Jan. 16, 2003

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RICHMOND (8-6, 2-1 A-10) at DUQUESNE (7-9, 1-2 A-10)
Saturday, Jan. 18, 2003 - 4:00 p.m. (EST)
A.J. Palumbo Center (6,200)

"Duquesne No. 1" foam fingers, sponsored by Stargate, will be given to the first 500 fans in attendance.

TELEVISION: Atlantic 10 TV with Scott Graham & Jack Armstrong
(Fox Sports Net Pittsburgh locally)
DUQUESNE RADIO: KQV-AM (1410) with Ray Goss & George Von Benko
INTERNET BROADCAST: www.redzonemedia.com

DUKES HOST RICHMOND

Duquesne (7-9, 1-2), coming off a tough 77-72 loss at Dayton last Saturday, hosts Atlantic 10 West opponent Richmond (8-6, 2-1) in an A-10 TV Network game at 4:00 on Saturday (Fox Sports Net Pittsburgh TV locally; KQV-AM 1410 radio & internet broadcast at www.redzonemedia.com ).

The Dukes, who began the season 1-5, have bounced back to win six of their last 10. DU has been idle since last Saturday's loss at Dayton. In that game, Duquesne rallied from 20 points down to take a one-point lead with just over a minute left. Kevin Forney came off the bench to tie his career scoring high with 22 (9-of-12 from the field), while fellow guard Jimmy Tricco scored all of his career high-tying 20 points (including six 3-pointers) in the second half.

Richmond is coming off a 66-53 loss at Dayton on Wednesday. The Spiders are 2-4 on the road this season with impressive wins at Stanford (83-69) and at Xavier (67-59).

DUQUESNE AND RICHMOND

Duquesne holds an 8-2 edge in a series that dates back to a 37-29 DU win on Jan. 12, 1937. The two teams met four times between 1973 and 1978, before once each in 1992-93, 1993-94 and 1994-95. The Dukes lead 4-1 at Richmond, 3-1 at Pittsburgh and 1-0 at neutral sites.

Richmond, a former member of the Colonial Athletic Association, joined the Atlantic 10 last season. UR swept the series last year, 55-51 at Richmond and 83-57 at Pittsburgh. The Spiders are in their first season under head coach Jerry Wainright; Wainwright came to Richmond after spending eight seasons at UNC Wilmington.

DUQUESNE LATELY

• Duquesne features completely revamped starting lineup from a year ago with PG Bryant McAllister (Fr.), JC transfers F Elijah Palmer (Jr.) & C Ron Dokes (Jr.), Gonzaga transfer G Jimmy Tricco (Jr.) and F Simplice Njoya (So.).
• Njoya, the lone returnee, is a relative "newcomer" after having to sit out 19 games as a freshman last season due to an NCAA suspension.
• Senior G Kevin Forney is averaging 18.3 ppg. in Atlantic 10 play. He is shooting 70.4% from the field and 92.3% from the foul line in three league games.
• The Dukes, who are shooting an Atlantic 10-best 38.8% from the 3-point arc, have won six of their last 10 games.
• Four different Dukes are shooting better than 40% from the arc - Forney (81-37), Tricco (42-98), Brad Midgley (8-19) & Njoya (7-15).
• Duquesne, who has struggled with turnovers (20.3/g.), has turned it over just 25 total times in its last two games (14 vs. Temple and 11 at Dayton).

DUQUESNE UNIVERSITY TENTATIVE STARTERS

#	P	Name	Ht	Yr	Pts	Reb	Hometown	Quick Facts
4	F	Elijah Palmer	6-7	Jr.	8.9	5.5	Marshall, Mo.	JC transfer averaging 14.3 ppg. in last six games; career high 20 vs. Temple
14	F	Simplice Njoya	6-10	So.	7.5	4.8	Yaound?, Cameroon	Six-ten forward is 7-of-15 from behind the 3-point arc this season
41	C	Ron Dokes	6-9	Jr.	10.9	4.9	South Bend, Ind.	JC transfer is 3rd on team in scoring; shooting 48.9% from the field
44	G	Jimmy Tricco	6-8	Jr.	11.1	3.6	Phoenix, Ariz.	Gonzaga transfer has hit at least five or more "3's" in a game three times this season
22	G	Bryant McAllister	6-3	Fr.	7.4	2.1	Pittsburgh, Pa.	True freshman has started last eight games at the point guard spot

