Pitt-Duquesne game at Mellon Arena

Aug 31, 2009 - 7:46 PM PITTSBURGH(AP) -- City rivals Pitt and Duquesne will play the final college basketball game at Mellon Arena on Dec. 2.

The schools will hold a news conference Tuesday announcing that Duquesne has agreed to move its home game to Mellon Arena, which is scheduled to close next year. Duquesne once played its home games and Pitt played selected Big East games at the downtown arena, which was known as the Civic Arena when it opened in 1961.

After Pitt joined the Big East in 1982, Pitt and Duquesne played their annual non-conference game at the neutral-site arena until the series shifted to the schools' home courts in 2002. That season, Pitt and Duquesne played the first regular season game at Pitt's on-campus Petersen Events Center.

Once the Consol Energy Center opens for the 2010-11 season, the Pitt-Duquesne games are expected to be played there each season.