G30 | DAYTON (20-10, 12-5) at DUQUESNE (19-11, 10-7)
Sat., Mar. 9, 2019 • 7:00 pm ET • Pittsburgh, Pa. • A.J. Palumbo Center (4,390)

LIVE STREAM: ESPN+ with Josh Taylor (play-by-play) & Ben Braun (analyst)
RADIO: 1320 AM WJAS / iHeartRadio with Ray Goss ('58) & Jarrett Durham ('71)
IN-GAME STATS: StatBroadcast
DUQUESNE GAME NOTES: Click here

Duquesne (19-11, 10-7) returns home to close out the regular season when it hosts Dayton (20-10, 12-5) in the Dukes' final game in currently configured A.J. Palumbo Center on Saturday, Mar. 9 at 7:00 p.m. (ESPN+). At stake are the seeds for the 2019 Atlantic 10 Championship at Brooklyn's Barclays Center (March 13-17). Duquesne could finish as high as fifth or as low as seventh based on the results of today's play (the A-10 will release an official bracket following the conclusion of the DU/UD game). A victory will give Duquesne a new school record for conference wins. DU has already set a new Palumbo Center record for wins with 14. The AJP is set to undergo an extensive renovation beginning this month. The building is scheduled to re-open as the UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse for the 2020-21 season. Saturday is also Senior Day as forward Zach Snyder will be recognized in a pre-game ceremony.

Atlantic 10 Standings

TRENDING

• Duquesne needs one victory to reach the 20-win mark for 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.
• The Dukes (10-7) have tied the school record for Atlantic 10 wins set in 1981 (10-3) and tied in 1991 (10-8) & 2011 (10-6). This is the sixth time in 42 A-10 seasons that DU will have a winning conference record.
• This is Duquesne's best record through 30 games (19-11) since 2008-09 (19-11).
• Fourteen of DU's 17 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 eight times, including five in A-10 play: -19 vs. Rhode Island, -15 vs. Saint Joe's, -18 at Fordham, -19 at George Mason & -11 vs. UMass.
• DU leads the A-10 in blocks (4.8) and steals (8.1) per g. and is second in scoring (73.3) turnovers forced (15.70).
• Freshman guard Sincere Carry, who leads the A-10 in assists (5.8) and is second in steals (2.6) per game, leads the Dukes in scoring in A-10 play at 13.6 ppg. Carry returned to the lineup after missing 3 games with an injured knee. DU is 2-2 without Carry this season (he also missed the VCU game on Jan. 26).
• Tavian Dunn-Martin averaged 19.3 ppg. in the four games DU played without Carry. TDM became the 13th DU player to hit seven or more 3's in a game (7-of-9) in his career-high 30 point game vs. UMass on Mar. 2.
• Six-eight center Michael Hughes ranks 14th nationally in blocked shots (2.37/g.).
• Eric Williams Jr., is coming off a career-high 40-point outing at Saint Louis. His seven 3-pointers were two shy of his career-best, a school record nine last year vs. George Mason. It was DU's first 40-point game since 2009.
• DU is 24-3 under Keith Dambrot when they are the first to reach 70 points and 17-3 this year when scoring 70 or more.
• DU is on school record pace for 3-pointers attempted per game (26.4). The current record is 26.0 set in 2015-16.

DUKES AND FLYERS
Series Record: Dayton leads 54-24
At Pittsburgh: Dayton leads 20-15
At Dayton: Dayton leads 33-6
A-10 Regular Season: Dayton leads 32-10
A-10 Championship: Tied 1-1
MCC Regular Season: Tied 1-1
Dambrot vs. Dayton: 1-6
Dambrot vs. Dayton at Duquesne: 1-2

• This is the 79th meeting in a series that dates to Jan. 5, 1953. Dayton leads the series 54-24, including a 32-10 lead in Atlantic 10 regular season games. In games at Pittsburgh, UD leads 20-15. Duquesne has won two of the past four against the Flyers in Pittsburgh, including a 70-62 win at Palumbo Center last year.
• Duquesne, which lost 16 in a row to Dayton from 1997 through 2004, is 9-16 against the Flyers in the past 25 games.
• Duquesne snapped a four-game series losing streak with a 70-62 win over the Flyers in Pittsburgh last season. Dayton won the first meeting this season, 68-64 at UD Arena on Feb. 2.
• Duquesne head coach Keith Dambrot is 1-6 vs. Dayton, with four losses coming when the second-year DU coach was at Akron. Three of the four games were single-digit affairs including an 83-81 double overtime loss to the No. 20 (AP) Flyers at UD Arena on Jan. 2, 2008 and a 54-50 home loss on Dec. 6, 2008.

LAST GAME
Saint Louis 85, Duquesne 75 • Wednesday, Mar. 6, St. Louis, Mo.

• Eric Williams Jr. scored a Chaifetz Arena record 40 points, but it was not enough as Saint Louis outscored Duquesne by 13 in the second half to pull away for an 85-75 win.
• Williams Jr. went 15-of-20 from the field and 7-of-9 from the foul line in posting DU's first 40-point game since Aaron Jackson scored 46 in a 116-108 2OT NIT loss at Virginia Tech on Mar. 18, 2009.
• Sincere Carry was back in uniform for the first time since Feb. 16 (knee) and finished with 13 points and four steals in 34 minutes.
• Williams Jr. went 7-of-9 from the arc, the rest of Duquesne's team was a combined 3-of-18.
• The Dukes were outrebounded 36-16 in the second half (50-38 for the game). SLU had a 22-7 advantage in points off turnovers and outscored DU 22-9 from the foul line.
• There were two ties and five lead changes … Saint Louis's largest lead was 12 at 85-73 with 13 seconds left ... Duquesne's largest lead was nine, which it reached three times, the last coming at the 1:43 mark of the first half … Saint Louis led for 17:00 … Duquesne led for 22:23 … the game was tied for 0:37.

NOTING THE DUKES

• DU'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-seven 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 two-sport athlete 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 35 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 11th nationally - and first among freshmen - in steals per game (2.58) and 29th nationally - fifth among freshmen - in assists per game (5.69) through Sunday. Carry returned from a knee injury Wednesday at SLU (he had missed 3g.).
• Sophomore Eric Williams Jr., who was named second team preseason All-Atlantic 10, leads the team in scoring (13.4) and rebounding (7.5). 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 8.1 career rebounds per game average ranks sixth among NCAA Division I sophomores.
• Six-eight sophomore center Michael Hughes has scored in double-digits 16 times, despite missing the Longwood, Maryland Eastern Shore and Maine games with a knee injury. Hughes is shooting .597, which is the fifth-highest single-season percentage in school history. 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 14th nationally in blocked shots per game (2.37).
• The Dukes, who were 1-10 with trailing at the half last season, are 10-6 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 finished 4-5 in conference road games, which 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 eight 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 & -11 vs. UMass. 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 Duquesne 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's 14 home wins (14-3, DU is 0-1 in one home game at PPG Paints Arena) are a Palumbo Center record, breaking the mark of 13 set last year (13-6). The 14 wins are the most at home since 1981 (14-2). The 27 home wins under Keith Dambrot are the most in back-to-back seasons since 1972 (16-1) and 1973 (12-1).