Game 75, and Pitt is favored by 27 points. Pitt is 43-31 vs. the Stage Magicians and hasn’t lost in Oakland to Duquesne since 1982. Feel the energy.
While Pitt’s program is rolling, Duquesne has enjoyed only one winning season in the past 20 and none since 1993-94. It doesn’t figure to change this year. Only two players returned from a team that endured an atrocious 3-24 season.
After opening with a pair of victories following a chaotic period that included the shooting of five players near the Dukes’ home court, Palumbo Center, it has been 2 1/2 weeks since Everhart’s team has enjoyed success.
The Duquesne team is just a wee bit on the inexperienced side.
Duquesne is the one of the youngest, dressing only two healthy players with Division I experience prior to this season.
How inexperienced is Duquesne compared to Pitt?
Panthers junior Mike Cook has started nearly as many Division I games (47) as every healthy player on the Duquesne active roster combined (51).
And as previously noted, the Dukes have no size to match Aaron Gray.
Another story on how Pitt assistant, Mike Rice, Jr. grew up rooting against Pitt as the son of the Stage Magicians’ Coach.
Some of the players from both teams remember going against each other in the AAU games of NY.
The Panthers have five players from New York: 6-foot-1 Ronald Ramon (Bronx), Levance Fields (Brooklyn), 6-2 Keith Benjamin (Mount Vernon), 6-8 Tyrell Biggs (Nanuet) and 6-9 Austin Wallace (Bronx).
The Dukes have two active players from New York: 6-6 freshman Robert Mitchell (Brooklyn) and 6-3 Stephen Wood (Queens). They also have two Brooklyn natives sitting out this season under transfer rules: 6-9 Shawn James (Northeastern) and 6-2 KoJo Mensah (Siena).
The Duquesne New Yorkers and the Pitt New Yorkers know each other from high school competition, AAU ball in the summer and age-group tournaments that attracted some of the top talent on the East Coast.
Fields, Biggs and Wallace were members of the AAU Gauchos; Wood and Mitchell were on the Metro Hawks.
That should juice the rivalry.
Not that anyone is looking past this game. Afterall, you need to take them one game at a time.
Pitt junior guard Keith Benjamin isn’t looking ahead to the highly ranked Badgers, however, because that could cause some problems.
“We look at every game as a test for us,†he said. “Every game is different, and we have to get up for every game. We don’t want to be the team that loses when we have a chance to be No. 1, so it’s great for everyone. And we’re going to keep working hard to reach that goal.”
Game time is 7:30, er 9 pm (whoops).
