G20 | DUQUESNE (6-13, 1-6) at VCU (13-7, 6-3)      
Sat., Feb. 5, 2022 • 4:00 pm ET • Richmond, Va. • Siegel Center (7,167)

LIVE STREAM: ESPN+ with Sean Robertson & Ed Nixon
RADIO: 104.7 HD2 / iHeartRadio with Ray Goss ('58) & Jarrett Durham ('71)

Duquesne (6-13, 1-6), coming off a 74-57 home loss to Richmond on Tuesday, heads to Richmond, Va. to face VCU (13-7, 6-3) on Saturday, Feb. 5 at 4:00 p.m. (ESPN+).

The Dukes are in the early stages of a nine-game February created by the reschedule of a pair of early-January, COVID-related postponements (DU still has one Atlantic 10 game, vs. George Mason, yet to be rescheduled). This is the first time since 2000-01 that DU will play at least nine February games.

The Dukes are looking to snap a six-game losing streak against a VCU team picked to finish fourth in the Atlantic 10 preseason poll.

This is the second of three-straight home games for the Rams, who are coming off a 82-52 loss to Dayton at home on Wednesday.

VCU is 6-4 at home (2-2 in A-10) with conference wins over GW and Saint Joe's.

Duquesne posted its first series win in its last visit to VCU (80-77 in OT) on Mar. 3, 2020. The win snapped a seven-game losing streak to the Rams. Only one member of the current roster (injured forward Austin Rotroff) played in that game.

TRENDING

• 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 0-5 without Rotroff.
• DU, which was averaging 70.6 ppg. at the time of Rotroff's injury, is averaging 55.8 ppg. in five games without him (52, 56, 61, 53 & 57 points).
• Duquesne's 11.6 turnovers/g. is in position to challenge the school record low of 11.0 set in 2013-14.
• Second-year freshman Toby Okani - in his first start since Dec. 11 vs. New Hampshire - scored 13 points on 5-of-7 shooting vs. Richmond. It was his third career double-digit game and just one point shy of his career high set last year vs. GW.
• Leon Ayers III came off the bench to score 14 points vs. Richmond. It was his highest point total since his career-high 24 point game vs. UC Irvine on Dec. 19.
• First-year Indiana State transfer Tre Williams has pair of seven-block games (vs. Colorado at the Paradise Jam and at Fordham) this season. Williams, an MVC All-Defensive Team member last season, recorded six of his seven blocks at Fordham in the second half. He has 16 blocks in seven A-10 games.
• First-year TCU transfer Kevin Easley Jr. has scored in double digits a team-high 15 times.
• Second-season freshman Tyson Acuff, made his first start since Dec. 1 (Bowling Green) vs. Richmond. Acuff leads the Dukes with a .452 (19-of-42) 3-point pct.
• Duquesne ranks seventh nationally in fewest fouls per game (13.4). Only one school (New Hampshire) has committed fewer total fouls than DU's 254.

DUKES AND RAMS
Series Record: VCU leads 7-1
At Pittsburgh: VCU leads 4-0
At Richmond: VCU leads 3-1
Neutral Site: Never met
A-10 Regular Season: VCU leads 7-1
A-10 Championship: Never met
Dambrot vs. VCU/at Duquesne: 1-7/1-2

• This is the ninth meeting between Duquesne and 10th-year A-10 member VCU. VCU leads the series 7-1. DU posted its first series win, 80-77 in OT, in Richmond in the last meeting, on Mar. 3, 2020.
• This is the fifth meeting in Richmond.
• VCU, picked to finish fourth in the conference's preseason poll, is in its fifth season under head coach Mike Rhoades.
• Duquesne head coach Keith Dambrot is 1-7 vs. VCU, with the first five meetings coming when Dambrot was at Akron. The last three losses while at UA came against his former Akron assistant, Shaka Smart. Dambrot's Zips lost to the Rams in overtime, 76-75, at Akron on Dec. 29, 2011. Dambrot's Akron team also fell to Anthony Grant's VCU team, 73-69 at Siegel Center on Dec. 17, 2008.
• VCU (13-7, 6-3) is 6-4 at home with Atlantic 10 wins over George Washington (84-57) and Saint Joseph's (70-54) and a two-point loss to Davidson (61-63). The Rams are coming off an 82-52 home loss to Dayton on Wednesday. UD was the first school to score more than 63 points vs. the Rams at Siegel Center. Only two other teams, Campbell (L, 61-65) and Davidson (W, 63-61), have topped 60 against the Rams at home.

LAST GAME
Richmond 74, Duquesne 57
Dec. 11, 2021 • UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse • Pittsburgh, Pa.
Game 19 Recap

• Richmond went 7-of-11 from 3-point in outscoring the Dukes 39-25 in the second half. DU, which led 27-16 early, led for 16:55 of the first half. UR took the lead for good at 35-32 on a 3-pointer at the first half horn.
• Leon Ayers III came off the bench to lead the Dukes with 14 points. Toby Okani had 13 points and Tre Williams added 10. Primo Spears tied his career high with seven assists.
• The Dukes went 4-of-21 from 3-point, including 0-of-10 in the second half. Richmond finished 13-of-24 from the arc.
• Richmond's largest lead was 22, at 60-38 with 10:26 left ... Duquesne's largest lead was nine at 26-17 with 8:05 left in the first half ... there was one tie and three lead changes before UR took the lead for good on Tyler Burton's 3-pointer that made it 35-32 at the first half horn ... Richmond led for 20:55 ... Duquesne led for 16:55.