Dec. 21, 2003
Complete Release in PDF Format
Download Free Acrobat Reader
DUQUESNE (2-5) at MINNESOTA (5-2)
Monday, Dec. 22, 2003 - 8:00 p.m. (EST)
Minneapolis, Minn. -- Williams Arena (14,625)TELEVISION: Victory Sports One (Minneapolis viewing area)
DUQUESNE RADIO: KQV-AM (1410) with Ray Goss & George Von Benko
INTERNET BROADCAST: www.redzonemedia.com
DUKES HEAD TO MINNEAPOLIS
Duquesne (2-5), coming off an 80-70 loss to George Mason on Saturday, heads to Minneapolis to face the Big Ten's Minnesota Golden Gophers at 8:00 p.m. (EST) on Monday, Dec. 22. The game marks Duquesne's first appearance in the state of Minnesota in the 88-year history of the program. The Dukes, who are looking to end a three-game losing streak, are 0-2 on the road this season with overtime losses at West Virginia and Akron.
Minnesota is 5-2 on the season, including a perfect 5-0 mark at Williams Arena. This is UM's first game since a 100-80 win over Oral Roberts on Dec. 12.
Following the Minnesota game, DU will break for Christmas before returning to the court for home games vs. Robert Morris (Dec. 28) and Cornell (Dec. 31).
DUQUESNE LATELY
The losses during Duquesne's current 3-game streak have been by a combined total of 17 points, with two coming in overtime ... DU has averaged 18.7 turnovers during the streak ... the Dukes opened the season with just 50 turnovers in their first four games (12.5/g.) ... Bryant McAllister has scored 38 points (19.0 ppg.) on 14-of-27 shooting (51.9%) in DU's last two games ... senior F Elijah Palmer hit all nine of his field goal attempts in scoring 20 vs. George Mason on Saturday ... he is shooting a team-best 58.3 percent from the field ... PG Martin Osimani's 5.71 assist per game average is the best by a Duquesne player since Norm Nixon averaged 5.93 apg. as a senior in 1976-77 ... 6-5 soph. G Jack Higgins, a 2003 mid-term transfer from Cleveland State, made his DU debut vs. George Mason with 2 points and 2 assists in 5 second-half minutes ... freshman Kieron Achara scored a season-high 8 points in 14 minutes off the bench vs. GMU.
DUQUESNE UNIVERSITY TENTATIVE STARTERS| # | P | Name | Ht | Yr | Pts | Reb | G/GS | Hometown | Quick Facts |
| 4 | F | Elijah Palmer | 6-7 | Sr. | 16.0 | 7.9 | 7.7 | Marshall, Mo. | Team leading scorer and rebounder; shooting 58.3% from the field |
| 41 | C | Ron Dokes | 6-8 | Sr. | 7.1 | 3.6 | 7/7 | South Bend, Ind. | Tied for third on team with 19 career double-digit scoring games (two this year) |
| 44 | G | Jimmy Tricco | 6-8 | Sr. | 12.6 | 3.3 | 7/7 | Phoenix, Ariz. | Has hit four 3-pointers in a game four times |
| 22 | G | Bryant McAllister | 6-3 | So. | 10.7 | 2.9 | 7/6 | Pittsburgh, Pa. | Averaging 19 ppg. in DU's last 2 g. (21 at Akron & 17 vs. GMU) |
| 5 | F | Martin Osimani | 6-4 | Jr. | 4.4 | 3.1 | 7/7 | Montevideo, Uruguay | Transfer from Miami-Dade CC; leads team with 40 assists (5.7/g.) |
OFF THE BENCH| # | P | Name | Ht | Yr | Pts | Reb | G/GS | Hometown | Quick Facts |
| 33 | F | Jon Pawlak | 6-9 | Jr. | 7.7 | 3.7 | 7/1 | Natrona Heights, Pa. | Career high 19 points at WVU; averaging 20.7 minutes/g. |
| 20 | G | Ryan Tricco | 6-4 | So. | 4.1 | 2.0 | 7/0 | Phoenix, Ariz. | First-year transfer (Mesa CC); team-high 10 pts. off bench vs. Pitt |
| 42 | C | Kieron Achara | 6-9 | Fr. | 3.7 | 3.4 | 7/0 | Stirling, Scotland | Coming off season-high 8 point outing (14 min.) vs. George Mason |
| 32 | G | Tyler Bluemling | 6-2 | Jr. | 0.9 | 0.3 | 7/0 | Pittsburgh, Pa. | Has played in 57 career games; averaging 7.7 minutes per game |
| 23 | G | Jack Higgins | 6-5 | So. | 2.0 | 1.0 | 1/0 | Pittsburgh, Pa. | Transfer from Cleveland State; made first appearance vs. GMU |
THE SERIES VS. MINNESOTA
This is the is the first meeting between Duquesne and Minnesota ... the Dukes, who are in their 88th season of basketball (2,038 total games), will be playing their first game ever in the state of Minnesota ... it is also DU's first game against a school from the Land of 10,000 Lakes.
