Jan. 27, 2004

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DUQUESNE RETURNS HOME TO FACE LA SALLE

Duquesne (8-9, 3-3), which saw its three-game win streak snapped in an 83-63 loss at George Washington on Saturday, returns to action on Wednesday, Jan. 28 vs. La Salle (7-11, 2-3) at 7:30 p.m. The Dukes, who have won six of their last nine, enter the game in a two-way tie for third place in the Atlantic 10 West. Duquesne, which is 7-4 at home this season, will be looking to snap a four-game series losing streak against the Explorers who are 3-3 on the road this season.

TWO IN 33

The La Salle game is one of just two home games in a 33-day span for the Dukes. DU, which spent five days on the road last week in splitting games at Rhode Island (W, 72-55) and at George Washington (L, 63-83), has just one more home game (Feb. 7 vs. Richmond) prior to February 21 (vs. George Washington).

DUKES vs. EXPLORERS

La Salle leads the overall series 29-23 ... at Pittsburgh Duquesne holds a 16-8 edge, while at Philadelphia La Salle leads 20-5 ... 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 on Jan. 16, 2002 ... the Explorers also won at Duquesne last season (82-74 on Feb. 8), giving the Explorers sweeps in the last two seasons ... the 2001-02 sweep was the first by either school since La Salle joined the A-10 in 1995-96 ... the DU/La Salle series dates back to Feb. 10, 1940.

DUQUESNE LATELY

• Duquesne's opponents are shooting just .399 from the field ... the defensive field goal percentage ranks third in the Atlantic 10 and is the best by a DU team since the 1970-71 NCAA Tournament-bound Dukes (21-4) held opponents to a .389 mark ... last year, Duquesne's opponents shot .445 from the field
• 6-5 sophomore guard Jack Higgins was as hot as any player in the A10 last week ... in three games, Higgins came off the bench to score 51 points in 70 minutes (17.0 ppg.) including a career-high 24 in 19 minutes vs. UMass and 20 in 17 minutes at Rhode Island ... Higgins is shooting a team-best .513 (20-of-39) from the 3-point arc
• Senior C Ron Dokes is shooting 20-of-31 (64.5%) from the field in league play
• Four of Duquesne's nine losses have come on the road by a combined 15 points, with three of those games decided in overtime.

MORE ON LA SALLE

La Salle comes to Pittsburgh in the midst of a four-game losing streak ... the Explorers, who are 2-3 in league play, are coming off a tough 77-75 home lost to A10 West-leading Dayton on Saturday ... La Salle's A10 wins have come at UMass (78-64) and at home over Richmond (66-55) ... sophomore guard Gary Neal is tied with Jameer Nelson for third in scoring in the Atlantic 10 at 20.2 ppg. ... he scored 30 in the loss to Dayton ... 6-9 sophomore Steven Smith is averaging 15.0 ppg. and a team-best 7.8 rpg.

LIGHTS OUT!

Duquesne is shooting .466 percent from the field on the season, good for third-best in the Atlantic 10. Four DU regulars are shooting 50 percent or better: Kieron Achara (61.4%), Elijah Palmer (57.1%), Ron Dokes (52.9%) and Jack Higgins (50.0%).

DOING IT WITH DEFENSE

Duquesne opponents are shooting just 39.9 percent from the field, which is the third-best defensive field goal percentage in the Atlantic 10. The Dukes have held nine opponents under 40 percent so far this season, and are 6-3 in those games. To put the 2003-04 effort in perspective, consider that last year DU opponents shot 44.5 percent. The last time a Duquesne team held its opponents under 40 percent shooting for an entire season was 1970-71. That year, the 21-4 NCAA Tournament-bound Dukes limited opponents to a 38.9 percent success rate.

BENCH IMPRESS

Duquesne head coach Danny Nee, who has consistently used a nine-man rotation all season, is beginning to see his investment pay off. The DU bench, which averaged 15.0 ppg. in the first nine games, has upped its production to 25.8 ppg. in the last 11 outings. "Some people quietly have been criticizing us, asking why we go so deep on the bench," said Nee following the UMass game. "We go deep on the bench because we don't really have a 'star' lineup yet. All these young kids have potential." Added senior forward Elijah Palmer: "We're deep enough that everyone knows they are going to play. The guys coming in off the bench give us the same energy as the starters. They've been doing a good job of that." DU's balance is evident in the fact that no player is averaging over 30 minutes per game, and nine average over 15 minutes per outing.

NEXT UP

Duquesne will travel to Olean, N.Y. for a Super Bowl Sunday matchup at St. Bonaventure (2:00 p.m. tip). The game will be televised locally by Fox Sports Net Pittsburgh as part of the Atlantic 10 Network.