Feb. 7, 2003
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LA SALLE (9-10, 3-5) at DUQUESNE (7-15, 1-8)
Saturday, Feb. 8, 2003 - 4:00 p.m. (EST)
Pittsburgh, PA
A.J. Palumbo Center (6,200)TELEVISION: Atlantic 10 TV Network with Scott Graham & John Griffin
(Fox Sports Net Pittsburgh locally)
DUQUESNE RADIO: KQV-AM (1410) with Ray Goss & George Von Benko
INTERNET BROADCAST: www.redzonemedia.com
DUKES HOSTS LA SALLE
Duquesne (7-15, 1-8), who is coming off a tough 76- 75 loss to Dayton on Wednesday, completes its brief two-game homestand against La Salle at 4:00 m. on Saturday, Feb. 8 (Atlantic 10 TV - Fox Sports Net Pittsburgh locally; KQV-AM 1410 radio & internet broadcast at www.redzonemedia.com).
Saturday's game is "Danny Nee Bobblehead Night #2." Miniature replicas of DU's head coach will be given to the first 1,000 in attendance, courtesy of Morreale Chiropractic.
In addition, three former outstanding Duquesne student-athletes, Dan DeFelice (football class of '81), Korie Hlede (basketball class of '98) and Katie Michalski (volleyball class of '96), will be inducted into the Duquesne Athletics Hall of Fame during halftime. For more information, please click here.
The Dukes will be looking to end a seven-game losing streak against a La Salle team that is hitting the road for the first time in three weeks.
La Salle (9-10, 3-5), who defeated Fordham 74-61 at home on Wednesday, last played outside of Philadelphia on Jan. 18 at St. Bonaventure. The Explorers, 2-6 on the road this season (0-3 in the A-10), are led by a trio of freshmen: 6-4 guard Gary Neal (17.5 ppg., 55 three-pointers), who is this week's Atlantic 10 Rookie of the Week; 6-8 forward Steven Smith (14.2 ppg, 7.8 rpg) and 6-2 guard Jermaine Thomas (12.4 ppg., 88 assists).
Duquesne rallied from a 14-point second half deficit only to fall short in the loss to Dayton. Freshman Bryant McAllister led five Dukes in double figures with a career high-tying 19 points. Elijah Palmer (left) added 15 points and nine rebounds, Kevin Forney chipped in 14 points, Simplice Njoya 13 and Brad Midgley 11.
DUQUESNE UNIVERSITY TENTATIVE STARTERS| # | P | Name | Ht | Yr | Pts | Reb | Hometown | Quick Facts |
| 4 | F | Elijah Palmer | 6-7 | Jr. | 8.8 | 5.4 | Marshall, Mo. | JC transfer coming off 15 point outing vs. Dayton (6-9 from the floor with three dunks) |
| 14 | F | Simplice Njoya | 6-10 | So. | 7.8 | 4.9 | Yaound?, Cameroon | Scored 17 last year at La Salle; 13 points (6-10 from line) vs. Dayton |
| 41 | C | Ron Dokes | 6-9 | Jr. | 10.3 | 5.2 | South Bend, Ind. | JC transfer has scored in double digits 12 times |
| 44 | G | Jimmy Tricco | 6-8 | Jr. | 10.3 | 3.4 | Phoenix, Ariz. | Gonzaga transfer has hit at least five or more "3's" in a game four times this season |
| 22 | G | Bryant McAllister | 6-3 | Fr. | 7.5 | 2.1 | Pittsburgh, Pa. | True freshman tied his career high with 19 points (6-8 from the floor) vs. Dayton |
Off the bench| # | P | Name | Ht | Yr | Pts | Reb | Hometown | Quick Facts |
| 20 | G | Kevin Forney | 6-4 | Sr. | 13.1 | 3.6 | Philadelphia, Pa. | Shooting 49.8% from field and 47.1% from behind the 3-point arc (23-49) |
| 21 | F | Brad Midgley | 6-5 | Sr. | 5.8 | 2.9 | Pittsburgh, Pa. | Team-high 107 games played; averaging 21.1 minutes per game |
| 32 | G | Tyler Bluemling | 6-2 | So. | 1.8 | 1.0 | Pittsburgh, Pa. | Played in all 28 games last season; averaging 6.9 minutes per game in A-10 play |
| 42 | F/C | Chris Clark | 6-10 | Sr. | 0.7 | 1.2 | Toronto, Ontario | Averaging 8.0 minutes per game as a back-up center |
| 1 | G | Aly Samabaly | 6-3 | So. | 0.4 | 0.7 | Bamako, Mali | Saw action in 23 games as a freshman; has yet to commit a turnover this season |
DUKES VS. EXPLORERS
La Salle leads the overall series 27-23. In games in Pittsburgh, Duquesne holds a 16-7 edge, while at Philadelphia La Salle leads 19-5. And at neutral sites DU leads 2-1.
