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 Duquesne, coming off a loss at No. 7 (AP) Duke, heads to Oakland to face No. 3 (AP) Pitt on Wednesday. It is the first time since 1969 that the Dukes have faced Top 10 teams in back-to-back games. |
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Duquesne men at No. 3 Pitt on Wednesday
Dec. 2, 2008
DUQUESNE (4-1) at #3 PITT (7-0)
Wednesday, Dec. 3, 2008 • 7:00 p.m. (EST)
Petersen Events Center (12,508) • Pittsburgh, Pa.
Pitt rank: AP & ESPN USA Today
TELEVISION: None
DUQUESNE RADIO: KQV-AM (1410) with Ray Goss & George Von Benko
STREAMING AUDIO: redzonemedia.com or GoDuquesne.com
STREAMING VIDEO: Live at no charge at PittsburghPanthers.com (PantherVision) with John Sanders & Curtis Aiken
TOP 10 ... AGAIN: Duquesne (4-1), coming off its first loss of the season at No. 7 (AP) Duke (95-72) on Nov. 28, makes the 2.15 mile trek down Forbes Avenue to play its second consecutive Top 10 opponent on the road when it faces No. 3 (AP) Pittsburgh (7-0) at 7:00 p.m. on Wednesday, Dec. 3 (KQV-AM 1410; this is the first time since Dec. 22, 2001 that the game will not be televised). Duquesne is 0-5 against ranked teams under head coach Ron Everhart including a five-point loss (73-68) to the No. 12 (AP) Panthers at the Palumbo Center last year. Duquesne, one of the youngest teams in the nation with eight scholarship freshmen and 12 underclassmen, opened at 4-0 for the second consecutive season prior to the loss at Duke. Last year, DU opened 6-0 - its best start in 28 years - in going on to post the school's first winning record in 14 years at 17-13. This was the first time since 1985-86 (5-0) & 1986-87 (4-0) that Duquesne opened 4-0 in back-to-back seasons. The Pitt game is the third of four consecutive road games for DU, which plays at Radford on Dec. 10. This is the first time since March of 1969 that DU is playing Top 10 teams in consecutive games.
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DUQUESNE LATELY: Duquesne is one of the youngest teams in the nation with eight scholarship freshmen and 12 underclassmen ... senior guard Aaron Jackson, a Bob Cousy Award nominee, is the only player on the DU roster who has played in a game at Pitt's Petersen Events Center ... Jackson along with sophomores Damian Saunders and Bill Clark and junior Jason Duty are the only four players who have seen action against Pitt ... Duquesne, coming off a 95-72 loss at No. 7 (AP) Duke, is playing back-to-back Top 10 opponents for the first time since March of 1969 (NCAA Regional) ... Saunders, who posted back-to-back double-doubles last week at USC Upstate (20-12) and at Duke (career-high 22-10) was named A-10 co-Player of the Week (Nov. 30) ... either Saunders or Jackson has led the Dukes in scoring in every game this season ... Jackson has flirted with a triple-double twice this season with 20 points, 10 rebounds and 6 assists against Furman and 15 points, 8 rebounds and a career-high 10 assists at USC Upstate ... sophomore forward David Theis will miss the Pitt game with a bruised kidney ... Theis, who played a career high 27 minutes at Duke, was diagnosed over the weekend ... his playing status will be re-evaluated later this week.
THE SERIES: This is the 77th meeting between Duquesne and Pitt in a series that dates back to Jan. 13, 1932 ... Pitt holds a 45-31 advantage overall ... this Duquesne's fourth appearance at the Petersen Events Center ... the Dukes helped christen the building on Nov. 23, 2002 ... Pitt has won the three previous Petersen Center games by an average margin of 20.7 points per game ... 2008-09 marks the 39th consecutive season the two teams have met ... the last time Duquesne and Pitt did not play was in 1969-70 ... DU snapped an eight-game Pitt win streak with an 80-69 win on Feb. 5, 1998 and won again at Mellon Arena on Dec. 21, 2000 by a 71-70 count, giving the Dukes wins in two of the past 11 meetings ... Pitt has won the past seven.
