Duquesne plans challenging start to 2020-2021 basketball season
Duquesne will confront a tough gauntlet of opponents early next basketball season when the Dukes compete in the Maryland Showcase.
They will play three games in seven days and face two opponents that won 20-plus games in 2019-2020. The series will be punctuated Nov. 22 when Duquesne meets Big Ten powerhouse Maryland in College Park.
The Terps were Big Ten tri-champs with Michigan State and Wisconsin this season and finished with an overall 24-7 record and No. 12 national ranking. The Dukes are 0-8 in their all-time series against Maryland, but the teams haven’t met since 2002.
Prior to the Maryland game, Duquesne will play two home games, possibly at UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse if construction is completed in time. The Dukes will meet California Baptist on Nov. 16 and San Jose State on Nov. 18.
California Baptist finished the season as the Western Athletic Conference runner-up with a record of 21-10. San Jose State was 7-24.
The Dukes (21-9 last season) will return all five starters from a team that was the first at the school since 2009 – and third in 48 seasons – to win 20 games.
Jerry DiPaola is a TribLive reporter covering Pitt athletics since 2011. A Pittsburgh native, he joined the Trib in 1993, first as a copy editor and page designer in the sports department and later as the Pittsburgh Steelers reporter from 1994-2004. He can be reached at jdipaola@triblive.com.
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