Well it isn’t what it used to be, but it’s still the City Game. Here is the history of this storied rivalry, because those who don’t know history are bound to repeat it.

The basketball series was first played in 1932. The cross-town rivalry between the two schools intensified quickly, and the development of bad blood between the two schools on the basketball court and in the boxing ring led to the cessation of series following the 1939 game until it was renewed in 1953.  The rivalry reached its peak when both schools again found themselves members of the same athletic conference, the Eastern 8 from 1976–1982.  (It was renamed the Atlantic 10 Conference following the 1981–82 season).  During this period, the head coaches of Pitt and Duquesne, Tim Grgurich and Mike Rice respectively, were alumni of their schools and had played against each other in the 1960s. There was genuine dislike between coaches and players, and during these contests fights frequently broke out between players, and sometimes among fans. Wikipedia

Lets Go Pitt!  Beat Duquesne!

Michaelangelo

Michaelangelo holds a degree in Travel Writing from the University of Pittsburgh. He was a former staff writer for InPittsburgh Newsweekly, and currently resides near Atlanta, Georgia. He has been a Pitt fan since 1997 after he witnessed Pitt upset #22 Miami on Thursday night at Pitt Stadium.

62 thoughts on “Pitt Basketball: 2018 City Game Open Game Thread (Pitt v. Duquesne)”

  2. Michaelangelo— you sure have been busy lately! Lots going on in the world of Pitt sports.

    Maybe we need Annie to do an article on the Pitt Women’s Volleyball team… 👍

    And it is great to see Commander Reed posting comments!

    Go Pitt!

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  10. Panthers finish strong against Iona even after losing Lund. They advance to round of 32 against Michigan. Without Lund, this is going to be a tough match! Now to watch the end of basketball!

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  13. Pitt impressive in part of basketball game I saw:) Capel’s team still has room to improve as the freshman grow. N’Dir has been a very pleasant surprise.

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  14. Pitt had a nice win tonight but the bigs didn’t see much action. Doesn’t seem to be much interest in developing the bigs currently on the roster. And Ellison doesn’t seem to be a significant contributor at this point.

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  15. The young Pitt kids got some experience in a hard fought physical battle tonight. May come in handy down the road some…

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  16. Foul filled ugly game. Pitt much the best team. If our 3’s would have fallen early we win by 30.

    Saw an article titled “what would Pitt have to do to go to NIT”

    Pitt is going to the NCAAs this year.
    This is a terrific team and has 3 head coaches on the bench. Capel is a genius. Hope some smart recruits figure it out. H2P
    H2P

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  17. I’ll ask this question here as it gets a little difficult for some to find a comment in another article.

    Since the question was raised about final results…… would you want PITT to lose the Clemson game and get a winnable bowl game or win the Clemson game and get a team that is very formidable…

    << Hint. This is a trick question.

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    1. I’ll take the win over Clemscum. ONLY way we get ranked again. AND can finish the season ranked.

      Plus bowl interest will be much greater if we win and get a better bowl.

      Liked by 1 person

    2. I would take the win over Clemson every time. That would put the rest of the ACC on notice. I do not think that will happen though.

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      1. you take a win on national TV
        You take a championship
        This win gives you great marketing for the school
        The win greatly enhances the brand
        Plus Pitt gets Florida in a New Years Bowl
        I dont see this being a trick question…its a no brainer for me

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  18. 12,246 at the City Game tonite according to ESPN Gamecast. That’s a phenomenal crowd considering all things. As in Otis almost entirely wrecked the program and this rivalry has been lopsided for years.

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    1. Far easier to turn around a basketball program
      With the right coach and 2 ACC players, you’re at least a .500 team
      Back to respectability
      Add another 2 ACC players (includes a Big), and you can compete with the big boys

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  20. but Narduzzi hasn’t won a bowl game.

    I’ll take the potential of being blown out in a bowl game if PITT can beat Clemson but the trick was……….. If PITT can beat Clemson, who would they lose to in a bowl game?

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    1. Assuming Pitt loses tomorrow to Clemson they must, MUST, win their bowl game. It would be something to build on going into next year. In answer to a comment Reed made in an earlier post, I would consider this a successful season if we finish at 8-6. This means we ended the season with a win and also won the ACC Coastal Division. This is a big improvement over last year and I would submit, even better than our two 8-5 seasons where we lost our bowl games. Heck I would be happy if we won our bowl 3-0!

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      1. must win the bowl game regardless of the win or loss tonight
        otherwise, season will not be a success
        Pitt needs to finish ranked
        Recruits do look at rankings
        And recruits dont care if one of your wins is against Holy Cross…a win counts as a win

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  21. Good game tonight. For a team without a strong inside presence and weak three point shooting, they hold their own with strong defense, drives to the hoop and a lot of speed.

    Duquesne has some players and they are scrappy, but once their big men got in foul trouble it was game over. They still have an avid fan base.

    Really hoping Capel can get two ACC ready big men for next year. It could get real interesting if that happens. Also a swing man that can shoot.

    The team won tonight without much from Johnson and Frame although they had their moments.

    They are going to get better as the year goes on and they will have to as the competition gets much stiffer.

    There are 8 starters on the team, no difference which 8 are in there.

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    1. I would say that they play much better with X-man on the court. Big difference. Game was close at halftime cause X spent most of the 1st half on the bench.

