Yet Ferry will allow that this is the best shot the Dukes have had at knocking off their decidedly higher profile neighbor during his four-year tenure.
Duquesne starts five upperclassmen and plays at a tempo it believes could play to its advantage as the school tries to end a 14-game losing streak to Pitt, a skid that has cooled off a once heated rivalry.
The Panthers have evolved under coach Jamie Dixon after making the transition from the rugged Big East to the considerably more frenetic ACC.
Pitt has scored less than 84 points just once in its first five games, though its early season momentum took a hit in a 72-59 home loss to No. 11 Purdue on Tuesday night.
[...] it might have provided the Panthers with a needed wake-up call after barreling through overmatched opponents in the opening couple of weeks.
If Dixon was concerned about his team taking the Dukes lightly heading into a game Pitt lost once since the turn of the millennium, it evaporated after letting the Boilermakers pull away in the second half.
