G19 | SAINT LOUIS (14-4, 5-0) at DUQUESNE (13-5, 4-1)
Wed., Jan. 23, 2019 • 8:00 pm ET • Pittsburgh, Pa. • A.J. Palumbo Center (4,390)

TELEVISION / LIVE STREAM: AT&T SportsNet / ESPN+  with Tim Benz (pxp) & Ellis Cannon (analyst)
RADIO: WJAS-AM 1320 / iHeartRadio with Ray Goss ('58) & Jarrett Durham ('71)
IN-GAME STATS: StatBroadcast
DUQUESNE GAME NOTES: Click here

Duquesne (13-5, 4-1), winner of four in a row, opens a three-game homestand against Atlantic 10 leader Saint Louis (14-4, 5-0) on Wednesday, Jan. 23 at 8:00 p.m. (AT&T SportsNet/ESPN+). The Dukes, who are coming off a 91-85 overtime victory at George Washington on Sunday, are looking to post five-straight A-10 wins for the first time since the 2010-11 team opened league play 8-0. The Dukes and Billikens are the two hottest teams in the A-10, with SLU bringing a league-best six game win streak into Wednesday night's game. Saint Louis is 3-2 on the road, including a 2-0 mark in A-10 play. DU is 10-2 at home (10-1 at Palumbo Center), including a 2-0 record in A-10 home games. Saint Louis is among those receiving votes in this week's Associated Press Top 25.

TRENDING

• In its past two games, Duquesne has posted its first win at Richmond since 1993 and its first back-to-back wins at George Washington since 1989 & 1990.
• DU has matched its road win total from last season (2-7). The Dukes are 2-2 on the road this year.
• This is the first time since 2010-11 that Duquesne has won four consecutive conference games (the 2011 team opened 8-0 on the way to a 10-6 conference record).
• DU is 3-0 in overtime, 3-0 in one-point games and 5-1 in games decided by five or fewer points.
• Eight players have either led or tied for the team lead in scoring and 10 have posted a double-digit scoring game this season.
• Freshman guard Sincere Carry leads the A-10 in assist rate and is second in steal percentage according to KenPom. Carry ranks second in the A-10 in both assists (5.8) and steals (2.8) per game.
• First-year Akron transfer Michael Hughes ranked among the nation's Top 10 field goal percentage leaders (.661) before dropping below the min. 5.0 FGM/g (he's at 4.8). The 6-8 center has scored in double digits in 11 of the 15 games he's played.
• Marcus Weathers, has scored in double-digits in all five A-10 games (12.8 ppg. on .590 shooting over that span).
• DU is 17-4 under Keith Dambrot when holding opponents under 70 points. The Dukes are 19-2 when they are the first to reach 70 and 11-0 this season when scoring 70 or more.
• DU's 8.50 steals per game average, which ranks 24th nationally, is the highest by a Dukes' team since Ron Everhart's 2011 squad - led by freshman guard T.J. McConnell - led the nation at 9.91 spg.

DUKES AND BILLIKENS
Series Record: Tied 14-14
At Pittsburgh: Duquesne leads 8-5
At St. Louis: Saint Louis leads 7-4
Neutral Site: Tied 2-2
A-10 Regular Season: Saint Louis leads 12-10
A-10 Championship: Saint Louis leads 2-1
Dambrot vs. Saint Louis: 1-1

• This is the 29th game between Duquesne and Saint Louis, with the series knotted at 14-14 ... in games at Pittsburgh, DU leads 8-5 ... Duquesne has won the past four in Pittsburgh ... DU had won five in a row prior to an 87-81 Billikens win in St. Louis in 2016-17 ... DU snapped a three-game series losing streak with a 76-69 win at Pittsburgh last season.
• Saint Louis had won seven of eight - including five in a row, before DU's upset win over the No. 10 (AP) Billikens at Chaifetz Arena on Feb. 27, 2014 ... the Dukes have won seven of 11 since, including the upset win.
• This is the tenth time the Dukes and Billikens are playing home-and-home ... DU swept the series in 2016 and SLU has swept twice (2010 & 2012) ... the two have split six times (2009, 2011, 2014, 2015, 2017 & 2018).
• SLU, picked to finish first in the A-10 preseason poll with 15 votes, has lived up to its advance billing with a 5-0 league start ... Saint Louis leads the A-10 in scoring defense (62.2 ppg.) ... Power 5 schools Pitt (75-73) and Florida State (81-59) are the only schools to top 70 points on SLU this season ... SLU also leads the A-10 in rebounding margin (+5.4) and is second in FG% defense (.399).

LAST GAME
Duquesne 91, George Washington 85 (OT) • Sunday, Jan. 20, Washington, D.C.

