G28 | DUQUESNE (18-9, 9-5) at ST. BONAVENTURE (13-14, 9-5)
Wed., Feb. 27, 2019 • 7:30 pm ET • Olean, N.Y. • Reilly Center (5,480)

LIVE STREAM: ESPN+ with Brendan McDaniels (pxp) & Joe Ceraulo (analyst)
RADIO: 1320 AM WJAS / iHeartRadio with Ray Goss ('58) & Jarrett Durham ('71)
IN-GAME STATS: Sidearm
DUQUESNE GAME NOTES: Click here

Duquesne (18-9, 9-5), which began the week in a three-way tie for fourth in the A-10, heads to Olean, N.Y. to take on one of the two teams its tied with when it faces St. Bonaventure (13-14, 9-5) on Wednesday night at 7:30 p.m. (ESPN+). This is the second game of a home-and-home series with the Bonnies, who defeated the Dukes, 51-49, in Pittsburgh on Feb. 6. DU and SBU, who are tied for third with George Mason, are in the hunt for a top four finish and potential double bye at the A-10 Championship. The Dukes, who have tied the school record for A-10 road wins (4-3), have not won at Reilly Center since Jan. 10, 2009 (a span of 10 games). DU enters Wednesday's game one win shy of tying the school record for conference wins set in 1981 (10-3) and matched in 1991 (10-8) & 2011 (10-6).

TRENDING

• This is Duquesne's best 27-game record (18-9) since 1980-81 (19-8).
• DU, which clinched its ninth overall winning season as a member of the A-10 with its Feb. 16 win over GW, has clinched a winning conference record for just the sixth time in school history (1980, 1981, 1991, 2009 & 2011 are the others).
• DU's nine A-10 wins are one shy of the school record set in 1981 (10-3) and matched in 1991 (10-8) & 2011 (10-6).
• The scoring margin in DU's 14 conference games is +2.4 ppg. DU's five A-10 losses have come by a total of 17 points.
• DU has come back from double-digit deficits to win seven times, including four in A-10 play alone: -19 vs. Rhode Island, -15 vs. Saint Joe's, -18 at Fordham and a -19 at George Mason.
• DU is on school record pace for 3-pointers attempted per game (26.5).
• DU, leads the A-10 in scoring (73.9 ppg.), blocks (4.9) and steals (8.1) per g. and is second in turnovers forced (15.62).
• Freshman guard Sincere Carry, who leads the A-10 in assists (5.8) and is second in steals (2.5) per game, needs four assists to pass Kenya Hunter and move into the third spot on the DU list for assists by a freshman. Carry, who has 145 assists, leads the Dukes in scoring in A-10 play at 13.7 ppg.
• Marcus Weathers, has scored in double-digits in 12 of 14 A-10 games (12.4 ppg. on .540 shooting over that span).
• Six-eight center Michael Hughes is second the A-10 in blocks per game at 2.3. He has a league-best 43 rejections (3.1/g.) in conference games only.
• Frankie Hughes, is tied for second in the A-10 with 41 3-pointers in conference play. Hughes has 12 '3's' in DU's past two games.
• DU is 19-6 under Keith Dambrot when holding opponents under 70 points. The Dukes are 23-3 when they are the first to reach 70 and 16-2 this season when scoring 70 or more.

NEVER SAY DIE
Duquesne has come back from double digit deficits to win seven times this season:

Opponent	Deficit (Score)	Time	Half
UIC	-14  (37-51)	16:41	2nd
Longwood	-18  (29-47)	00:07	1st
Eastern Kentucky	-12  (36-48)	00:42	1st
Saint Joseph's	-15  (7-22)	11:51	1st
Rhode Island	-19  (22-41)	19:39	2nd
at Fordham	-18  (33-51)	13:56	2nd
at George Mason	-19  (14-33)	7:55	1st

DUKES AND BONNIES
Series Record: St. Bonaventure leads 62-59
At Pittsburgh: Duquesne leads 40-19
At Olean/Buffalo: St. Bonaventure leads 40-18
Neutral Site: St. Bonaventure leads 3-1
A-10 Regular Season: St. Bonaventure leads 36-31
A-10 Championship: St. Bonaventure leads 3-2
Dambrot vs. St. Bonaventure: 0-3

• This is the 122nd meeting in a series that dates to Feb. 13, 1920 ... St. Bonaventure, which has won the past six, leads the series 62-59 ... SBU holds a 36-31 advantage in Atlantic 10 regular season games ... the Bonnies have won the last 10 at Reilly Center ... DU's last win at SBU came on Jan. 10, 2009 (98-80) ... Duquesne owns more conference wins over St. Bonaventure (31) than any other A-10 school.
• St. Bonaventure is Duquesne's most frequent all-time opponent ... this is the 68th consecutive season the two will meet and 14th straight year the two are meeting home-and-home ... the Bonnies took the first meeting, 51-49 in Pittsburgh on Feb. 6 ... last year at Reilly Center, Jaylen Adams scored 11 of his 24 points in the last 4:40 to break open a close game and give SBU a 73-67 win ... it was a two-point game with just over one minute left.
• The Bonnies have won 15 of the past 19 between the two, although seven of the past 11 have been decided by four or fewer points.
• SBU (13-14, 9-5), the preseason pick to finish ninth in the A-10, has won four of five since defeating DU on Feb. 6 ... the Bonnies are 8-5 at home, including a 4-3 record in conference play.

