Given the agony that Duquesne's basketball fans have endured by sustaining hope for a return to the NCAA Tournament, there is no shortage of criticism every time their team comes up short in a big game.
Some fans have suggested that Duquesne's program has been doomed for eternity following its most recent trip to the Big Dance 33 years ago.
There also are those who feel that the program is a failure because it can no longer measure up to neighboring Pitt, which is in the midst of its most successful stretch of seasons in history.
Don't count Pitt coach Jamie Dixon among them.
"Duquesne is a good team," Dixon said following the annual City Game pitting the two schools Wednesday night at Consol Energy Center and resulting in an 80-66 Pitt victory before 12,860 fans.
And Dixon should know as much. In two of the previous three games in the series, Duquesne was in position to beat Dixon's teams, dropping a five-point decision in 2007 and blowing a 16-point second-half lead and losing in double overtime in 2009.
But this year's Panthers are ranked third nationally and are 8-0 following their 10th consecutive victory over Duquesne in the first college basketball game at Consol Energy Center. They came in leading Division I in rebounding advantage (16.2 per game) and dominated Duquesne on the boards, 56-35.
"They do an unbelievable job with offensive rebounding," Duquesne coach Ron Everhart said. "Jamie Dixon is the best coach in the nation at getting his players to understand this part of basketball. They get it done on the glass. They'll do it to UConn. They do it to everyone they play."
Led by 6-foot-11 senior Gary McGhee's 13 rebounds and seven blocked shots, Duquesne had no chance of competing on the glass, where Pitt held a 20-17 edge in offensive rebounds and totaled 11 blocks.
Duquesne (3-2), at times, was playing with a lineup that included just one player taller than 6-5.
"Those guys gang-rebound," said Duquesne's 6-7 senior forward, Damian Saunders, who tied senior forward Bill Clark with 20 points and added 11 rebounds, 5 assists, 3 blocks and 1 steal for the Dukes. "They send everybody to the glass and they knock people out of the way. Gary McGhee and (6-9 sophomore) Dante Taylor, when those guys are in there at the same time, you really can't move them out."
Nasir Robinson, a 6-5 junior forward, contributed 12 rebounds and Brad Wanamaker, a 6-4 junior guard, added eight boards, for Pitt. Ashton Gibbs led the Panthers in scoring with 22 points.
"You saw why they're No. 3," said Everhart, who took over a program that produced just three victories in 2005 and has averaged 16 victories in his first four seasons as coach. "They box out and get their rebounders from the weak side to the glass better than any team in the country."
Dixon was relieved to find an outcome against Duquesne that felt more comfortable than last season's come-from-behind, 67-58 double-overtime victory by the Panthers.
"It was two good teams playing hard for 40 minutes," Dixon said. "It was a terrific atmosphere. You're talking about December, and seeing a game like that this early on is almost unheard of in college basketball right now. This was a big game in a big-time facility."
