| 4 | F | Elijah Palmer
or| 6-7 | Jr. | 5.7 | 5.2 | Marshall, Mo. | JC transfer leads Dukes with a 5.2 rebounds per game average | | 14 | F | Simplice Njoya | 6-10 | So. | 8.6 | 4.0 | Yaound?, Cameroon | Shooting a team-best 54.5% from the field | | 41 | C | Ron Dokes | 6-9 | Jr. | 13.7 | 5.1 | South Bend, Ind. | JC transfer has topped 20 two times: 29 vs. WVU & 21 vs. Mt. St. Mary's | | 44 | G | Jimmy Tricco | 6-8 | Jr. | 12.9 | 4.3 | Phoenix, Ariz. | Gonzaga transfer has hit at least five three's in a game two times this season | | 20 | G | Kevin Forney | 6-4 | Sr. | 9.7 | 2.6 | Philadelphia, Pa. | Team-high 51 career starts; shooting 47.1% (8-of-17) from behind the arc |
Off the bench
| # | P | Name | Ht | Yr | Pts | Reb | Hometown | Quick Facts | | 21 | F | Brad Midgley | 6-5 | Sr. | 7.3 | 3.3 | Pittsburgh, Pa. | Team-best 93 games played; tied for team high with 19 assists and eight steals | | 22 | G | Bryant McAllister | 6-3 | Fr. | 5.0 | 1.3 | Pittsburgh, Pa. | True freshman point guard coming off career high 11 points vs. YSU | | 42 | F/C | Chris Clark | 6-10 | Sr. | 0.8 | 1.7 | Toronto, Ontario | Second on team to Forney with 24 career starts; had season high 4 rebounds in nine minutes vs. Cleve. St. | | 32 | G | Tyler Bluemling | 6-2 | So. | 3.0 | 2.0 | Pittsburgh, Pa. | Played in all 28 games last season; broke nose at practice on Dec. 4 | | 1 | G | Aly Samabaly | 6-3 | So. | 0.5 | 0.0 | Bamako, Mali | Saw action in 23 games as a freshman; has played in four games this season | | 00 | C | Derek Ahern | 6-10 | Jr. | Andrews AFB, Md. | 2.0 | 2.0 | Saw first action of the season against Maryland scoring two points and grabbing two rebounds in four minutes |
DUQUESNE LATELY Duquesne snapped a four-game losing streak with a 61-56 home win over Youngstown State on Wednesday. The win came after a 10-day break for final exams. The Dukes are led by a pair of first-year transfers in G Jimmy Tricco (12.9, 4.3 from Gonzaga) and C Ron Dokes (13.7, 5.1 from Lincoln Trial JC). Dokes is coming off a 13-point outing vs. Youngstown State. Tricco leads the Dukes with 20 3-pointers. Freshman point guard Bryant McAllister came off the bench to score a career high 11 points in 27 minutes vs. YSU. He went 4-of-4 from the field and 2-of-2 from the free throw line while turning it over just twice. DU has had problems with turnovers on the young season. The Dukes are averaging 21.6 miscues to 15.7 for their opponents -- a difference of -5.9 per game. LONG TRIP The Dukes will play a total of five games in 10 days at Puerto Rico (three games) and Miami (two games). The team will stay in Puerto Rico from Dec. 19-23 and travel to Miami on the 24th. The team will return to Pittsburgh on Sunday, Dec. 29. Classes at Duquesne resume on Monday, Jan. 6. EXPERIMENTAL RULES The San Juan Shootout is classified as "certified" event and therefore will be subject to three experimental rules changes: (1) The 3-point arc will be at 20'6" as opposed to the 19'9" used for regular-season NCAA games. The new measurement, which is nine-inches further than the traditional arc, is the same distance used in international competition.(2) The free throw lane will be 16-feet wide as opposed to the 12-foot wide lane used in regular-season play. The lane will be extended by two feet on either side. (3) The free throw lane block will be moved up one space on the key, with no player allowed in the neutral 1' x 8' "block" area. TIME CHANGE Puerto Rico is currently on Atlantic Standard Time which is one hour later than Eastern Standard Time (i.e. a 4:30 p.m. tip at Puerto Rico translates to a 3:30 p.m. tip in Pittsburgh). ON SACRED HEART Sacred Heart, a member of the Northeast Conference, is off to an 0-5 start. The Pioneers, who have been idle since an 88-69 home loss to Yale on Dec. 5, have also played at Stony Brook (L, 75-64 in OT), at Manhattan (L, 77-62), Army (L, 75-73) and at Connecticut (L, 116-78). Sacred Heart is led