No. I Dukes

Time was when Pittsburgh was a football and baseball city. The University of Pittsburgh Panthers under Coach Jock Sutherland were the terrors of the collegiate football world, and the Pittsburgh Pirates were perennial first-division players. Times have changed. Nowadays, with the Pirates in the depths* and the Panthers rebuilding, Pittsburgh is basketball-crazy over the Duquesne Dukes. Last week, after the Dukes had beaten the strong, star-studded Quantico Marines, who had won 28 of their last 30 games, basketball coaches and sportswriters voted undefeated Duquesne the No. 1 team in the U.S.

How does Duquesne manage to win night after night? Duquesne Coach Dudey Moore has this winning formula: "In my book, a player isn't polished until he can play just as well defensively as offensively." So Moore stresses team balance and tight defense instead of trying to build a team around a high-scoring superstar. The Dukes offer a well-knit offense of three players: 6-ft. 7 1/2-in. Junior Dick Ricketts, who has averaged 16.8 points a game this season; 6-ft. 3-in. Sophomore Si Green (13.4 points); and 6-ft. 7 1/2-in. Senior and Captain Jim Tucker (13 points).

In.addition, each Duquesne player is an agile, arm-flailing defender, so effective that the Dukes have held their major opposition to an average of 51.1 points a game--best defense in the U.S.--while their own runaway offense has averaged nearly 25 points higher.

The Dukes are now getting set for what should be their toughest remaining test: games away from home, on consecutive nights this week, against powerful Cincinnati and Dayton. Whether or not they keep their impressive winning streak (22 straight) alive does not particularly concern them. What the Dukes and Dudey Moore are really looking forward to is next month's National Invitation basketball tournament. The Dukes have played in the Invitation six times, never won it. This, Pittsburgh expects, is the year.

*"We've been in last place on merit," admits Pirate General Manager Branch Rickey.

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