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No. 2 Pittsburgh seeks more December success vs. Duquesne

Dec 6, 2006 - 4:32 PM Duquesne (2-4) at No. 2 Pittsburgh (8-0) 9:00 pm EST

PITTSBURGH (Ticker) -- In addition to the upcoming holidays, December has been a month of joy, happiness and success for Jamie Dixon and Pittsburgh.

Off to an 8-0 start for the fifth consecutive season, the second-ranked Panthers try to stay undefeated and continue their dominance of crosstown-rival Duquesne on Wednesday.

In four seasons, Dixon has guided Pittsburgh to a 24-0 mark in December contests and has won 43 of 44 games overall against non-conference opponents. The Panthers are also 70-6 at the Petersen Events Center since it opened for the 2002-2003 campaign.

Aaron Gray scored 16 points and grabbed 12 rebounds, Antonio Graves added 14 points and Ronald Ramon 13 points off the bench for Pittsburgh, which nearly failed to hold a 14-point lead before posting a 74-66 win over Auburn on Sunday.

Duquesne opened with victories over Youngstown State and UNC-Asheville before losing four in a row, including Saturday's 73-72 defeat to Robert Morris.

Reigning Atlantic-10 Rookie of the Week Robert Mitchell made 13-of-18 shots and scored 29 points and Gary Tucker added 11 for the Dukes, who lost despite shooting 58 percent (29-of-50) from the floor.

Pittsburgh has won 24 of the last 27 meetings against Duquesne and leads the all-time series, 43-31.