The home team had won 12 in a row (six each) in the series until La Salle ended the streak with a 62- 54 win at the Palumbo Center last year. The Explorers also won the rematch in Philadelphia (79- 69) marking the first season sweep by either school since La Salle joined the A-10 in 1995-96.
The 50 game Duquesne/La Salle series dates back to Feb. 10, 1940.
DUQUESNE LATELY
- DU had arguably the toughest league opening schedule of any Atlantic 10 school. In the month of January, the Dukes faced the six A-10 schools that made post-season appearances last year a total of seven times.
- As a team, the Dukes are converting an A-10 best 37.8% from behind the three-point arc. The mark is on pace to be the best in school history (the current mark of 37.5% was set in 1989- 90).
- Duquesne is 5-2 when holding opponents under 70 points.
- Five Dukes scored in double figures in Wednesday's 76-75 loss to Dayton, led by freshman point guard Bryant McAllister who posted a career high-tying 19. This was the first time this season that five Duquesne players scored 10 or more in a game.
- The Dukes, beaten on the boards in 12 of its first 16 games, has outrebounded three of its last six opponents.
OLD FRIENDS
This is the third meeting between Duquesne head coach Danny Nee and his former assistant Billy Hahn. Hahn, who is in his second season as head coach at La Salle, was a member of Nee's staff at Ohio University for six seasons from 1980-81 through 1985-86. Hahn succeeded Nee as the head coach at Ohio after Nee left to take the top spot at Nebraska. Following a three-year stint at the helm of the Bobcats, Hahn went on to spend 12 seasons as an assistant to Gary Williams at Maryland.
AT HOME
Duquesne is 103-82 (.557) all time at the Palumbo Center, including a 48- 18 mark (.727) in non-conference home games and a 50-60 (.455) record in regular-season Atlantic 10 games.
This season, the Dukes are 4-4 at home with wins over West Virginia, Youngstown State, Maryland-Eastern Shore & Temple. The home losses have come to Cleveland State, Mount St. Mary's, Richmond and St. Bonaventure.
SHOOTING STRAIGHT
Duquesne leads the Atlantic 10 in 3-point shooting at 37.8 percent. That 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 at 40 percent or better from the 3-point arc led by Kevin Forney's 47.1 percent.
Duquesne's 3-point prowess is on pace to be the best in school history.
DUQUESNE'S TOP 3-POINT SHOOTING SEASONS | PCT | 3M-AT | YEAR | TOP 3-POINT SHOOTER |
| 37.8 | 125-331 | 2002-03 | Kevin Forney (47.1%) |
| 37.5 | 162-432 | 1989-90 | Tony Petrarca (40.0%) |
| 37.3 | 139-373 | 1991-92 | James Hargrove (39.7%) |
| 36.7 | 176-479 | 1996-97 _ | Tom Pipkins (42.5%) |
| 36.6 | 37-101 | * 1982-83 | Terry Teachout (45.2%) |
| 36.4 | 166-456 | 1995-96 | Nick Bosnic (40.6%) |
* The 3-point arc was experimental in 1982-83, it was adopted by the NCAA for the 1986-87 season.
"BUZZ" WORTHY
Since moving from point guard to the shooting guard spot prior to the San Juan Shootout, senior guard Kevin "Buzzy" Forney has been a much more effective player at the offensive end. As a two-guard, Forney is averaging 5.0 more points per game and has seen his shooting percentage increase dramatically.
| FORNEY | FG-AT | PCT | PPG |
| First 7 games | 24-55 | .436 | 9.7 |
| Last 15 games | 79-152 | .520 | 14.7 |
The Philadelphia native enters the La Salle game with 985 career points. He needs 15 to become Duquesne's 29th 1,000-point scorer and tie DU All-American Chuck Cooper (1947-50).
DUKES & EXPLORERS
| Category | La Salle | Duquesne |
| Record | 9-10 | 7-15 |
| Streak _ | W1 | L7 |
| Last 10 g. | 4-6 | 2-8 |
| Scoring avg. | 70.0 | 65.1 |
| Opp. Scoring | 70.4 | 73.1 |
| Ppg. Margin | -0.4 | -8.0 |
| Field Goal % | .416 | .438 |
| Opp. FG % | .408 | .447 |
| Three-Pt. % | .345 | .378 |
| Opp. 3-Pt. % | .319 | .384 |
| Free Throw % | .725 | .672 |
| Turnovers /g. | 15.3 | 19.2 |
| Opp. TO's /g. | 15.1 | 15.2 |
| TO Margin | -0.2 | -4.0 |
| Rebounds | 35.6 | 33.3 |
| Opp. Reb. | 37.2 | 35.0 |
| Reb. Margin | -1.6 | -1.7 |
| Steals /g. | 6.5 | 6.6 |
| Blocks /g. | 2.2 | 3.6 |
NEXT
The Dukes are off for a week before traveling to Ney York for an interdivisional matchup with Fordham (2-18, 1-8) on Saturday, Feb. 15 at 1:00 p.m.
