Getty The Saint Louis Billikens will visit the Duquesne Dukes.
The Duquesne Dukes will host the Saint Louis Billikens in a battle of Atlantic 10 teams on Wednesday.
The game is scheduled to start at 8 p.m. ET. While it won’t be broadcast nationally on television anywhere in the US, you can still watch a live stream of the game on your computer, phone or streaming device via ESPN+, the new digital streaming service from ESPN (no cable required) that has exclusive coverage to dozens of college basketball games–and several other sports–every week.
You can start a free seven-day trial of ESPN+ right here, and you can then watch a live stream of the game on your computer via ESPN.com, or on your phone (Android and iPhone compatible), tablet, Roku, Amazon Fire TV, Apple TV, Chromecast, PlayStation 4, Xbox One or other compatible streaming device via the ESPN app.
If you can’t watch live, all games — including Saint Louis vs Duquesne — that are streamed on ESPN+ are also available to be watched afterwards on-demand via ESPN.com or the ESPN app.
Saint Louis vs Duquesne Preview
The Dukes have won four in a row to improve to 4-1 in A-10 play, most recently defeating George Washington 91-85 in overtime on the road behind a 21-point, 14-rebound, seven-block effort from sophomore big man Michael Hughes.
All of Duquesne’s A-10 games have been decided by six points or fewer.
“I didn’t have any gray hair when I got here, and I didn’t have this bald spot,” second-year Dukes head coach Keith Dambrot said, according to the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. “I don’t really like [close games]. Every game is coming down to the last possession. We have to be more consistent throughout, and it won’t come down to the last possession and we have to make more shots. Our inability to pop-pop-pop has not allowed us to get away from many people.
“Mike Hughes was terrific, but he made seven turnovers. We can’t do that if we’re really going to be as good as we can be.”
Though the Dukes have won four straight, they’ve done it against some of the conference’s weaker foes — the teams they’ve bested on the streak have a combined conference record of 4-17. Their next four opponents — Saint Louis, VCU, and Rhode Island at home, then Dayton on the road — are 16-4 in A-10 games.
“It’s going to determine how far we’ve come in our ‘second-first’ year, and whether we’re ready to compete for championships or not,” Dambrot said Tuesday, according to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. “That’s really what it’s going to show. Are we middle of the pack, or are we a year advanced of what we thought we’d be? Again, we don’t really have any pressure, we just have to play good basketball.”
The head coach added: “You can be fooled by 4-1. But I’m not. We have to do a better job at the defensive end, take better care of the basketball.
The Billikens (14-4 overall) are riding a six-game winning streak; they’re the conference’s lone undefeated team at 5-0 in A-10 play.
Saint Louis boasts one of the best defenses in the nation, holding opponents to 39.9 percent shooting and 62.2 points per game, good for 31st and 14th out of 353 Division I teams. Their last time out, they held St. Joseph’s to 29.5 percent shooting en route to a 68-57 victory.
“We faced a really strong defensive unit and didn’t put the ball in the basket,” St. Joe’s head coach Phil Martelli said, according to The Philadelphia Inquirer. “It’s offense, it’s offense, it’s offense. And then when you’re not putting the ball in the basket, everything has to be perfect.”