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    2. Might just get Akok Akok for this year. He’s doing his SAT test early in December. Could get him after Jan 7th when Spring Semester begins.

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  22. Of course you would rather beat Clemson, that’s a no brainer, just can’t go 0 for 3 down the stretch.

    That would take almost all the luster off the Coastal Trophy.

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  23. Pitt had 4 players with Double Figures and a 5th with 9 points. Very balanced scoring,

    McGowens 14
    Ellison 13
    Frame 12
    X-man 10 (sat out most of 1st half with fouls)
    Sidy 9

    Pitt outrebounded the Dukes 42-33 The Big DU only had 1 player in Double Figures.

    To all the DU girls I knew that lived at Cricklewood….here’s to you !

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  24. I agree X is the best player, but N’Dir and McGowens aren’t that far behind. McGowens may be the better player by the time they graduate.

    The arena would be much more interesting if they separated the fans a little more effectively.

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    1. Hey Gordo…..were there really over 12,000 at PPG Place ?
      Sidy is only going to be here 1 year I think. He played 3 years at New Mexico State.

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  26. Right now, they’re all, not very good outside shooters….so hopefully that will improve. Cause you’re not going to get to the rim very often against the better more athletic teams.

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    1. Agree 100 percent.

      The crowd was pretty good, no reason to doubt the official numbers.

      Sidy is a senior, as is Frame. I think Capel is glad to have both and vice versa.

      Seems to be great chemistry on the team and the coaches are first class.

      The future looks very bright. What a difference a year makes.

      Thank you Heather.

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  27. Does anyone else think of what the 2016 team would have done if Capel would have been coaching here then instead of having Stallings as their advisor? It would have been interesting! I think he would have gotten even that group won over.

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  28. Craig Meyer@CraigMeyerPG
    Duquesne coach Keith Dambrot said, personnel aside, he saw a big difference, especially defensively, between last year’s Pitt team and this year’s:

    “Coach Stallings is a finesse guy who is a little more offensively oriented. This team is more like Duke.”

    So Stallings continues to be offensive oriented ….. whose teams that continuously went several minutes with out scoring; whose teams many times did even try for an offensive rebound; and whose teams almost always chose to shoot from the outside instead of taking it to the hoop.

    Give me a break

    Liked by 1 person

  29. Its all about guard play and Capel knows it
    Look at the teams that make the Final 4…they all have All American guards

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  30. Hey web, Stallings was indeed offensive. Haha
    Thanks to Dr WUPS for the wake up call email! LMAO.
    (Never pick a surgeon named Dr Wups by the way)
    Sad to head of the passing of W.

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  31. I guess if you don’t play defense and you don’t rebound then by default you must be offense oriented.

    Remembering the stallings era is like waking up from a really bad dream.

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  32. Six of the eight in the rotation will be back next season, plus who Capel adds in the spring.

    Pitt basketball is looking very bright again. If Akok is added for ACC play, a rim protector is now in the rotation and with how these young kids just seem to play ball, anything is possible come March.

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  33. Ike, just read your question above… Hail Yeah.. beat Clemson.. aren’t too many teams better than them…. right???

    Our boys don’t get intimidated by anyone they play… when we lose it’s usually self- inflicted… mistakes….

    They will play for 4 quarters… if the Special teams, O and D both show up, no costly penalties or turnovers… Clemson will know they in a real battle…..Bookser- control thyself…

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    1. Hey B, I feel as if you’re getting your game face on already. Hope you brought your black shoe polish wit ya!

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  35. Capel’s next class will be very important. Needs size and outside shooting, plus to fit in they need to be fast and play solid D. What he has done so far is off the charts, but the ACC is a whole nuther level.

    An announcer said that Pitt is the only team with 4 former head coaches.

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  36. Pitt BB will help FB recruiting. The Pete is a great venue to bring recruits when the BB team plays well and the ZOO is alive – much better than Heinz Field.

    Tame the Tigers / Clobber Clemscum / Down goes Dabo / Upset Alert!

    I’m having a hard time getting juiced up for this game after the Miami Massacre.

    Help!!!

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  37. When are you boys meeting up in town? Drop a pic when you do, great to see the boys are back in town together representing! ….

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  38. So PPG capacity is 19,260 and the Pete is 12,508. Last nights crowd over 12,000 about 60-40 in favor of Pitt by my eyeballs, red vs blue and gold. I think attendance at the Pete is going to be back to pre-stallings era and back to capacity by next year.

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  39. from Dokish … and more fuel for my fire:

    OOC regular season opponents in top 15 since 2015 (including ND)

    Pitt 9
    FSU 4
    WF 3
    GT 3
    VT 2
    Miami 2
    Clem 2
    Lou 2
    BC 2
    NC St 1
    Syr 1
    UNC 1
    UVA 1
    Duke 0

    PS – and of course, that doesn’t include vs Miami last year and Clemson 2 years ago and tonight,

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    1. Wow! Just wow!

      If we scheduled like other schools, our record would be better and all our team offensive and defensive rankings would be better.

      Everything’s better with BlueBonnet on it!

      Go Pitt!

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  41. Great to see Pitt attacking the rim. Lots of energy all around. The outside shooting will come around. Pitt basketball is exciting again. H2P!!!

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