G1 | RIDER (0-0) at DUQUESNE (0-0)  
Tues., Nov. 9, 2021 • 7:00 pm ET • Pittsburgh, Pa. • UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse (3,500)

LIVE STREAM: ESPN+ with Tim Benz & Ellis Cannon
RADIO: 104.7 HD2 / iHeartRadio with Ray Goss ('58) & Jarrett Durham ('71)

PROMOTIONS: The first 1,500 fans will receive a commemorative UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse Grand Opening mini-basketball. A random 21 of which will be signed by Coach Dambrot. In addition, the first 500 students to arrive will receive a rally towel. There will be a pregame tribute to the life and legacy of Charles "Chuck" Cooper.

FOR OPENERS
Duquesne, with a retooled roster featuring 10 first-year players, opens the 2021-22 season at UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse on Tues., Nov. 9 at 7:00 p.m. vs. Rider (6-17 last year) on ESPN+. DU, which is beginning its 106th season, is 87-18 in openers, including an 82-4 record when opening at home. Fifth-year Duquesne head Coach Keith Dambrot is 17-6 in season openers, including a 3-1 mark at DU.

This is Duquesne's first season opener at UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse, which opened on Feb. 2, 2021 (a 69-64 win over Dayton). DU played one additional game in the new facility during last year's abbreviated season (an 86-75 win over Rhode Island on Feb. 27). The Dukes led for all but :19 seconds of the two UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse wins in 2020-21. The Rider game is the first of three in a row at home for the Dukes who are 21-4 in non-conference home games under Dambrot.

FIVE FACTS
1   Duquesne is embracing the challenge of replacing 10 of its top 12 scorers from last year's opening day roster.
2   Fifth-year head coach Keith Dambrot, who enters the season with the second-most career wins among Atlantic 10 coaches, welcomes 10 first-year players including five transfers who have combined to score nearly 4,700 career points at the JC, D-II and D-1 levels.
3   Duquesne is one of 10 Division I programs that has added 4,000 or more points to its 2021-22 roster via transfer (includes D-I, D-II & JC) (see table below).
4   Duquesne is replacing 85 percent of its scoring, 75 percent of its rebounding, 82 percent of assists, 78 percent of steals and 80 percent of blocks from last season.
5   Of the 16 active members of the 2021-22 Duquesne roster, only one - junior Austin Rotroff - has made a trip to every Atlantic 10 arena. Rotroff is also the only current Duke who has played in an A-10 game with fans in attendance.

THE SERIES VS. RIDER
Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference ... located in Lawrenceville, N.J. ... this is the first meeting between the Broncs and Dukes ... Rider is coming off a 6-17 season that saw the Broncs finish 11th in the MAAC with a 5-13 record ... Rider returns one of the top players in the conference in 6-0 point guard D.J. Murray ... the second-year Incarnate Word transfer led Rider in scoring (15.8 ppg.), rebounding (6.0 rpg.), assists (95/4.1 apg.), steals (22/1.0 spg.) and minutes per game (37.2 min/g.) ... the Georgia native scored in double digits 19 times, including eight games with 20 or more points in earning NABC District 1 Second Team honors ... 10th year head coach Kevin Baggett - a two-time MAAC Coach of the Year - added a pair of transfers in 6-7 F Mervin James (North Alabama) and 6-2 G Sed Altman (Pepperdine) ... Baggett, a 1989 graduate of Saint Joseph's, played for the Hawks' 1985-86 NCAA Tournament team (26-6) ... this is Duquesne head coach Keith Dambrot's first meeting with Rider.

DUKES AT HOME
DU went without an on-campus home game from Mar. 9, 2019 to Feb. 2, 2021 - a span of 694 days - during the 22-month renovation of UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse. The Dukes, who played 14 "home" games at three venues in 2019-20, opened with five games at Division III La Roche University, located 10 miles north of campus, last season. Duquesne is 42-17 in home games under Keith Dambrot, including a 21-4 mark in non-conference home games. The Dukes have won their past five non-league home games dating back to a 78-67 loss to NJIT on Dec. 31, 2018. DU is 13-2 in non-conference home games - including wins at three different "home" venues - since 2018-19.

