YOUNGSTOWN STATE LATELY

The Penguins returned from their final exams break this past Friday and grabbed an 84-69 win over Division II Shawnee State University (7-2) at YSU's Beegley Center. The Penguins enter Wednesday's matchup with a 4-2 record. Their other wins, all at home, were over the Mid-America Conference's Toledo and Buffalo and Division II Slippery Rock (PA). They've lost their two previous away contests to Indiana State (Terre Haute, IN) and St. Francis (Loretto, PA).

YSU is led by a Pittsburgh native. Head Coach John Robic, who graduated from North Hills High School, is in his fourth year as Youngstown State. He also has an Atlantic 10 connection as he was an assistant at Massachusetts for 11 years (1988-1999) before taking the head job at the Ohio school.

The Penguins are paced by 6-3 sophomore guard Doug Underwood (13.2 ppg, 3.5 rpg), 6-8 junior college transfer center Adam Baumann (11.5, 7.7) and 6-6 junior forward TeJay Anderson (11.5, 4.2).

YSU finished the 2001-02 season with a 5-24 (2-14 Horizon League) record.

DUQUESNE LATELY

• The Dukes are led by a trio of first-year transfers: G Jimmy Tricco (Gonzaga), C Ron Dokes (Lincoln Trial JC) and F Elijah Palmer (Kennedy-King JC).
• Tricco (13.5 ppg, 4.5 rpg), Dokes (13.8, 4.8) and Palmer (6.0, 5.0), who are all juniors, have accounted for just under 50 percent of Duquesne's points and rebounds.
• DU has had problems with turnovers on the young season. The Dukes are averaging 21.8 miscues to 15.0 for their opponents -- a difference of -6.8 per game.
• Duquesne opponents are shooting 41.4% from the 3-point arc on the season. DU's last two opponents, George Mason and Mt. St. Mary's, went a combined 18-of-35 (51.4%) from the arc
• The Dukes have been outrebounded in 5 of 6 games. The exception was the 86-82 win over West Virginia.

REDSHIRT PLANS

Duquesne head coach Danny Nee has tentative plans to redshirt junior forward Jon Pawlak and freshman guard Mike Spadafora. Technically, a nonparticipation redshirt may only be granted at the conclusion of the season only if a student-athlete does not represent DU in a contest.

Could Pawlak and Spadafora play this season? Yes. Will they? Not if everything goes as planned.

If either Pawlak or Spadafora were to appear in any game against outside competition (which included the two exhibition games), they would forfeit the opportunity to redshirt. The 6-9 Pawlak saw action in all 28 games last season. He averaged 4.8 points and 2.6 rebounds in just over 19 minutes per game. Spadafora, who attended Philadelphia Archbishop Wood High School, is a non-scholarship player this season.

CONLEY NOT RETURNING

Walk on guard Jeremy Conley, a record-setting All-American wide receiver for Duquesne's nationally ranked I-AA Mid-Major football team, will not be rejoining the basketball squad this winter. The 6-2, 215-pound fifth-year senior saw action in four games in 2001-02 after joining the team in mid-December. Conley, an elementary education major, will be spending the winter and spring student-teaching at Pittsburgh's Perry Traditional Academy to complete his undergraduate degree.

QUICK NOTES

• JC transfer Ron Dokes' 29 points vs. West Virginia on Nov. 25 were the most by a Duquesne big man since Derrick Alston scored 30 vs. Detriot Mercy in the first round of the 1993 MCC Tournament. The 6-10 Alston was taken in the second round (33rd overall) of the 1994 NBA draft by the Philadelphia 76ers and played three seasons for the Sixers and Atlanta Hawks. He is currently playing professionally in Spain.
• Dokes, 6-9, hit 8-of-11 shots from the field (including four dunks) and 13-of-18 from the line vs. the Mountaineers. Dokes added 21 more vs. Mount St. Mary's on Dec. 7. He is shooting 51.7% from the field.
• Entering the season, Duquesne had just one player on its roster with a 20-point game in Division I play (Kevin Forney). 6-8 guard Jimmy Tricco, a first-year transfer from Gonzaga, also reached the 20-point mark with 20 at George Mason.
• Tricco has led the Dukes in scoring and assists three times in six games. Tricco's career scoring high entering the season was 13 set at Boise State during his sophomore season at Gonzaga. He has hit five three-pointers in two of Duquesne's last four games (5-of-10 vs. Cleveland State and 6-of-8 at George Mason). The junior is 14-29 (48.3%) from behind the arc over that four-game span. 42 of his 63 field goal attempts have come from beyond the 3-point arc. Tricco's six three-pointers at GMU were the most by a DU player since Courtney Wallace hit 6-of-11 from long range vs. La Salle on Feb. 20, 1999.
• Senior swingman Brad Midgley has come off the bench to be a major contibutor for the Dukes. The 6-5 Pittsburgh native is averaging 7.3 points and 3.5 rebounds in just under 23 minutes per game. He made his first start of the season (Palmer out with tendinitis in knee) vs. Mount St. Mary's. Midgley leads the team with eight steals and is tied for second on the squad with 14 assists.
• Sophomore power forward Simplice Njoya is shooting a team-best 55.0 percent from the field. The 6-10 Cameroon native has only been slowed by foul trouble. Although he has yet to foul out, Njoya has committed four fouls in each of DU's first six games.
• JC transfer Elijah Palmer, who missed the Mount St. Mary's game due to tendinitis in his left knee, is tied for the team lead with 11 offensive rebounds. His 5.0 overall rpg. average is also tops on the squad.
• The Dukes, who averaged 16.0 turnovers per game last season, are turning it over at a 21.8 clip so far this year.

NEXT UP

The Dukes head to Puerto Rico on Dec. 19 for three games at the San Juan Shootout (Dec. 20-22) and then will spend the Christmas holiday in Miami, FL, preparing for the Florida International New Year's Classic on Dec. 27-28. In all, the Dukes will be away from home for 10 days before returning to Pittsburgh to face Maryland-Eastern Shore on Jan. 31 at 1:30 p.m.