Off the bench

#	P	Name	Ht	Yr	Pts	Reb	Hometown	Quick Facts
20	G	Kevin Forney	6-4	Sr.	12.9	3.7	Philadelphia, Pa.	Tied career high of 22 points in two of DU's last three games (at Saint Joseph's and at Dayton)
21	F	Brad Midgley	6-5	Sr.	5.5	2.7	Pittsburgh, Pa.	Team-high 101 games played; averaging 20.4 minutes per game
32	G	Tyler Bluemling	6-2	So.	2.2	1.2	Pittsburgh, Pa.	Played in all 28 g. last season; averaging 14.2 minutes per game as back-up PG
42	F/C	Chris Clark	6-10	Sr.	0.5	1.2	Toronto, Ontario	Second on team to Forney with 24 career starts
1	G	Aly Samabaly	6-3	So.	0.3	0.2	Bamako, Mali	Saw action in 23 games as a freshman; has played in six games this season

DUQUESNE QUICK NOTES

• Senior guard Kevin Forney leads the team with a 12.9 ppg. scoring average. He has scored in double digits in each of the Dukes' last 10 games. Forney, who leads the team with 55 career starts, has come off the bench in five of DU's last six games. The Philadelphia native started at Saint Joseph's and responded by tying his career high with 22 points vs. the Hawks (7-of-11 from the field) in his hometown. Scored 13 of his career high-tying 22 in the second half at Dayton (9-of-12 from the field). Forney is averaging 18.3 ppg. and shooting 70.4 % from the field (5-of-8 from the arc) and 92.3% (12-of-13) from the foul line in league play, Forney also leads the team with 21 steals.
• 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. The South Bend, Ind. native earned a spot on the FIU New Year's Classic All-Tournament team with 26 points and 13 rebounds (including 11 boards vs. St. Francis, N.Y.) in the two games. Dokes is shooting 48.9% from the field and 72.1% (38-of-51) from the free throw line.
• 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, has also reached the 20-point mark twice with 20 at George Mason and 20 (all in the second half) at Dayton. His career scoring high entering the season was 13 set at Boise State during his sophomore season at Gonzaga. The Phoenix native has hit five three-pointers in a game three times this season (5-of-10 vs. Cleveland State, 6-of-8 at George Mason and 6-of-8 at Dayton). 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. He matched that with six more threes (all in the second half) at Dayton. His 20 second-half points vs. the Flyers keyed a 20-point DU comeback. Tricco scored 15 of those points in a 5:34 span as the Dukes rallied from a 52-32 deficit to take a 72-71 lead with a minute left. He shot 34.8% (8-of-23) from the experimental 20'6" 3-point arc at San Juan and 98 of his 142 field goal attempts (69%) have come from beyond the 3-point arc. Tricco, who has a team-best 41 assists, has led the Dukes in assists a team high-tying six times. His put-back of his own miss with 2.5 seconds left in regulation forced overtime in DU's 71-68 win over Florida International in the championship game of the FIU New Years Classic
• JC transfer Elijah Palmer leads the team with a 5.5 rebound per game average; his 32 offensive boards are also a team best. Palmer exploded for 35 points and 18 rebounds in earning MVP at the FIU New Years Classic. He posted a double-double (18-10) vs. St. Francis, N.Y. and followed that with 17 points and 8 boards vs. Florida International then added 16 more vs. Maryland-Eastern Shore and a career-high 20 (8-of-13 including four dunks) vs. Temple. Palmer was 1-of-11 from the arc before hitting 3-of-3 three-pointers vs. FIU and has made seven of his last 13 3-point attempts. His lone double-digit scoring game prior to the FIU Classic was 13 vs. West Virginia. Palmer is averaging 11.7 ppg. in league play. He shot 38.5 percent (10-26) from the foul line in non-conference play but has rallied to convert 68.8 percent (11-16) of free throws in three A-10 games.
• Sophomore power forward Simplice Njoya posted his second career double-double with 15 points and 15 rebounds vs. Sacred Heart in the first game of the San Juan Shootout, and followed that with back-to-back scoreless outings vs. Troy State and Denver (0-of-9 in the two games). Njoya bounced back with 14 points on 6-of-9 shooting at Florida International and a career high-tying 17 points (5-of-9) vs. UMES. He also added a career high four steals vs. the Fighting Hawks. The 6-10 Cameroon native has been slowed by foul trouble, although he has fouled out just once, Njoya has finished nine other games with four fouls. He is shooting 46.7 percent (7-of-15) from the 3-point arc. Njoya has struggled early in conference play averaging 3.3 ppg. on 27.8% (5-of-18) shooting.
• Freshman point guard Bryant McAllister moved into the starting lineup prior to the San Juan Shootout (Dec. 20-22) and scored in double digits in his first four games as a starter. Cooled off with just nine points in three games before bouncing back to score 11 and add a team-high 5 assists vs. Temple. Handed out a season high seven assists (with two turnovers) at Dayton. The Pittsburgh native is shooting 45.7 percent from the field and 72.2 percent from the free throw line overall. He saw a streak of five consecutive double-digit scoring games snapped at FIU. McAllister was named Atlantic 10 Rookie of the Week for the week of Dec. 14-21 after averaging 15.3 ppg. in three games. He scored a season-high 19 points vs. Troy State ... has led the team in assists a team high-tying six times.
• Senior swingman Brad Midgley has come off the bench to be a major contributor for the Dukes. Th 6-5 Pittsburgh native is fourth on the team in assists (25) and is tied for second on the team with 18 steals in just over 20 minutes per game. He made his first start of the season (Palmer out with tendinitis in knee) vs. Mount St. Mary's. Midgley missed the FIU game with the flu, and played 15 minutes vs. Maryland-Eastern Shore while recovering.
• Duquesne is 2-0 in overtime this season. The Dukes are also 4-3 in games decided by five or fewer points, 3-1 when holding opponents under 60 points, 3-2 when forcing 20 or more turnovers, 3-1 when shooting over 50 percent and 3-1 when outrebounding opponents.

