G23 | DUQUESNE (6-16, 1-9) at DAVIDSON (20-4, 10-2)        
Mon., Feb. 14, 2022 • 7:00 pm ET • Davidson, N.C. • Belk Arena (4,300)

LIVE STREAM: ESPN+ with Paul Roper & Sam Hyman
RADIO: 104.7 HD2 / iHeartRadio with Ray Goss ('58) & Jarrett Durham ('71)

Duquesne (6-16, 1-9), continues a stretch of three games in five days when it heads to North Carolina for a Valentine's Day match up with league-leading Davidson (20-4, 10-2) on Monday at 7:00 p.m. (ESPN+).

This is the first game of a home-and-home series with the Wildcats, whom the Dukes will host on Feb. 23.

DU, which dropped its ninth in a row, 65-54 to Fordham at UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse on Saturday, is 1-6 on the road with a 78-74 A-10 win at UMass on Jan. 8.

Davidson, which was ranked No. 25 in the Jan. 24 AP poll, was fourth among those receiving votes in the Feb. 7 poll (new poll is due on Feb. 14).

The Wildcats are 9-1 at home, with the lone loss coming by two points to VCU (70-68 on Jan. 26).

This is the first time since 2000-01 that the Dukes are playing at least nine games in February (due to rescheduled games).

DU returns home immediately following the Davidson game to host George Washington on Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. (ESPN+). The GW game will be preceded by the DU women vs. Richmond at 5:00 p.m.

TRENDING

• The balanced Dukes' top four scorers are averaging within 0.5 points of each other: Primo Spears (11.3), Leon Ayers III (11.2), Tre Williams (11.0) and Kevin Easley Jr. (10.8). Ayers III & Spears (four times) and Jackie Johnson III (8.7 ppg.) (twice) have scored 20 or more this season. Eight Dukes have posted double-digit scoring games this year.
• Junior F/C Austin Rotroff, a key contributor off the bench, is out 4-6 weeks with a foot injury. He averaged 7.0 rebounds in 18 min/g. in the four games prior to the Jan. 20 announcement. DU, who is already without frontcourt transfer R.J. Gunn Jr. (preseason ankle injury), is 0-8 without Rotroff.
• DU, which was averaging 70.6 ppg. at the time of Rotroff's injury, is averaging 56.1 ppg. in eight games without him (52, 56, 61, 53, 57, 62, 54 & 54 points).
• The Dukes are averaging 59.8 ppg. on .396 shooting in conference play.
• Duquesne ranks fourth nationally in fewest fouls per game (13.3). Only two schools (New Hampshire - 289 and St. Bonaventure - 291) have committed fewer total fouls than DU's 292 (DU has played one more game than both).
• Duquesne's 11.8 turnovers/g. are the third-fewest in school history. The school record low of 11.0 was set in 2013-14.
• First-year Indiana State transfer Tre Williams had led DU in scoring in the past three games: a season-high 19 at VCU on 9-of-13 shooting, 12 points at Dayton and 14 vs. Fordham. The 6-7 Williams, who had five rejections vs. Fordham, leads the Dukes with 52 blocked shots.
• First-year Mercer transfer Leon Ayers III, who has scored 20 or more four times, had 12 points and six rebounds in 29 minutes off the bench vs. Fordham.
• First-year TCU transfer Kevin Easley Jr. has scored in double digits a team-high 16 times.
• Second-year freshman Tyson Acuff, who leads the Dukes with a .449 (22-of-49) 3-point pct, shot 294 (10-of-34) from the arc last season.
• According to KenPom.com Duquesne ranks 353rd of 358 Division I teams in the "experience" category (thru Feb. 12).

DUKES AND WILDCATS
Series Record: Davidson leads 8-1
At Pittsburgh: Davidson leads 4-1
At Davidson: Davidson leads 4-0
A-10 Regular Season: Davidson leads 8-1
Dambrot vs. Davidson: 1-3

• This is the tenth meeting between Duquesne and eighth-year Atlantic 10 member Davidson. The Wildcats - who were a home-and-home opponent of the Dukes in each of their first two A-10 seasons - won the first seven series meetings prior to DU's breakthrough 71-64 home win in 2020 at Robert Morris' UPMC Events Center. This is the first year since 2015-16 that the Dukes and Wildcats will play home-and-home, as last year's  series was unable to be completed due to a pandemic-related cancellation. DU heads to N.C. looking for its first win at Belk Arena (0-4). Davidson won the last meeting in N.C., 65-61, on Jan. 5, 2019.
• Last year Duquesne, which was up 26-17 with 4:54 left in the first half, went 4-of-28 (including 4-of-23 in the second half), the rest of the way in falling to the Wildcats, 61-48, at Kerr Fitness Center on the campus of La Roche University. Only three members of the current roster - Toby Okani, Tyson Acuff and Austin Rotroff - saw action in that game. The threesome combined for three points.
• Davidson, the preseason pick to finish sixth in the A-10, runs one of the most-efficient offenses in college basketball under 33rd year head coach Bob McKillop. The Wildcats ranked among the Top 10 nationally in both field goal (.487) and 3-point (.386) shooting percentage entering the weekend. The Wildcats are coming off a 72-65 defeat at Rhode Island on Saturday.

LAST GAME
Fordham 65, Duquesnee 54
Feb. 12, 2022 • UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse • Pittsburgh, Pa.
Game 22 Recap

• Duquesne cut a 13-point second-half deficit to five with just over three minutes left, but could get no closer in falling to the Rams.
• The win gave Fordham a sweep of the season series.
• Tre Williams led DU with 14 points and five blocks. Leon Ayers III was the only other Duke in double figures with 12 points and a team-high six rebounds.
• Duquesne, which shot 36 percent, went 4-of-17 from 3-point.
• Fordham, which shot 41 percent, outrebounded DU 48-25.
• Fordham's largest lead was 13, the last of which came at 51-38, with 8:35 left ... Duquesne never led.