HOME AT LAST

• 2020-21 marked the long-awaited debut of Duquesne's on-campus, 3,500-seat UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse, named in honor Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Famer and Duquesne alumnus Chuck Cooper - the first African-American drafted by an NBA team in 1950 (Boston Celtics). DU opened the facility with a 69-64 win over Dayton on Feb. 2, 2021.
• Duquesne went 2-0 - and trailed for a grand total of 19 seconds - in its two games at UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse (a Feb. 2 win over Dayton and Feb. 27 victory vs. Rhode Island).
• DU won 13 of 19 "home" games at three venues (PPG Paints Arena, La Roche University and Robert Morris University) over two seasons during the construction of UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse. The Dukes went 694 days without an on-campus home game during the 22-month renovation. Duquesne had to board a bus for 36 of total 42 games due to the renovation (La Roche is 10 miles from DU's downtown campus & Robert Morris is an 18-mile one-way trip).
• The team practiced on the fourth floor of the Power Center,  the on-campus recreation center for the student body, during the renovation. The configuration of the Power Center did not allow for a locker room for the team. This season marks the first time since March of 2019 that the team will have access to a full-service locker room.
• UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse features the Joe and Kathy Guyaux Player Development Center which includes two regulation practice basketball courts as well as the main arena floor.

WORTH NOTING

• Duquesne is replacing 10 of its top 12 scorers from last year's opening day roster, as 11 players who saw action in 2020-21 are not part of this year's roster.
• Fifth-year head coach Keith Dambrot, who enters the season with the second-most career wins among Atlantic 10 coaches, welcomes 10 first-year players including five transfers who have combined to score nearly 4,700 career points at the JC, D-II and D-1 levels: former JC All-American junior G Leon Ayers III (1,196 points at Henry Ford JC and 354 points in one season at Mercer), grad student F Davis Larson (991 points at D-II Hillsdale), grad student F R.J. Gunn Jr. (1,183 points at D-II Lenoir-Rhyne), sophomore F Kevin Easley Jr. (528 points in one season each at Chattanooga & TCU) and sophomore F Tre Williams (443 points in two seasons at Indiana State). The fivesome has a combined 399 games played including 315 starts at all three levels.
• In addition to the five transfers, Dambrot will also welcome three freshmen in G Jackie Johnson III, G Amir "Primo" Spears and F Andy Barba. Johnson III was a prolific scorer at Hargrave Military Academy where he averaged over 27 points per game last season. Johnson III opened eyes when he scored 54 points and handed out seven assists in an early-season scrimmage against Oak Hill Academy. Spears, who was named Connecticut all-state in both basketball and football in high school, averaged 21.0 points, 7.0 rebounds and 4.0 assists against an abbreviated national schedule at Mt. Zion Prep in 2020-21. Barba shot 43 percent from 3-point and 94 percent from the foul line in 2019-20 at International Sports Academy.
• Freshman swingman Toby Okani, Duquesne's top returning scorer at 4.7 ppg., is also the DU's lone returning starter. Only three returnees have started a game in a Duquesne uniform: Okani (10), F Austin Rotroff (8) and G Mike Bekelja (3). Rotroff is the only member of the 2021-22 roster who has been at Duquesne for more than one season. DU's seven returnees have combined for 303 career points.
• Duquesne is replacing 85 percent of its scoring, 75 percent of its rebounding, 82 percent of assists, 78 percent of steals and 80 percent of blocks from last season.

HELP IS ON THE WAY
Duquesne is one of 10 Division I programs that has added 4,000 or more points to its 2021-22 roster via transfer (includes D-I, D-II & JC). DU'S 939 points per player ranks third among the 10 schools behind only Kansas and SMU (ironically, nearly one-third of SMU's total points, 1,324, are courtesy of Duquesne transfer Marcus Weathers). Duquesne is the highest ranked non-Power 5 program on the list.
 