in scoring by 6-0 junior guard Maurice Bailey (13.4 ppg.). Six-six sophomore forward Mike Queenan and 5-10 junior guard Omar Wellington are also averaging in double figures at 10.0 ppg. each. Sacred Heart, like Duquesne, has had trouble taking care of the basketball. The Pioneers come to Puerto Rico averaging 19.8 turnovers per game. SHU is shooting 42 percent from the field and 27.6 percent from the 3-point arc. Pioneer opponents have made 33 more free throws (92-134) than Sacred Heart has attempted (39-59). Sacred Heart has also been hurt by injuries to its big people. Six-ten sophomore Kibwe Trim missed the first four games of the season with a back injury, 7-2 center Mading Mading has missed the last three games with a knee injury and 6-7, 250-pound senior Max Yokono has been out all season with a knee injury. Dave Bike is in his 25th season as the head coach of Sacred Heart. He has a career record of 392-314. SECOND ROUND Duquesne will face either Northeastern (3-4) or Troy State (6-2) in the second round. Northeastern is 1-1 vs. the Atlantic 10 this season with a 95-82 loss to Rhode Island and a 99-75 win over Fordham, while Troy State has won four times on the road including an impressive 74-66 victory at Arkansas on Dec. 3. Troy State began the week third nationally in three-pointers made per game at 11.1. A Duquesne win would mean a 3:30 p.m. (EST) tip, while a loss would put the Dukes in the 11:00 a.m. (EST) game. DU has faced just one of the three schools in its side of the bracket (the Dukes are 1-1 all time vs. Northeastern). DUQUESNE 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.
- 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 seven 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 five games (5-of-10 vs. Cleveland State and 6-of-8 at George Mason). He is 16-32 (50.0%) from the arc over that five-game span. Forty-five of his 70 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 tied for the team lead in both assists (19) and steals (8) in just over 23 minutes per game. He made his first start of the season (Palmer out with tendinitis in knee) vs. Mount St. Mary's.
- Sophomore power forward Simplice Njoya is shooting a team-best 54.5 percent from the field. The 6-10 Cameroon native has only been slowed by foul trouble. Although he has yet to foul out, Njoya committed four fouls in each of DU's first six games, before finishing the Youngstown State game with a season "low" three fouls.
- 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 13 offensive rebounds . His 5.2 overall rpg. average is tops on the squad.
- Duquesne's opponents are shooting a combined 40.8% from 3-point land.
- The Dukes have outrebounded just one of their first six opponents (West Virginia, 38-32).
- DU, who averaged 16.0 turnovers per game last season, is turning it over at a 21.6 clip so far this year.
NEW FACES MAKING AN IMPACT The transfer trio of Jimmy Tricco (Gonzaga), Ron Dokes (Lincoln Trail JC) and Elijah Palmer (Kennedy-King JC) has made an immediate impact on the 2002-03 Dukes. The threesome, which started every game this season (prior to tendinitis which sidelined Palmer for the Mount St. Mary's game), is averaging a combined 31.4 points and 13.9 rebounds per game (48% of the team scoring and 50% of the rebounding). Tricco, a 6-8 shooting guard, has led the team in scoring and assists three times this season. He is also tied for the team lead with 19 assists. Dokes, a 6-9, 240-pound forward/center posted a game-high 29 vs. West Virginia and topped the 20-point mark a second time with 21 vs. Mount St. Mary's. The 6-7 Palmer led the Dukes in rebounding with eight in each vs. Big East foes Pitt and West Virginia. NEXT UP Following the 10-day road trip, the Dukes return to Pittsburgh to face Maryland-Eastern Shore on Jan. 31 at 1:30 p.m. The UMES game is the final non-conference game on the 2002-03 schedule.
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