There's the home crowd.

The absence of travel.

The whole, sleeping-at-home phenomenon; factors which together somehow translate into a swing of points that can decide a game.

Duquesne will try to maintain its home-court advantage tonight at Palumbo Center, where they have played quite well this season (8-2 compared to 2-5 on the road).

The Dukes will play host to surging La Salle at 7 p.m., and the Explorers are one of five teams tied for first in the Atlantic 10 Conference.

"Every team is just more comfortable at home, you know?" said Dukes guard T.J. McConnell. "Especially us. We like playing here, the fans are good. I just think we're more fluid with everything we do at home.

"It's tough to get a road win. You're by yourself, but have a lot of support at home."

The Dukes certainly are not the only A-10 team playing better at home. Every team except sixth-place Temple (5-1 home, 6-3 road) has a far worse road record than home record, magnifying the need for the Dukes to lock down wins in Pittsburgh.

"I think we have more intensity at home," guard Sean Johnson said. "We need to do a better job on the road. We don't really know why, we just have to get it fixed."

The Dukes are coming off a rough outing at Saint Louis and were clobbered at Xavier three games earlier.

Yet they picked off 15-5 Massachusetts (4-2 A-10) at home in between and have played their best on the Bluff.

Dukes coach Ron Everhart said he has long believed that heading out on the road should not change a team or its mindset.

"I'm a firm believer the things you do at home you should do on the road," said Everhart. "Traditionally, we've had success on the road, but there's so many factors with the environment, travel."

La Salle, led by guards Tyreek Duren and Ramon Galloway, will pose some problems. The Explorers knocked off George Washington for their 13th consecutive home win in a streak that dates to last season.

They are 11-0 at home, 3-5 on the road, and are challenging for the league title despite being picked in the annual coaches and media preseason poll to finish 13th in the14-team league.

"They really share the ball well and surround you with good shooters," Everhart said of the Explorers. "They can really score and have a help-my-teammate mindset defensively."

The Dukes are back at full strength this week with the return of forward Andre Marhold, who missed two games because of a concussion.

"We just need to be more consistent. Not win a game, lose a game," senior guard B.J. Monteiro said. "We have to work on that consistency throughout this game.

"Not having Andre inside was tough for us. We just needed another reinforcement down there, and it was tough playing without him."

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NOTE -- The game marks another meeting between McConnell and Duren, who faced each other in the 2010 PIAA Class AAA state title game. Duren led Neumann-Goretti to a 65-63 win against McConnell's Chartiers Valley team with two free throws with 13.1 seconds left.