The City Game is tomorrow. Just not hearing the buzz. What ever happened to that spirit of the 70s? You mean to tell me no one is jazzed for a contest Pitt has won 24 of the last 27 times? This is the 75th meeting. The Diamond celebration. Uh, yeah.

Duquesne is 2-4 with losses to Robert Morris and Oakland. Their tallest player is 6’9″, a senior who plays less than 12 minutes per game. Otherwise they don’t have a starter over 6’6″

Is it any wonder the only stories are peripheral ones.

Pitt Assistant Coach and former player Orlando Antigua relating to the gunshot wound to the head of the Duquesne player from the fall; and reaching out to Sam Ashalou.

Another Pitt assistant coach, Mike Rice, Jr., is the son of a former Duquesne head coach and can recall a childhood of actual meaningful City Games. Now, they are supporting Pitt.

Mike Rice Sr., who went 4-3 against Pitt and took the Dukes to a pair of NIT bids, has worked as a television analyst for the Portland Trail Blazers for the past 15 years.

“My mother and father called me last night,” Rice said Monday. “They said, ‘Take it easy on the alma mater. Take it easy on Duquesne.’ ”

All of the Rice clan are Pitt fans these days, even if mom and dad would prefer a competitive game tomorrow. When one of Rice Sr.’s former Duquesne captains, Rod Scott, recently saw his old coach walking around wearing a Pitt jacket and hat, he nearly stopped in his tracks.

That’s a loyal dad.