losing streak with a 74-62 win at the Palumbo Center in 2008. Since then, the Dukes have won 10 of 15 with three of the five losses coming at home.
• The two have split the regular-season series in each of the past two years.  Duquesne won the first matchup this season, 66-61, at A.J. Palumbo Center on Jan. 9. This is the third consecutive season the two are playing home-and-home.
• Duquesne is 16-13 against the Rams in Atlantic 10 regular-season play.
• Keith Dambrot is 2-1 against the Rams, with all three meetings coming as head coach of the Dukes.

LAST GAME
St. Bonaventure 51, Duquesne 49 • Wednesday, Feb. 6, Pittsburgh, Pa.

• Frankie Hughes' 3-point attempt glanced off the rim at the final buzzer enabling St. Bonaventure to hold on for a 51-49 win. Duquesne rallied from an 11-point first-half deficit to take a 29-27 lead with just over 16 minutes left. The only scoring in the last 2:10 was an SBU free throw that made it a two-point game with six seconds left.
• Duquesne's 49 points were its fewest since a 68-49 loss at No. 15 (AP) Butler on Feb. 19, 2013.
• St. Bonaventure's .286 field goal percentage was the lowest by a Duquesne opponent since George Mason shot .258 (16-62) in a 62-53 loss to Duquesne on Jan. 31, 2015.
• The Dukes held SBU leading scorer Courtney Stockard (17.2 ppg.) to four points on 2-of-16 shooting.
• DU's 6-of-16 performance from the foul line (.375) was its worst under head coach Keith Dambrot.
• St. Bonaventure outrebounded Duquesne 54-42. The Bonnies turned 21 offensive rebounds into 11 second chance points.
• Frankie Hughes finished with a career-high nine rebounds for Duquesne.
• There were two ties and four lead changes … St. Bonaventure's largest lead was 11 at 18-7 with 8:19 left in the first half …Duquesne's largest lead was two at 29-27 with 16:25 left … SBU took the lead for good on a Courtney Stockard layup with 14:33 to go ... St. Bonaventure led for 36:35 … Duquesne led for 0:38 … the game was tied for 2:47.

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 (99.7%), 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 31 wins are tied for the most ever 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 11th nationally - and first among freshmen - in steals per game (2.68) and tied for 26th nationally - fifth among freshmen - in assists per game (5.82) through Wednesday.
• Sophomore Eric Williams Jr., who was named second team preseason All-Atlantic 10, leads the team in scoring (12.7) and rebounding (8.0). 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 8.5 career rebounds per game average ranks second among NCAA Division I sophomores.
• Six-eight sophomore center Michael Hughes is tied for third on the team with 12 double-digit scoring games, despite missing the Longwood, Maryland Eastern Shore and Maine games with a knee injury. Hughes, who is shooting .640, 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 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 matched its road win total from last season (2-7). The Dukes are 2-3 on the road this year.
• Duquesne was picked to finish 11th in the Atlantic 10 preseason poll of conference 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 7-5 when trailing at the half in 2018-19.
• Duquesne has erased double-digit deficits in five of its wins: -18 vs. Longwood, -14 vs. UIC, -12 vs. Eastern Kentucky, -15 vs. Saint Joseph's & -19 vs. Rhode Island. 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).