Panthers’ Milligan keeps his focus on building better memories vs. Dukes

Whether it’s by design or because they have been involuntarily repressed, Jonathan Milligan doesn’t have many memories of Pitt’s loss a year ago against Duquesne. Even some of the game’s most important details remain blurry.

“Was it Jamel [Artis] or Mike [Young]? I remember we had somebody missing,” the Panthers senior guard said Thursday. “It was different that game.”

It was Artis who was suspended for the game, sidelined due to an unspecified violation of team rules. Without their star guard and his 18.2 points per game, a suddenly one-dimensional Panthers offense collapsed and the unthinkable happened — for the first time in 16 years, Pitt lost to Duquesne, which would finish the season 10-22 and fire its coach.

Indeed, as Milligan noted, there was something different about that game. Very little has carried over from that night in December 2016. Only five of the 18 players who saw the court are back this season and just one of the head coaches once again will be roaming the sideline at PPG Paints Arena Friday for the annual matchup.

The effects of last season, though, still linger, as Pitt tries to regain control of a series that, for years, felt less like a rivalry and more like a yearly coronation for a bigger and more powerful program. Entering the Game: Duquesne vs. Pitt, 7 p.m. Friday. Where: PPG Paints Arena. Radio: 93.7 FM and 1320 AM