Certainly, Saint Joseph's will show up today at the A.J. Palumbo Center.

As will Duquesne.

They are scheduled to compete in an Atlantic 10 men's game at 4 p.m. That is where all the certainty certainly ends.

Will the Saint Joseph's team that beat league-power Dayton last Saturday be the one that saunters out onto the Palumbo parquet court?

Or will the Hawks (8-12, 2-4) play the way they did when they were steamrolled, 101-74, a few weeks ago at Rhode Island?

Same thing with the Dukes (10-10, 1-5).

When Duquesne emerges from its locker room, will it play like the team that roared to a 15-point halftime lead in beating St. Bonaventure last week? That Duquesne team denied every passing alley, took good shots in transition and made the extra pass when the game slowed.

Or, will it be the Duquesne team that got ripped apart from opening tip to final buzzer Thursday at Xavier? That Duquesne team lost by 36 points.

If you have a ticket to today's game, when you walk through the Palumbo doors, you could see any combination of not two, but four different teams.

Duquesne coach Ron Everhart would agree to as much.

"It seems like we are similar, we both have a lot of young players in roles that are very important," Everhart said. "And I can see where people can compare what has happened with us this year and what has happened with them, yes."

What has happened with Duquesne in this yo-yo season has been well-documented -- the Dukes have struggled mightily shooting the ball, particularly at the free-throw line (61.7 percent) and from 3-point range (22.8 percent).

What has happened to the Hawks, on the other hand, is that they just can't seem to do much when they venture away from home.

Saint Joseph's is 6-3 at home this season, but just 1-7 on the road.

That's one trend, but here is another: Behind a tremendously balanced attack that uses 10 men, the Hawks have been playing their best of late.

Saint Joseph's has won three of its past four games.

"What I know about [Saint Joseph's coach Phil Martelli] is that his teams always seem to play well at the end of the year," Everhart said. "And they are starting to really improve right now."

Something the Dukes could take a cue from is the way the Hawks have pulled it together.

In contrast, Duquesne has mustered just one win -- that St. Bonaventure game -- since Dec. 22.

For Everhart, he is of the opinion it isn't so much what the opposition has been doing, but what his team has failed to do.

"I think these guys do understand that we are close, that we have been close for a couple of weeks, that we have been in tight games and need to make some plays and things will turn out much differently," Everhart said. "We are looking and searching and I think it comes down to making intelligent and focused plays, and where we are right now is we need to do that, especially at the end of games.

"I do think it is a lot about what we need to do, focus on the things we need to do, not so much what teams are doing against us."

Looking for more from the Post-Gazette? Join PG+, our members-only web site. You'll get exclusive sports content, opinion, financial information, discounts from retailers and restaurants, and more. Our introduction to PG+ gives you all the details.