A victory over Pitt would:
• Be Duquesne's first over a ranked team since a 78-70 win at No. 16 (AP) Xavier on Jan. 25, 1997.
• Be Duquesne's first over a Top 10 team since a 91-84 home win over No. 10 (AP) Florida State on Dec. 15, 1992.
• Be Duquesne's first over a Top 10 team on the road since a 73-72 win at No. 6 (AP) Bradley on Mar. 5, 1962.
• End Pitt's seven-game series win streak.
NOT TOO OFTEN: This is just the fifth time in the past 23 meetings Duquesne enters the Pitt game with a winning record. The others: 5-4 on Jan. 6,1992, 4-1 on Dec. 19, 1992, 3-2 on Dec. 18,1993 and 6-1 last year.
ON PITT: Pitt (7-0), is coming off back-to-back wins over Texas Tech (80-67) and Washington State (57-43) in Newark, N.J. to win the Legends Classic Championship ... Sam Young, the weekend tournament MVP, leads the Panthers at 19.4 ppg. ... DeJuan Blair is averaging 15.3 points and a team-best 12.3 rebounds per game ... Pitt, 5-0 at home this season, is 61-1 all time in non-conference home games at Petersen Events Center.
FOUR IN A ROW ON THE ROAD: This is the longest road stretch of the year for the Dukes who spent Thanksgiving week in the Carolinas for games at South Carolina Upstate on Nov. 25 and at Duke on Nov. 28. Duquesne returned to Pittsburgh late Friday evening in preparation for the Pitt game. DU concludes the stretch of four consecutive road games at Radford on Dec. 10.
IN NON-CONFERENCE PLAY: Duquesne is 180-202 (.471) in non-conference games since 1976-77 as members of the Eastern 8/Atlantic 10 and Midwestern Collegiate Conference (1992-93 only). The Dukes have posted a winning non-conference record five times since 1990 (10-3 in 2008, 6-4 in 1996, 8-4 in 1994, 7-5 in 1993 and 7-4 in 1992). DU, which went 4-8 in its first non-conference season under Ron Everhart, posted 10 non-league wins last year (10-3 overall). The 10 non-conference wins were the most by a Duquesne team since the 1979-80 team went 11-6. DU is 4-1 this year and 18-12 under Everhart in non-league play.
DUQUESNE VS. AP RANKED TEAMS: Duquesne is 0-5 against ranked teams under Ron Everhart with two of the five losses coming by a total of seven points. This is DU's second game against a ranked opponent this season. On Nov. 28 Duquesne dropped a 95-72 decision at No. 7 (AP) Duke. Last year, the Dukes lost at home to No. 12 (AP) Pitt, 73-68 and dropped an 80-78 decision at No. 22 Rhode Island. DU was also defeated 75-48 at No. 10 (AP) Xavier in late February. Two year's ago, DU lost 73-56 at No. 2 (AP) Pitt on Dec. 6 at the Petersen Events Center. Duquesne University is 44-108 vs. AP ranked teams (10-54 on the road), and 22-52 against Top 10 teams, since the advent of the poll in 1948-49. Duquesne's last win over a ranked team came on Jan. 25, 1997 when the Dukes defeated No. 16 Xavier 78-70 at Cinicnnati Gardens (a span of 23 games against ranked teams). DU's last win over a Top 10 team was at home on Dec. 15, 1992 over then-No. 10 Florida State (91-84). The Dukes' last win over a ranked team at home was on March 6, 1993 over No. 18 Xavier 88-72. The last road win against ranked team was the Jan. 25, 1997 Xavier game listed above. DU's last win against a Top 10 team on the road was on March 5, 1962 when the Dukes defeated No. 6 Bradley at Peoria by a 73-72 score.
IN THE POLLS: The Dukes and Panthers have met a total of 10 times with either team holding a ranking in the Associated Press poll. Last year marked the first time the ranked team did not win by at least 14 points. Duquesne is 0-8 against ranked Pitt teams.
