Jan. 7, 2003

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TELEVISION: None
DUQUESNE RADIO: KQV-AM (1410) with Ray Goss & George Von Benko
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DUKES RETURN HOME TO FACE TEMPLE

Duquesne, who opened the Atlantic 10 season with a 76-56 loss at Saint Joseph's on Sunday, returns home to face Temple (3-8, 1-0) on Wednesday, Jan. 8 at 7:30 p.m. (KQV-AM 1410, internet broadcast at www.redzonemedia.com).

The Dukes, who began the season 1-5, saw a three-game winning streak snapped in the loss at Saint Joe's. DU trailed by 17 with just over two minutes left in the first half but was able to cut the lead to two with 14:36 to go before Saint Joseph's took control with a 16-2 run aided by eight Duquesne turnovers. Philadelphia native Kevin Forney went 7-of-11 from the field in leading the Dukes with a career high-tying 22 points.

Temple the preseason pick to win the Atlantic 10 East, opened league play with a 68-65 home win over George Washington on Sunday. The Owls were lead by junior guard David Hawkins' 22 points. Hawkins, a preseason second team All-Atlantic 10 pick, enters the Duquesne game needing 22 points to reach 1,000 for his career.

DUKES vs. OWLS

Temple leads the overall series 32-11, including a 12-6 edge in games played at Pittsburgh. The Owls have won the last eight meetings, including the last three in Pittsburgh. DU's last series win was on Jan. 30, 1995 at Temple by a 62-55 count. The Dukes last home win over the Owls was on Jan. 10 of that same season (64-62).

Last year, the Owls went 15-of-32 (46.9%) from the 3-point arc in defeating the Dukes 85-48 at the Liacouras Center. The Dukes went 19-51 from the field (37.3%), including 8-of-30 (26.7%) from the arc in the loss.

This is Duquesne head coach Danny Nee's second career game against Temple and Hall of Fame Coach John Chaney.

DUQUESNE UNIVERSITY TENTATIVE STARTERS

NO SHORT CUTS

DU has perhaps the toughest league-opening schedule of any Atlantic 10 school. In the month of January, Duquesne faces the six A-10 schools that made post-season appearances last year a total of seven times in succession beginning at Saint Joseph's (NIT). Here is the rest of the January slate: Temple (NIT), at Dayton (NIT), Richmond (NIT), at Xavier (NCAA), St. Bonaventure (NIT) and Richmond again on the road.

All totaled, the Dukes will play three at home and four on the road in the month of January against the league's best.

DUQUESNE LATELY

• Philadelphia native G Kevin Forney tied his career high with 22 points at Saint Joseph's on Sunday. Forney, who scored 15 in the second half, hit 7-of-11 shots from the field. He has scored in double digits a team-high 11 times this season.
• DU's opponents are shooting 39.7 percent from the field (181-456) and 32.1 percent (52-162) from the 3-point arc over the last 8 games. The Dukes are 5-3 over that span.
• Duquesne continues to struggle with turnovers, averaging 21.4 over the first 14 games. Still, the Dukes are 4-4 this season when turning it over 20 or more times.
• DU has used six different starting lineups in its last nine games. Junior Jimmy Tricco is the only player to have started every game this season. Tricco has already started at shooting guard (nine times), small forward (three times) and power forward (twice).
• This is just DU's second home game since Dec. 18 (a span of 20 days).

TURNOVER TROUBLES

Duquesne has been plagued by turnovers in the early season. Through 14 games, the Dukes are averaging 21.4 miscues per game with a high of 35 at Maryland and a "low" of 16 vs. Mount St. Mary's. None of the team's regulars has a positive assist-to-turnover ratio.

Have fewer turnovers translated to victories? Not exactly. DU has averaged 21.2 turnovers per game in its six wins and 21.6 turnovers per game in its seven losses.

"If we could just control the turnovers, we'd be a much better basketball team," said DU head coach Danny Nee following the Dukes' 24-turnover outing at Saint Joseph's. "They can be corrected with a little more toughness and a little more concentration."

Duquesne has turned it over a total of 52 times in its last two games (28 in a win over Maryland-Eastern Shore and 24 in the loss at Saint Joseph's.

