THE BASICS
Rhode Island (4-8, 0-0 A-10) at Duquesne (10-4, 0-1 A-10)
Tip-Off: Saturday, Dec. 31, 1:00 p.m. EST
Coverage: ESPN+ | Listen | Live Stats | Game Notes

RHODE ISLAND VS. DUQUESNE - SERIES NOTES

• Rhode Island and Duquesne are facing each other for the 65th time Saturday.
• The Rams hold a 36-28 edge in the all-time series, including two wins over the Dukes last season.
• URI and Duquesne last met in the opening round of the 2022 Atlantic 10 Championship, with Rhody winning the contest 79-77. Ishmael Leggett had 12 points and seven rebounds in the contest.
• Rhode Island has lost its last three times playing at Duquesne. The last time URI won on the road against the Dukes was a 90-69 victory on Jan. 21, 2017.
• The Rams are 14-15 all time in road games against the Dukes.
• The game will feature two of the top 10 scorers in the Atlantic 10. Duquesne's Dae Dae Grant ranks sixth in the conference with 17.2 points per game, while URI's Ishmael Leggett is ninth with 16.2 points per game.
• Rhode Island head coach Archie Miller is 8-2 all-time against Duquesne, with all 10 games coming during his time at Dayton.
• Duquesne dropped its last game, defeating/falling to Dayton 69-57 in its Atlantic 10 opener Wednesday night.

RHODE ISLAND SET FOR CONFERENCE OPENER

• While Duquesne began Atlantic 10 play Wednesday, Rhode Island began the week with its first league bye.
• The Rams have lost four consecutive league openers. URI began A-10 play against Davidson each of the last two years, falling 72-68 at the Wildcats last season and 67-58 at home in 2020-21. Richmond beat the Rams 69-61 in 2019-20, and Rhody fell 60-53 at Saint Louis in 2018-19.
• Rhode Island's last win in a conference opener was an 83-69 home win over George Mason in 2017-18.

MARTIN OFFERING MORE PRODUCTION OF LATE

• Redshirt senior Malik Martin has seen an increase in his scoring production, averaging 10.5 points over his last four contests.
• Over the last four games, Martin has shot 50.0 percent from the field (16-for-32) while averaging 7.8 rebounds as well.
• He averaged 6.4 points and 5.3 rebounds per game over the first eight contests of the season.
• Martin needs just 42 points to reach 1,000 career points between his time at Charlotte and Rhode Island.
• Of his 958 career points, 461 have come with URI.
• Long known for bringing versatility to the court, Martin is URI's active career leader in points (958), rebounds (529), steals (130) and blocked shots (79).
• The rest of the team has combined for 65 career blocked shots.
• He also has 104 career assists, which is third on the team.