Dec. 10, 2003
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DUQUESNE (2-2) at WEST VIRGINIA (3-2)
Saturday, Dec. 13, 2003 - 7:00 p.m. (EST)
Morgantown, W.V. -- WVU Coliseum (14,000)TELEVISION: None
DUQUESNE RADIO: KQV-AM (1410) with Ray Goss & George Von Benko
INTERNET BROADCAST: www.redzonemedia.com
DUKES HIT ROAD FOR FIRST TIME THIS SEASON
Duquesne (2-2) hits the road for the first time this season to face West Virginia on Sat., Dec. 13 (7:00 p.m.) at WVU Coliseum. The Dukes, who defeated Loyola 70-61 in their last game (Dec. 6), are in the middle of final exams which run from Dec. 10-16. West Virginia (3-2) is coming off a third-place finish at the BB&T Classic at Washington, D.C. where they were defeated by George Washington of the Atlantic 10 (70-64) and defeated Maryland (78-77 in OT) on Dec. 6 & 7. The Mountaineers are 0-1 at home this season.
DUKES AND MOUNTAINEERS
This is the 79th meeting between Duquesne and West Virginia ... it also marks the 31st consecutive season (since 1973-74) the Dukes and Mountaineers have met at least once on the hardwood ... WVU leads the series, which dates back to Jan. 30, 1915, 42-36 ... DU has won four of the last five meetings ... in 1998-99, the Dukes defeated the Mountaineers 59-50 at the Palumbo Center and followed that with a 94-80 win at Wheeling, W.Va. in a game that was moved due to asbestos abatement at WVU Coliseum ... in 2000-01, Duquesne -- which returned from a tournament at Hawaii the afternoon before the game -- dropped an 81-73 decision to West Virginia at the Palumbo Center ... two year's ago DU snapped a 22-game road and 18-game arena losing streak with a 68-61 win at WVU Coliseum ... last year DU took an 86-82 decision at the Palumbo Center ... WVU leads 28-12 in games played at Morgantown ... The last time Duquesne defeated West Virginia three consecutive times was during a four-game streak from Feb. 2, 1937 through Jan. 7, 1942 ... it also marked the last time DU took two in a row at Morgantown.
MOST FREQUENT ALL-TIME OPPONENTS
OPPONENT G SERIES
St. Bonaventure 91 47-44West Virginia 78 36-42Pittsburgh 72 31-41
DUQUESNE UNIVERSITY TENTATIVE STARTERS VS. PITT| # | P | Name | Ht | Yr | Pts | Reb | G/GS | Hometown | Quick Facts |
| 4 | F | Elijah Palmer | 6-7 | Sr. | 15.3 | 8.0 | 4/4 | Marshall, Mo. | Team leading scorer and rebounder; shooting 50% from the field |
| 41 | C | Ron Dokes | 6-8 | Sr. | 8.0 | 2.8 | 4/4 | South Bend, Ind. | Scored a career-high 29 points vs. WVU last year (13-18 from line) |
| 44 | G | Jimmy Tricco | 6-8 | Sr. | 12.5 | 2.8 | 4/4 | Phoenix, Ariz. | Scored team high 16 points, including 4-of-6 3-pointers vs. Loyola |
| 22 | G | Bryant McAllister | 6-3 | So. | 8.3 | 3.0 | 4/3 | Pittsburgh, Pa. | Came back from ankle injury to score 14 (10-14 FT) vs. Loyola |
| 5 | F | Martin Osimani | 6-4 | Jr. | 4.0 | 3.3 | 4/4 | Montevideo, Uruguay | Transfer from Miami-Dade CC; leads team with 17 asts. (4.25/g.) |
OFF THE BENCH| # | P | Name | Ht | Yr | Pts | Reb | G/GS | Hometown | Quick Facts |
| 33 | F | Jon Pawlak | 6-9 | Jr. | 6.8 | 3.3 | 4/1 | Natrona Heights, Pa. | Made second career start vs. Pitt; averaging 20.5 minutes/g. |
| 20 | G | Ryan Tricco | 6-4 | So. | 5.3 | 1.5 | 4/0 | Phoenix, Ariz. | First-year transfer (Mesa CC); team-high 10 pts. off bench vs. Pitt |
| 42 | C | Kieron Achara | 6-9 | Fr. | 3.0 | 4.3 | 4/0 | Stirling, Scotland | Second on team with a 4.3 rebounds per game average Institute |
| 32 | G | Tyler Bluemling | 6-2 | Jr. | 1.5 | 0.5 | 4/0 | Pittsburgh, Pa. | Has played in 53 career games; averaging 9.0 minutes per game |
| 23 | G | Jack Higgins | 6-5 | So. | ---- | ---- | ---- | Pittsburgh, Pa. | Transfer from Cleveland St. will be eligible at mid-term (Dec. 17) |
DUQUESNE LATELY
DU rallied from a two-game 10-of-47 (21.3%) 3-point shooting slump to hit 5-of-11 from the arc vs. Loyola ... junior F Elijah Palmer leads the Dukes in both scoring (15.3) and rebounding (8.0) ... he is averaging 9.3 rpg. in DU's last three games ... 6-9 freshman C Kieron Achara ranks second on the team in rebounding (4.3 rpg.) in an average of 15.3 minutes per game ... the Scotland native scored a season-high 7 vs. Loyola ... DU is averaging 12.5 turnovers/g., down considerably from last year's Atlantic 10-leading 18.9/g. ... the Dukes' primary ballhandlers: PG Martin Osimani, 2G Bryant McAllister and SF Jimmy Tricco have combined for just 17 turnovers in three games (4.25/g.) ... Tricco, who is coming off a 16-point outing vs. Loyola (4-6 3-pointers), has turned it over just 3 times in a team-high 127 minutes.
