It hasn’t been very meaningful since both teams were in the Eastern Eight. It’s not yet to the point of playing Robert Morris, but it is getting there.
Currently, the inner-city basketball rivalry between Pitt and Duquesne has been quite one-sided. The Panthers have won 23 of the past 26 meetings, including the past four, all by 15 points or more. Last year’s 30-point beat-down of the Dukes at the Petersen Events Center was the most lopsided defeat in the series in 35 years.
No player on Pitt’s roster has ever experienced what it is like to lose to Duquesne. So just how do Pitt players maintain interest in a series that has been so noncompetitive?
“It’s basketball,” senior guard Carl Krauser said. “You get up for basketball games if you’re a competitor. You’re going to get up to play the game if you play anybody. It’s for bragging rights in the city. If we lose, we’re going to hear it all summer, all year. It will be a never-ending story.”
That has been something the players have been passing down: avoid the embarrassment.
Krauser related a story about the last time Pitt lost to Duquesne. It was December 2000, a year before Krauser arrived at school. Once he arrived on campus and the subject of the Dukes came up, Brandin Knight gave the young freshman some instructions.
“He said, ‘Promise me one thing,’ ” Krauser recalled. “He said: ‘Never lose to Duquesne while you’re here.’ I promise that. I don’t want those bragging rights hanging over my head.”
So how does Coach Jamie Dixon talk about this opponent?
“I know we’ve lost a lot of games to them in the past. They’ve got a great tradition of players and history, and it goes way back in years,” Pitt coach Jamie Dixon said.
…
After opening the year with three losses, Duquesne got its first victory Saturday by beating Robert Morris, 73-58.“They played very well against Robert Morris and beat them by double figures,” Dixon said. “They’ve got experience and good size, and they’re athletic. They’re going to be a team that gets better as the year goes on.”
He’s grasping, but that’s what he’s supposed to do.
The big problem for Duquesne is the loss of Achara in not just terms of points and rebounds that were expected from him, but also size and depth. The Dukes are not a particularly big or deep team (big surprise). Pitt should be looking to get it inside to Gray, Kendall, Young, Hudson (if his ankle is okay) and Biggs often.
Final note, Antonio Graves was back practicing. His ankle is apparently much better.
