GAME NOTES: The second round of the Atlantic 10 Tournament closes with a battle between the sixth-seeded George Washington Colonials and the 11th-seeded Duquesne Dukes at the Barclays Center.

The winner of this contest will challenge the No. 3 seed Rhode Island, on Friday in the quarterfinal round.

The Colonials ended the regular season winning three of their final four games, including an 87-65 victory over Massachusetts on Saturday. George Washington's final conference record sits at 10-8 with its overall mark currently at 20-11.

Duquesne lost two of three to close out its regular season but responded by knocking off 14th-seeded Saint Louis the first round on Wednesday, 61-55. The Dukes now sit at 12-18 overall.

This will be the 66th meeting between Duquesne and George Washington, with the Colonials leading the series 40-25. The teams split their games against one another this season, with George Washington winning 74-59 on Jan. 24, and Duquesne scoring a 78-62 victory over the Colonials on Feb. 11.

Micah Mason scored 19 points, grabbed eight boards and dished out four assists to help Duquesne advance to the second round of the A-10 tourney. Jeremiah Jones also contributed to the victory with 16 points and seven rebounds. The Dukes netted 44.2 percent of their field-goal attempts against Saint Louis and held the Billikens to a 30.4 shooting percentage. The Dukes outscored Saint Louis on points in the paint (26-16).

Derrick Colter is the top scorer for Duquesne with 13.2 ppg, while Mason is second on the Dukes with 12.2 ppg. Duquesne has the second best scoring offense in the A-10 at 72.3 ppg and ranks near the top for field-goal percentage (.453), which includes the A-10's second best 3-point field-goal percentage (.367). The Dukes do however rank last in their league for scoring defense (75 ppg) and rank near the bottom for field-goal percentage defense (.439) which includes the A-10's worst 3-point defense (.382). The Dukes have the second most total assists in the A-10 (439) but the least amount of total steals (149).

Yuta Watanabe scored 21 points and was one of five Colonials to finish with double figures against UMass on Saturday. George Washington shot an impressive 60 percent from the field against the Minutemen, including 77.8 percent from 3-point distance. The Colonials held UMass to a 39.3 shooting percentage, including just 26.3 percent from 3-point range. George Washington outscored UMass on 3-point field goals (42-15) and points off turnovers (15-10).

Patricio Garino is the Colonials' top scorer with an average of 12.3 ppg, while Kevin Larsen is the team's top rebounder with 7.0 rpg. George Washington scores 67.3 ppg and converts 44.5 percent of its field-goal attempts. The Colonials rank near the top of the A-10 for scoring defense (61.3 ppg) and rank first in their league for field-goal percent defense (.400), which includes just 31.4 percent from beyond the arc. The Colonials also rank first in the A-10 in rebounding margin (+4.3).

George Washington plays great defense but Duquesne has the second best scoring offense in the A-10. This could be a great matchup to close out the second round as both teams won by double digits in their matchups this season. Expect George Washington's strong rebounding to overwhelm Duquesne's tired legs, and help the Colonials advance.