Jan. 16, 2004

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

DUKES CONCLUDE FOUR-GAME HOMESTAND

Duquesne (6-8, 1-2) concludes a four-game homestand vs. Massachusetts (5-9, 0-3) on Sunday, Jan. 18. The game, scheduled for a 12:05 tip, will be televised as part of the Atlantic 10 Network (Fox Sports Net Pittsburgh locally). Duquesne, which is 6-4 at home this season, is coming off a 71-58 win over Xavier on Wednesday. Two of the Dukes' four home losses have come to ranked teams (then-#22 Pitt and then #9 Saint Joseph's). Elijah Palmer led the Dukes with 19 points in the win over Xavier. Massachusetts, which is 0-4 on the road, lost at St. Bonaventure, 77-71 on Wednesday night. The Minutemen come to Pittsburgh looking to snap a five-game losing streak. DU has never defeated Xavier and UMass in the same A10 season (XU joined the league in 1995-96).

THE DUKE IS BACK

'The Duke,' Duquesne's longtime mascot who returned to Palumbo last year after a 10-year hiatus at his duchy in Menneville, France, will be giving out bobblehead dolls of himself on Sunday. The dolls are free to the first 500 fans through the gate.

DUKES vs. MINUTEMEN

Massachusetts leads the overall series 29-19 ... the regular-season series has been one of home court advantage with UMass leading 16-5 at home and DU holding a 12-9 advantage at Pittsburgh ... Duquesne snapped a 16-game series losing streak with a 78-69 win over the Minutemen in UMass' last trip to the Palumbo Center on February 6, 2002 ... the win was DU's first since February 9, 1991 (68-67 at home) ... UMass held a national ranking for eight of nine meetings between 1994 and 1998 ... Duquesne's last win at Massachusetts was on January 14, 1989 (88-84), a span of nine games.

DUQUESNE ON ROAD FOR SIX OF NEXT EIGHT

Following the Massachusetts game, the Dukes hit the road for games at Rhode Island (Jan. 21) and at George Washington (Jan. 24). The George Washington game will be televised by the Atlantic 10 Network (Fox Sports Net Pittsburgh locally). In all, six of Duquesne's next eight games will be on the road.

DUQUESNE LATELY

• Senior F Elijah Palmer is shooting a team-best 59.7% from the field ... it is the best shooting percentage by a DU player since Alan Watkins shot 60.9% in 1990-91
• Palmer, who led the Dukes with 19 points in Wednesday's win over Xavier, hit 9-of-12 shots from the field vs. the Musketeers ... Palmer is shooting 64.3% in DU's three A10 games
• Junior PG Martin Osimani is averaging a school record 6.07 assists/g. ... Osimani has topped 10 assists in a game twice this year
• No DU player has ever posted three 10+ assist games in the same season
• Duquesne has outscored its first 14 opponents by an aggregate 999-996 score
• Four of the Dukes' eight losses have come on the road by a combined 15 points, with three of those games decided in overtime
• The average margin of defeat in DU's eight losses is 8.3 ppg.
• Duquesne handed 9-5 Xavier its worst loss of the season (71-58) on Wednesday night ... the win snapped XU's 16-game A10 regular-season win streak

MORE ON UMASS

The Minutemen are led by sophomore F Rashaun Freeman and senior G Anthony Anderson who are averaging 15.1 and 15.0 ppg. respectively ... Anderson is coming off a 26 point, 8 rebound 3 steal outing in UMass' 77-71 loss at St. Bonaventure on Wednesday ... Anderson, who hit 10-of-13 shots in scoring 25 points in Massachusetts' 70-55 win over Duquesne last season, has 45 3-point field goals in 14 games ... he has scored 20 in a game five times ... Freeman, who is shooting 52.3 percent from the field, leads UM with a 7.7 rpg. average ... he has a team-high five double-doubles this season ... 6-9 junior C Gabe Lee is the reason the Minutemen lead the A10 with 6.1 blocked shots per game ... Lee has rejected 45 shots in 14 games (3.2 bpg.).

DUQUESNE QUICK HITS

• After opening the season 1-of-7, point guard Martin Osimani has rallied to hit 9-of-20 (45.0%) 3-point attempts in his last 10 games
• On the other hand, Jimmy Tricco, who hit four 3-pointers in four of the Dukes' first six games, is 8-of-40 (20.0%) from the arc in DU's last eight games
• Ryan Tricco has come off the bench to average a team-high 5.3 rebounds per game in A10 play
• Jack Higgins has scored in double digits in three of the eight games he has played since becoming eligible on Dec. 17
• Duquesne has led at the half in nine of 14 games and is 5-4 in those games
• DU is 3-4 in games decided by 5 or fewer points and 4-2 when outrebounding its opponent
• Danny Nee enters the UMass game needing seven wins to reach 400 for his career
• Nine of DU's 10 regulars have scored at least 10 points in a game this season ... the only regular who has yet to reach the 10-point mark is guard Tyler Bluemling who is averaging 6.2 minutes per game
• Seven different Dukes have either led or tied for the team lead in scoring in a single game: Palmer (5 times), Jimmy Tricco (3), Dokes (2), McAllister (2), Higgins (1), Pawlak (1) and Ryan Tricco (1)
• Last year, Duquesne's 11 road losses, including three of 35 points or more, came by an average of -18.3 points ... this year, through four road games, the margin stands at -3.8 with the largest margin at five (74-69 in overtime at Minnesota)
• The Dukes have topped the 90-point mark twice this season (91-70 vs. Robert Morris and 96-91 vs. Ohio) ... the last time DU had three 90-plus point games in a season was 1996-97
• Ron Dokes, who scored one point and grabbed one rebound before fouling out in 17 minutes at Minnesota on Dec. 23, has been a new man since the Christmas break ... in six post-Christmas games, Dokes is averaging 12.7 ppg., 6.8 rpg. and is shooting 65.9 percent (27-of-41) from the field