BACKCOURT MOVE MAKES A DIFFERENCE

Duquesne head coach Danny Nee inserted freshman Bryant McAllister into the starting lineup at the point guard spot for the San Juan Shootout and the move has paid immediate dividends, especially for senior guard Kevin Forney. Since the move (a span of seven games), Forney, who had started the first seven games of the season at the point, has averaged 15.0 points and shot 48.1 percent (39-of-81) from the field. McAllister, who scored in double digits in his first four career starts has cooled off as of late with nine in his last three games.

Both were honored for their efforts since the move as McAllister was named the Atlantic 10 Rookie of the Week for the week of Dec. 14-21 and Forney was named to the San Juan Shootout (Dec. 20-22) All-Tournament Team.

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. 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 50.5% from the field and 74.5% (38-of-51) from the free throw line. He is currently battling an injured shoulder that limited him to 21 minutes of action vs. UMES.
• 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 with 20 at George Mason. 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. Tricco has led the Dukes in scoring three times and assists six times in 13 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 a game twice this season (5-of-10 vs. Cleveland State and 6-of-8 at George Mason). He shot 34.8% (8-of-23) from the experimental 20'6" 3-point arc at San Juan. 80 of his 118 field goal attempts (67.8%) 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 contributor for the Dukes. The 6-5 Pittsburgh native is tied for third on the team in assists (21) and is second on the team with 17 steals in just over 21 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 just 15 minutes vs. UMES while still recovering from the virus.
• 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). Hounced back with 14 points on 6-of-9 shooting at Florida International and a career high-tying 17 points (5-of-9) vs. UMES and 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 eight other games with four fouls.
• JC transfer Elijah 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 he talied 16 more points vs. Maryland-Eastern Shore. Palmer , who missed the Mount St. Mary's game due to tendinitis in his left knee, is second on the team with 24 offensive rebounds. His 5.6 overall rpg. average leads the squad. The junior was 1-of-11 from the arc before hitting 3-of-3 three-pointers vs. FIU and 2-of-3 from behind the arc vs. UMES. His lone double-digit scoring game prior to the FIU Classic was 13 vs. West Virginia.
• Freshman point guard Bryant McAllister moved into the starting lineup prior to the San Juan Shootout (Dec. 20-22) and and scored in double digits in his first four games as a starter. He has cooled off as of late with just nine points in DU's last three games (3-of-13 from the field over that span) and is shooting 46.8 percent from the field and 71.9 percent from the free throw line overall. Saw a streak of five consecutive double-digit scoring games snapped at FIU. The Pittsburgh native 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 and has led the team in assists four times.
• Senior guard Kevin Forney leads the team with a 12.4 ppg. scoring average. The Philadelphia native has scored in double digits in each of the Dukes' last eightn games. Forney, who leads the team with 55 career starts, has come off the bench to score 41 points prior to starting at Saint Joseph's where he responded by tying his career high with 22 points vs. the Hawks (7-of-11 from the field). He also leads the team with 19 steals.

HIGGINS THE NEWEST DUKE

Six-five guard Jack Higgins, who graduated from Pittsburgh's Schenley High School in 2001, transferred to Duquesne from Cleveland State over the Christmas break.

Higgins, who was the 2001 Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and Pittsburgh Tribune-Review City League Player of the Year, played in each of CSU's first five games this season. He averaged 3.0 points and 1.2 rebounds per game with a high scoring game of five points vs. Indiana-Purdue Fort Wayne.

Higgins, who led Schenley to its first PIAA state final since 1978 as a prepster, will be eligible to play for the Dukes following the fall 2003 semester. He will have 2.5 years of eligibility remaining.

ROSTER MOVES

• Walk on guard Jeremy Conley, a record-setting All-American wide receiver for Duquesne's nationally ranked I-AA Mid-Major football team, did not rejoin 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's practice squad in mid-December. Conley, an elementary education major, is spending the winter and spring student-teaching at Pittsburgh's Perry Traditional Academy to complete his undergraduate degree.
• Junior center Derek Ahern left the Duquesne basketball team on Jan. 2. The 6-11, 260-pound Maryland native played in one of the Dukes' first 13 games, scoring two points in four minutes at Maryland on Nov. 30.

AT DAYTON AND A-10 NEXT

Duquesne makes its Atlantic 10 Television Network debut on Saturday, Jan. 11 at Dayton (Noon EST). DU's next home game is Saturday, Jan. 18 vs. Richmond (4:00 p.m. EST). The Richmond game will also be televised as part of the Atlantic 10 package. A-10 TV games may be seen locally on Fox Sports Net Pittsburgh.