G15 | DUQUESNE (7-7, 6-6) at LA SALLE (8-14, 5-10)
Wed., Feb. 24, 2021 • 7:00 pm ET • Philadelphia, Pa. • Tom Gola Arena (3,400)

TELEVISION: ESPN+ with Kale Beers
RADIO: WJAS-AM 1320 / iHeartRadio with Ray Goss ('58) & Jarrett Durham ('71)

Duquesne (7-7, 6-6), which saw its three-game win streak snapped at Richmond on Saturday, opens the final week of the regular season at La Salle (8-14, 5-10) on Wednesday, Feb. 24 at 7:00 p.m. (ESPN+). The Dukes, who conclude the regular season on Saturday, Feb. 27 vs. Rhode Island, are on pace to play 14 Atlantic 10 games.

Saturday's Richmond game was the first in 18 days for the Dukes who had four consecutive February games postponed for various COVID-related reasons involving multiple teams.

DU is 2-4 on the road with wins at GW and Fordham. The Dukes, who have won six of their past 11 A-10 road games (dating back to last season), are facing a La Salle team that is 5-3 at home (3-3 A-10). The Explorers, who own wins at Dayton, at Richmond and at home over Saint Louis, are looking to end a four-game losing streak.

As of Feb. 21, DU has played eight conference games as scheduled, had six A-10 games postponed and four league games moved/rescheduled, including the Richmond game which was postponed on its original Dec. 19 date.

TRENDING

• The Dukes need wins in their last two games to clinch three-straight winning conference seasons for the first time in school history.
• The Dukes have outscored their past four opponents (at Fordham, Saint Joseph's, Dayton and at Richmond) 128-92 in the paint.
• DU, who has held nine A-10 foes under 70 points, ranks 2nd in scoring defense in conference play (63.9 ppg.) thru Sunday.
• DU ranked 4th nationally in 3-point pct. defense (.277) and 37th in effective FG% defense thru Sunday's games (Kenpom). The Dukes lead the A-10 in 3-pt defense and rank second in FG defense in league games only.
• Marcus Weathers, the only Duke to start all 14 games, has scored in double digits 13 times, including the last eight games in a row.
• Michael Hughes, who has posted double-doubles in four of DU's past six games, is coming off a season-high 20-point effort at Richmon. The 6-8 Hughes added nine rebounds, three assists and four steals vs. the Spiders. Hughes, who has emerged as one of the better passing big men in the A-10, ranks second on the team with 28 assists.
• Tavian Dunn-Martin ranks 8th on DU's career 3-pointers list with 142. He needs 23 to pass Mike Lewis II (164) and take over the No. 7 spot.
• Freshman Chad Baker, who has hit five or more 3-pointers twice in A-10 play (5-5 vs. URI & 7-11 at Fordham), is 21-of-48 from the arc (.438) with 15 assists & five turnovers in conference games. His 3-point pct. ranks 4th in the A-10 (conference g. only).
   

DUKES AND EXPLORERS
Series Record: La Salle leads 44-33
At Pittsburgh: Duquesne leads 21-14
At Philadelphia: La Salle leads 27-10
Neutral Site: La Salle leads 3-2
A-10 Regular Season: La Salle leads 23-16
A-10 Championship: La Salle leads 2-0
MCC Regular Season: La Salle led 2-0
Dambrot vs. La Salle: 2-1

• This is the 78th meeting in a series that dates to Feb. 10, 1940 ... La Salle leads 44-33, including a 23-16 advantage in Atlantic 10 regular season games  ... the Explorers have won eight of the past 11 ... in games played in Philly, La Salle leads 27-10 ... this is the third meeting between Duquesne head coach Keith Dambrot and La Salle's Ashley Howard.
• Duquesne has outscored La Salle by one point in the past 18 meetings (1,441-1,440 dating back to 2006-07) ... the Dukes have won eight and the Explorers 10 of the past 18 ... the average score for both teams in those games is 80.05-80.00.
• How tight has the series been as of late? There have been a total of 29 ties and 54 lead changes in the past three meetings: 15/33 in Duquesne's triple overtime 101-94 win in Pittsburgh, 9/17 in La Salle's 73-72 win in Philadelphia in 2020 and 5/4 in DU's 71-69 win at PPG Paints Arena last year.

THREE GRAND
In a normal, roughly 30-game season, Duquesne would have had an excellent chance to finish 2020-21 with three 1,000-point scorers. Only once in school history has DU had three players with 1,000 or more points on the floor at the same time (late in 1997-98 with Kevin Price, Mike James & Nick Bosnic). Here are the current career point totals for DU's top scorers:

1,255 -- Marcus Weathers
   843 -- Tavian Dunn-Martin
   825 -- Michael Hughes
• Weathers scored 310 points at Miami, Ohio, Dunn-Martin scored 145 points at Akron and Hughes scored 35 points at Akron. All three are in their third season at Duquesne.


MISC DUKES UNDER DAMBROT
In Overtime: 8-1
Current Streak: W6
In Games Decided by 3 or Fewer Points: 15-7
Current Streak: W2
In One-Point Games: 5-1
Current Streak: W1
Scoring 70 or More: 47-14
Current Streak: L1
First to 70 Points: 40-5
Current Streak: L1
Opponent Under 70: 42-10
Current Streak: W3
When shooting 50% or >: 15-1
Current Streak: W14
Leading with 5:00 Left: 48-4
Current Streak: W3
Leading at the Half: 43-13
Current Streak: W3
DU has 16 wins when trailing at the half over the past three seasons


LAST GAME
RICHMOND 79, DUQUESNE 72
Feb. 20, 2021 • Robins Center • Richmond, Va.
Game 14 Recap

• Duquesne, which had been idle since Feb. 2, came back from a 14-point second half deficit to take a one-point lead with under two minutes left, but couldn't hold on.
• Michael Hughes scored 16 of his game-high 20 points in the second half to fuel the comeback. Hughes, who had four dunks, added nine rebounds, three assists and four steals in 33 minutes.
• Marcus Weathers and freshman Chad Baker added 12 points each.
• Fellow freshman Andre Harris added a career-high 10 points in 20 minutes off the bench.
• The Spiders outshot the Dukes 55.1 percent to 44.8 percent.
• DU outscored UR 38-26 in the paint and 14-8 in second chance points.
• Duquesne's largest lead was one, the last of which came at 70-69 with 1:31 left ... Richmond's largest lead was 15 the last of which came at 30-15 with 5:41 left in the first half ... there were five ties and seven lead changes before Richmond took the lead for good on a Jacob Gilyard 3-pointer with 1:30 left ... Duquesne led for 1:51 ... Richmond led for 35:46.