DU AGAINST THE BIG TEN
Duquesne is 3-13 against Big Ten schools with 14 of the 16 meetings coming either on the road or at a neutral site ... the last time a Big Ten team faced DU in Pittsburgh was on Dec. 10, 1971 (an 80-75 win over Iowa at the Civic Arena), the other was in 1939 (a 51-49 loss to Indiana at Pitt Stadium) ... the Dukes have yet to win in eight tries on the home court of a Big Ten team (see box on page two) ... Duquesne's last win over a Big Ten school came on Dec. 28, 1973 when Red Manning's Dukes defeated Illinois 85-83 in the consolation game of the Holiday Festival at Madison Square Garden ... since that game, DU has dropped six in a row to Big Ten schools.
MORE ON MINNESOTA
Minnesota, which is off to a 5-2 start, has been off since a 100-80 win over Oral Roberts on Dec. 12 ... all five UM wins have come at home: 78-67 over Missouri-Kansas City, 91-84 in OT over Furman, 86-64 over Western Illinois, 88-58 over Long Beach State and 100-80 over Oral Roberts ... the two losses came at Utah (66-54) in the second round of the Preseason NIT and at Virginia (86-78) ... the Golden Gophers have been led by all-everything freshman forward Kris Humphries ... the 6-9, 236-pound Chaska, Minn. native, who was released from a national letter of intent from Duke in late May, is averaging 24.4 points and 11.4 rebounds per game for the hometown Golden Gophers ... his low scoring game this season was 14 vs. Western Illinois ... Humphries played just 29 minutes in the 22-point win ... he has led the team in scoring and rebounding in five of seven games ... he is the first freshman in Big Ten history to earn Player of the Week honors in two of the first three weeks and only the eighth first-year player to collect two or more weekly honors in a season ... 6-3 senior guard Ben Johnson (13.3 ppg.) and 6-5 junior guard Maurice Hargrow (13.3 ppg.) are Minnesota's other double digit scorers ... the Golden Gophers are coached by Dan Monson who is in his fifth season at UM.
ON THE ROAD
Duquesne went 2-11 on the road last season with a 71-68 overtime win at Florida International in the title game of the FIU New Year's Classic and a 74-65 A-10 win at Fordham on Feb. 15. In head coach Danny Nee's first season, the Dukes snapped a 22-game road losing streak with a 68-61 win at West Virginia, and a 20-game Atlantic 10 road skid with a 72-69 win at Rhode Island. Last year, the Dukes erased a 20-point second half deficit to take a one-point lead over Dayton with a minute left in a 77-72 loss and led at La Salle with 2:15 remaining in a 71-66 defeat. The Dukes are 0-2 on the road this season with overtime losses at West Virginia (88-84) on Dec. 13 and at Akron (64-61) on Dec. 17. DU has yet to defeat three current A-10 members on the road: Dayton (0-8), La Salle (0-8) and Richmond (0-2). DU's top road victims in league play are: Rhode Island (8 wins, 2001-02 last), St. Bonaventure (7 wins, 1997-98 last), George Washington (6 wins, 1999-00 last) and UMass (5 wins, 1988-89 last).
