Duquesne will open nonconference schedule Nov. 8 with home game against Montana

Duquesne men’s basketball coach Keith Dambrot will put his 34-18 nonconference record on the line with a 13-game schedule that begins Nov. 8 against Montana at the UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse. Duquesne is 84-3 when opening at home (4-0 under Dambrot).

The Dukes will leave the city for only two games prior to their Atlantic 10 schedule.

After Montana, the Dukes will hit the road for the first of three Kentucky Tournament games Nov. 11. Two other tournament games will be contested Nov. 14 and 21 at Cooper Fieldhouse (all three opponents to be announced).

Duquesne will make its fourth trek to Akron, Ohio, on Nov. 18 to play Colgate. The game will be played at St. Vincent St. Mary High School where Dambrot coached LeBron James. It will be the Dukes’ last road game before conference play.

Other Duquesne home games include Alabama State (Nov. 23), UC Santa Barbara (Nov. 29), Ball State (Dec. 3), Marshall (Dec. 8), DePaul (Dec. 14), Indiana State (Dec. 17) and Winthrop (Dec. 21). An additional nonconference game will be announced at a later date. Dambrot is 24-7 in nonconference home games at Duquesne.

DePaul (103), Colgate (124), UC Santa Barbara (143) and Winthrop (147) finished last season ranked among the Top 150 in the final NET. Colgate won 15 of 16, Winthrop 10 of 11 and UCSB nine of 11 at the end of the season. DePaul will make its first trip to Pittsburgh since Jan. 9, 1990.

The nine announced opponents represent nine conferences: Big East, Big Sky, Big South, Big West, Conference USA, Mid-American, Missouri Valley, Patriot and Southwestern Athletic.

In other news, Dambrot lost an assistant coach when Carl Thomas accepted the head coaching job at Cleary (Mich.) University. Thomas has been with Dambrot for all five of his previous seasons at Duquesne.