• Michael Hughes set career highs for points (21), rebounds (14) and blocks (7) in leading the Dukes to the overtime win. It was the first time since 1989 & 1990 that Duquesne posted back-to-back wins at Smith Center. It was also the Dukes' third-straight win over the Colonials.
• Freshman Sincere Carry added 19 points, 6 rebounds and 8 assists (with just two turnovers) in 42 minutes.
• Eric Williams Jr. (15 points) Marcus Weathers (14 points) and Frankie Hughes (10) also reached double figures. It was the second time in three games DU had five or more players in double-digits.
• DU, which jumped out to a 24-6 lead, trailed by five with 58 second left. Michael Hughes tied it at 77-77 on a layup off a pass from Tavian Dunn-Martin with 5.2 seconds left in regulation.
• DU opened overtime with eight-straight points, including back-to-back 3-pointers by Frankie Hughes and Williams Jr.
• Michael Hughes blocked four shots in OT as the Dukes held the Colonials to 3-of-14 shooting in the extra period.
• Sincere Carry (8), Frankie Hughes (6) and Tavian Dunn-Martin (4) combined for 18 of DU's season-high 22 assists. The trio finished with four turnovers among them.
• There were three ties and two lead changes … George Washington's largest lead was five at 76-71 with 58 seconds left in regulation …Duquesne's largest lead was 18 at 24-6 with 12:23 left in the first half … Duquesne took the lead for good on a Sincere Carry jumper with 4:43 to go in overtime ... GW led for 1:32 … Duquesne led for 41:37 … the game was tied for 1:51.

95% of Duquesne's points scored have come from freshmen and sophomores

NOTING THE DUKES

• Duquesne'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. Of the 11 newcomers, 10 have seen action so far this season. DU has seven freshmen and five sophomores on the 2018-19 roster.
• DU's top 10 scorers are freshmen or sophomores. Ninety-five percent of the Dukes' points have come from underclassmen, which is the second-highest rate in Division I. Of the 73 points scored by upperclassmen, 67 belonged to junior Mike Lewis II who transferred to Nevada in December.
• DU is ranked 349 of 353 schools in KenPom's listing of "most experienced" college teams. Only two members of the current roster - sophomore Eric Williams Jr. and junior Kellon Taylor - entered conference play having seen action in an Atlantic 10 game.
• DU has added four Division I sophomore transfers, all of whom have seen 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).
• Two-time A-10 Rookie of the Week Sincere Carry had an eye-opening debut, with seven points and nine assists (without a turnover) vs. William & Mary. The freshman point guard followed that with 32 points and eight more assists vs. UIC. The nine assists tied the sixth-most by a DU freshman, while the 32 points tied the second-highest total by a Dukes freshman. Through Sunday, Carry ranked fifth nationally - and first among freshmen - in steals per game (2.78) and tied for 28th nationally - fourth among freshmen - in assists per game (5.78).
• Sophomore Eric Williams Jr., who was named second team preseason All-Atlantic 10, leads the team in scoring (13.0) and rebounding (7.6). 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 earned A-10 co-Player of the Week honors on Dec. 24, has five double-doubles this season (16 for his career).
• Six-eight center Michael Hughes is tied with Williams Jr. for the team lead with 11 double-digit games, despite missing the Longwood, Maryland Eastern Shore and Maine games with a knee injury. Hughes, who is shooting .661, is on pace to shatter the school single-season field goal percentage record of .649 set by Fred Moon in 1979-80 (min. 200 points). Hughes never scored more than six points in a game as a freshman while at Akron.  
• Dambrot and his staff assembled the tallest recruiting class in school history. The seven-man group includes 6-11 Gavin Bizeau (Plainfield, Ind.), 6-11 Dylan Swingle (Chillicothe, Ohio), 6-10 Austin Rotroff (Wauseon, Ohio), 6-9 Amari Kelly (Long Island, N.Y.), 6-3 Lamar Norman Jr. (Grand Rapids, Mich.), 6-2 Brandon Wade (Ann Arbor, Mich.) and 6-1 Sincere Carry (Solon, Ohio). An eighth recruit - 6-11 James Ellis (Pittsburgh, Pa.) - is sitting out in 2018-19. Duquesne had never had a recruiting class with more than two players 6-9 or taller.
• Duquesne was picked to finish 11th in the Atlantic 10 preseason poll of conference 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.
• Duquesne has erased double-digit deficits in four of its wins: -18 vs. Longwood, -14 vs. UIC, -12 vs. Eastern Kentucky & -15 vs. Saint Joseph's. 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 of the overtime win at George Washington.
• Duquesne's 74-68 win at Richmond on Jan. 16 win was DU's 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.
• Duquesne has posted 10 home wins for the second-straight season. It is the first time since 2010-11 & 2011-12 that the Dukes have won 10 or more home games in back-to-back years. DU's 13 home wins last year (13-6) - in addition to being a Palumbo Center record - were the most at home since 1981 (14-2).
• Duquesne's three Gotham Classic wins came over opponents who averaged 20.7 wins last season in William & Mary (19-12), UIC (20-16, CIT) & Radford (23-13, NCAA). The Dukes led at Notre Dame (21-15, NIT last year) 52-51 with 6:31 left in their fourth Gotham Classic game. Three of DU's nonconference losses came at the hands of Power 5 schools Notre Dame (ACC), Pitt (ACC) and Penn State (Big Ten).
• Guard Mike Lewis II, who scored 979 points in 76 games (72 starts) at Duquesne (12.9 ppg), transferred to Nevada in December. Lewis II averaged 5.6 ppg. in 12 games this season. He scored in double digits 53 times (twice this season) and topped the 20-point mark 17 times as a Duke.
• DU signed guard Maceo Austin in November. A consensus 3-star recruit, the 6-5 Austin is cited as the No. 43 shooting guard in the nation by 247Sports, No. 48 by ESPN and No. 49 by Rivals. Austin, one of 13 players from PA nominated for McDonald All-American boys game, chose Duquesne over finalists Northwestern, Penn State and VCU.