Gameday: Pitt vs Duquesne Dukes

Pitt 6-0 (0-0 ACC) vs Duquesne 2-2 (0-0 Atlantic 10)

1:00 pm

Consol Energy Center, Pittsburgh, PA

It's the annual City Game.  Duquesne went 8-22 last season and lost 9 scholarship players.  Two graduated, six (six!) transferred, and one left to go play for the soccer team.  They even lost one of their walk-ons because of an internship conflict.  Here is a scholarship depth chart for Duquesne.  The players in gray are no longer with the team.

Yikes, and we thought Pitt had transfer problems.  Naturally, Duquesne is picked to finish last (13th) in the Atlantic 10 Conference this season.  Pitt should have no trouble with this team.  The game is being played at the Consol Energy Center for the 4th consecutive year, and it is Duquesne's year to be the "home team."  This is always entertaining because the Duquesne students routinely outdraw the Pitt students when the games are played downtown.  This makes sense because Duquesne is right next door to Consol.

The crowd expectations should be tempered a little bit because of the inopportune time the game is being played.  It's Thanksgiving weekend and many students are home with their families.  The City Game has been played on a Wednesday every year since 2005.  Moving it to Saturday makes it easier for non-students to attend the game.  I can imagine it can be quite the nuisance to have to drive home from working downtown at 5 pm only to return later that night for a game.  I did it in 2011 and it sucked.  You could also argue that the majority of Pitt and Duquesne students are from Pittsburgh and could conceivably go to the game still, but that's not fair to the non-Pittsburghers.  It makes no difference to me.  I'll be watching the game on my couch.

Pitt has won 12 in a row in the series and leads the all-time record 50-31.

Last meeting:  Pitt 66 Duquesne 45, December 5, 2012

What reader Ben (@BW628) said in the recap:  

"Best defensive effort of the season. Adams and Zanna were solid in the post protecting the rim but the story was the guards. They seemed to get a hand on everything, they had 9 steals but easily 10 more tips/deflections."

Glad to see that solid defense from the guards hasn't changed.

Player to watch:  Tra'Vaughn White led all JUCO players in scoring with 25.9 ppg last season.  The 5'10" guard is averaging 15.8 points so far this season while shooting an impressive 54% from the field.

Prediction:  Pitt 80 Duquesne 50

Hail to Pitt,

J.O.