MORE MOUNTAINEERS
WVU tied a school record with 13 3-pointers (13-of-26) in the 78-77 overtime win over Maryland ... the Mountaineers led by 16 with under 14 minutes left in the game ... Penn Hills HS product Drew Schifino leads WVU with a 19.8 ppg. scoring average ... he has scored in double digits in his last 43 games dating back to his freshman season ... Schifino, who scored a career high 33 vs. the Dukes last season (25 in the second half), is the only Mountaineer averaging in double figures ... six-eleven JC transfer D'or Fischer ranks among the nation's leaders with a 4.0 blocks per game average (20 in five games) ... WVU is 0-1 at home with a 91-84 loss to Northeastern on Nov. 29 ... the Mountaineers are being outrebounded by a 42.6-32.8 margin (-9.8/g.) ... West Virginia is averaging just under 20 3-point attempts per game.
NOTES FROM THE LAST TRIP TO MORGANTOWN
Duquesne's 68-61 victory at West Virginia on Dec. 19, 2001 snapped a 22-game Dukes' road losing streak ... the win also ended an 18-game Duquesne losing streak at WVU Coliseum ... DU's last Coliseum win prior to 2001 was on Feb. 6, 1980 ... the Dukes played without scholarship players 6-10 Simplice Njoya (withheld pending an NCAA investigation) and 6-10 Chris Clark (awaiting first term grades) ... the Dukes played with just one player taller than 6-7 (6-9 Jon Pawlak) and just eight scholarship players ... Duquesne will be attempting to do something that hasn't been done since Feb. 2, 1937 (48-40) & Mar. 8, 1941 (51-35) -- that is to win two in a row at Morgantown.
NEE VS. WVU
Danny Nee is 2-2 all time vs. West Virginia with both wins coming at Duquesne. The first meeting came during the 1980-81 season, Nee's first as head coach at Ohio University, and the second coming three year's ago when Nee was at Robert Morris. The first encounter, which was Nee's third game as a head coach, the Mountaineers defeated the Bobcats 69-61 at Morgantown. Nee's '81 Ohio squad went on to finish 7-20, while the 1980-81 Mountaineers, under third-year head coach Gale Catlett, ended the year 23-10 and advanced to the NIT semifinals. In 2000-01, WVU defeated Nee's Robert Morris team by a 77-56 count at Morgantown. Two year's ago, Nee ended his personal two-game skid by guiding the Dukes to a 68-61 win at WVU Coliseum and followed that with an 86-82 win at the Palumbo Center last year.
'TIS BETTER TO GIVE
With the holiday season upon us, Duquesne has been very much into the act of giving. Through four games, DU has assisted on 54 of 86 field goals (62.8%) while turning it over 50 times. Although the 54-to-50 assist-to-turnover ratio is not staggering, it is a step in the right direction for the Dukes who posted more assists than turnovers just four times in 30 games last season in leading the Atlantic 10 with 18.9 turnovers per game. So far this season, DU has yet to have more turnovers than assists in a game. One of the key reasons for the turnaround is JC transfer point guard Martin Osimani. Osimani, who played in 28 games for Utah before transferring to Miami-Dade CC last year has either led the team or tied for the team lead in assists in the four games DU has played. He begins the week averaging 4.25 assists per game (17 asts., 10 turnovers in four g.).
ASSIST/TURNOVER COMPARISON
Year Assists/g. TOs/g. +/-2002-03 12.6 18.9 -6.32003-04 13.5 12.5 +1.0
SECOND HALF SPUTTER
Duquesne, which has outscored opponents 128-99 in the first half, is being outscored by a margin of 156-132 in the second 20 minutes (an average of +14.2 ppg.). In addition, opponents are shooting nearly 12 percent better from the field in the second half (34.9% to 46.8%):
Points/H. 1st H 2nd H Diff. TotalDuquesne 32.0 33.0 +1.0 65.0Opponent 24.8 39.0 +14.2 63.8