DUKES & RICHMOND

CATEGORY	UR	DUQ
Record	8-6	7-9
Streak	L1	L1
Last 10 g.	5-5	6-4
Scoring avg.	69.1	65.4
Opp. Scoring	62.4	70.4
Ppg. Margin	+6.6	-5.0
Field Goal %	.435	.447
Opp. FG %	.388	.428
Three-Pt. %	.358	* .388
Opp. 3-Pt. %	.330	.348
Free Throw %	.719	.664
Turnovers /g.	12.8	20.3
Opp. TO's /g.	15.7	16.3
TO Margin	+2.9	-4.0
Rebounds	34.9	33.4
Opp. Reb.	36.8	35.6
Reb. Margin	-1.9	-2.2
Steals /g.	6.4	7.3
Blocks /g.	4.7	3.8

* Leads Atlantic 10

SHOOTING STRAIGHT

Duquesne leads the Atlantic 10 in 3-point shooting at 38.8 percent through 16 games. The mark is made even more impressive when you include the fact that the Dukes were 17-of-48 (35.4%) from the experimental 20'6" arc in three games at the Puerto Rico Shootout. In all, four different DU players are shooting better than 40 percenf from the 3-point arc led by Forney's 48.6 percent. Duquesne's 3-point prowess is on pace to be the best in school history:

"TURNING" IT AROUND

Duquesne, which was averaging 21.2 turnovers per game at the start of league play, has taken some steps toward remedying that problem. After turning it over 14 times in the second half in a 76-56 loss at Saint Joseph's (24 for the game) the Dukes have posted back-to-back 14 and 11 turnover games in a 61-54 win over Temple and a 77-72 loss at Dayton. The Temple game marked the first time this season the Dukes had fewer turnovers than their opponent (16-14). DU also had fewer turnovers than Dayton (18-11). If fact, the Dukes had just one turnover in the last 13:15 minutes of the second half at Dayton while rallying from 20 points down to take a one-point lead. Duquesne is averaging 16.3 turnovers per game in league play.

AT HOME

Duquesne is 103-80 (.563) all time at the Palumbo Center, including a 48-18 mark (.727) in non-conference home games and a 50-58 (.463) record in regular-season Atlantic 10 games. The Dukes are 4-2 at home with wins over West Virginia, Youngstown State, Maryland-Eastern Shore & Temple. The 2002-03 home losses have come to Cleveland State and Mount St. Mary's.

XAVIER NEXT

Duquesne heads to Cincinnati to face #23 Xavier (11-4, 2-1 A10) on Tuesday, Jan. 21 at 7:30 p.m. EST. The Xavier game begins a stretch of three of four on the road for the Dukes [at Xavier, vs. St. Bonaventure (Sat. 1/25), at Richmond (Tues. 1/28) and at George Washington (Sat. 2/1)].