LAST GAME
Duquesne 79, George Mason 78 • Saturday, Feb. 23, Fairfax, Va.

• Duquesne, behind a career-high 22 points from Tavian Dunn-Martin, rallied from a 19-point first-half deficit to defeat Mason, 79-78. It was the seventh time this season that the Dukes, who were down 10 with 17:17 left, have come back from a double-digit deficit to win.
• Frankie Hughes added 15 points - all on 3-pointers, Marcus Weathers had a 14-11 double-double and Michael Hughes added 11 points, including what proved to be the game-winning free throw with 57 seconds left for the Dukes.
• DU, which missed its first eight 3-point attempts, finished 10-of-31 from the arc with Frankie Hughes (5-11) and Dunn-Martin (4-7) accounting for nine makes.
• The Dukes, who were without starting point guard Sincere Carry (knee), turned it over three times in the second half (after being outscored 17-9 off 11 first half turnovers).
• There were two ties and five lead changes … George Mason's largest lead was 19, the last of which came at 33-14 with 7:55 left in the first half …Duquesne's largest lead was two at 75-73 with 2:53 left … Duquesne took the lead for good on Mike Hughes' free throw that made it 79-78 with 57 seconds left ... George Mason led for 35:25 … Duquesne led for 1:14 … the game was tied for 3:08.

NOTING THE DUKES

• Duquesne needs two victories to reach the 20-win mark for just the 14th time in its 103-year history. The last DU team to win 20 was the 2009 NIT squad (21-13). Duquesne has had just two 20-win seasons (21-13 in 2009 and 20-10 in 1981) in the past 46 years.
• 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.  DU has seven freshmen and five sophomores on the 2018-19 roster.
• Ninety-six percent of the Dukes' points have come from underclassmen, including all but two points in A-10 play (99.8%), which is the second-highest rate in Division I (behind only Mount St. Mary's). Of the 73 points scored by upperclassmen, 67 belonged to junior Mike Lewis II who transferred to Nevada in December. The other six came from Kellon Taylor, who was part of the active roster for one month before opting to concentrate on football and remain with the basketball team as a practice player.
• DU is ranked 346 of 353 schools in KenPom's listing of "most experienced" college teams. Only one member of the current roster - sophomore Eric Williams Jr. - entered conference play having seen action in an Atlantic 10 game.
• Four first-year Division I sophomore transfers are seeing 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). Dambrot's 34 wins are the most by a Duquesne coach in his second season.
• Two-time A-10 Rookie of the Week Sincere Carry  has solidified himself as one of the nation's top impact freshmen. The 6-1 point guard ranked 12th nationally - and first among freshmen - in steals per game (2.52) and tied for 27th nationally - fifth among freshmen - in assists per game (5.80) through Wednesday.
• Sophomore Eric Williams Jr., who was named second team preseason All-Atlantic 10, leads the team in scoring (12.8) and rebounding (7.8). 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 has earned A-10 co-Player of the Week honors twice (Dec. 24 & Feb. 18), has six double-doubles this season (17 for his career). Williams Jr.'s 8.3 career rebounds per game average ranks fifth among NCAA Division I sophomores.
• Six-eight sophomore center Michael Hughes has scored in double-digits 15 times, despite missing the Longwood, Maryland Eastern Shore and Maine games with a knee injury. Hughes, who is shooting .634, is challenging the school single-season field goal percentage record of .649 set by Fred Moon in 1979-80 (min. 200 points). The 250-pound center ranked among the nation's Top 10 field goal percentage leaders before dropping below the min. 5.0 FGM/g (he's at 4.3). Hughes, who has scored 20 or more three times, never topped six points in a game as a freshman while at Akron. Hughes ranks 21st nationally in blocked shots per game (2.29).
• The Dukes, who were 1-10 with trailing at the half last season, are 9-5 when trailing at the half in 2018-19.
• Duquesne was picked to finish 11th in the Atlantic 10 preseason poll of 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.
• The Dukes, who are 4-4 on the road - including a 4-3 mark in conference road games, have tied the school record for A-10 road wins set in 1981 (4-3) and tied in 2009 & 2011 (4-4).
• Duquesne has erased double-digit deficits in seven of its wins: -18 vs. Longwood, -14 vs. UIC, -12 vs. Eastern Kentucky, -15 vs. Saint Joseph's, -19 vs. Rhode Island, -18 at Fordham & -19 at George Mason. 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 in regulation of the overtime win at George Washington.
• Duquesne's 74-68 win at Richmond on Jan. 16 was its 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. DU followed that with a 91-85 OT win at George Washington, marking the first time since 1989 & 1990 that a Duquesne team has won two in a row at GW. DU's 75-72 win over Rhode Island ended an eight-game home losing streak to the Rams (which dated back to Jan. 10, 2001).
• DU's five-game A-10 win streak, which ended on Jan. 26, tied the second-longest in school history.
• Duquesne has posted 10 home wins (13-4) 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 in each of the past two years (13-6 last year) - in addition to being a Palumbo Center record - were the most at home since 1981 (14-2).
• Dambrot and his staff assembled the tallest recruiting class in school history. The seven-man group included 6-11 Gavin Bizeau (Plainfield, Ind.), 6-11 Dylan Swingle (Chillicothe, Ohio), 6-10 Austin Rotroff (Wauseon, Ohio) and 6-9 Amari Kelly (Long Island, N.Y.). Six-eleven 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.