SCHOOL	PLAYERS	POINTS	PER PLAYER
1.   Minnesota	11	6,681	607.4
2.   Texas Tech	8	5,984	748.0
3.   Kansas	4	5,757	1439.3
4.   Texas	6	4,947	824.5
5.   Georgia	7	4,801	685.9
6.   DUQUESNE	5	4,695	939.0
7.   SMU	4	4,249	1062.3
8.   Penn State	5	4,159	831.8
9.   Florida	5	4,144	828.8
10.   Arkansas	5	4,125	825.o

Duquesne's 4,695-Point Breakdown
Ayers -- 1,550 points at Henry Ford JC (1,196 in 2 years) & Mercer (354)
Gunn -- 1,183 points at D-II Lenoir-Rhyne
Larson -- 991 points at D-II Hillsdale
Easley -- 528 points at Chattanooga (412) & TCU (116)
Williams -- 443 points at Indiana State


KEITH DAMBROT
Head Coach • 5th Season at DU • 24th Season Overall

Keith Dambrot's 65 wins in just four seasons already rank eighth in school history. In 2019-20 he tied all-time great Dudey Moore - the man who coached Dambrot's father, Sid - for most wins by a Duquesne coach in his first three seasons with 56. Only Moore, who coached six NIT and one NCAA Duquesne team from 1949-58 and Chick Davies, who led the Dukes to three NIT and one NCAA appearance (1925-43; '47-48) reached the 50-win mark in fewer games.

Dambrot, who inherited a 10-22 team (3-15 in the A-10) in 2017-18, posted 16, 19 & 21 wins in his first three seasons prior to adding nine victories in the COVID-shortened 2021 season. The Dukes exceeded their Atlantic 10 preseason pick in each of their first three seasons under Dambrot: 2018 picked 14th, finished t10th (7-11); 2019 picked 11th finished t6th (10-8); 2020 picked 8th finished t5th (11-7).

A PROVEN WINNER
Keith Dambrot enters his 24th season ranked second among Atlantic 10 head coaches in both career wins and career winning percentage.
 

A-10 COACHES BY CAREER WINS
607	Bob McKillop	Davidson
478	KEITH DAMBROT	DUQUESNE
425	Travis Ford	Saint Louis
330	Chris Mooney	Richmond
327	Mark Schmidt	St. Bonaventure
324	Mike Rhoades	VCU
271	Anthony Grant	Dayton
A-10 COACHES BY CAREER WIN PCT.
.655	Mike Rhoades	VCU
.651	KEITH DAMBROT	DUQUESNE
.644	Anthony Grant	Dayton
.617	Bob McKillop	Davidson
.562	Travis Ford	Saint Louis

COACHING STAFF CONTINUITY
The Duquesne coaching staff of Keith Dambrot and assistants Terry Weigand, Rick McFadden and Charles Thomas, is entering its 12th season together (fifth at DU). No current D-I staff has been together longer:

DUQUESNE -- 12th season
Keith Dambrot (HC), Terry Weigand, Rick McFadden, Charles Thomas       
West Virginia -- 10th season
Bob Huggins (HC), Larry Harrison, Ron Everhart, Erik Martin   
Vermont -- 8th season
John Becker (HC), Kyle Cieplicki, Ryan Schneider, Hamlet Tibbs    

Weigand (Tiffin), McFadden (Akron) and Thomas (Eastern Michigan) all played under Dambrot (Dambrot was an assistant under Ben Braun at Eastern Michigan when he coached Thomas). In addition, Steve McNees, who is in his tenth season on Dambrot's staff (Director of Operations) played for Dambrot at Akron. Carl Thomas, Charles' twin, who serves as Assistant to the Head Coach (fifth season), played under Braun and Dambrot at EMU.