Nov. 30, 2004

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DUQUESNE HOME TO FACE AKRON

Duquesne (1-4), coming off a 79-58 loss at George Mason on Saturday, returns home looking to end a four-game losing streak vs. Akron (2-1) on Wed., Dec. 1 at 7:05 p.m. (EST) (Fox Sports Net Ohio & KQV-AM 1410/www.redzonemedia.com). This is the first of back-to-back TV games for the Dukes (Saturday's game at Pitt will air on Fox Sports Net Pittsburgh). Akron is 2-1 on the season with a season-opening 90-88 loss at Drake followed by home wins over Mt. Union (77-47) and Hampton (80-59). Six-six, 245-pound sophomore forward Jeremiah Wood (14.3 ppg., 9.7 rpg.) and 6-5 junior forward Darryl Patterson (12.7 ppg.) lead the Zips in scoring. Six-foot sophomore point guard Dru Joyce has been outstanding so far with 19 assists and just four turnovers in a team-high 27 minutes per game. Keith Gayden, who missed the George Mason game with a sprained ankle, is expected to rejoin Duquesne's starting lineup. DU will still be thin in the frontcourt with 6-10 F/C Sean McKeon out with mononucleosis and 6-9 forward Jon Pawlak doubtful with a sprained ankle suffered late in the George Mason game.

DUKES VS. ZIPS

This is the 18th meeting in a series that dates back to New Year's Eve 1946 (a 48-43 Duquesne win at Akron) ... in fact, three of the first 16 meetings were on New Year's Eve with all three played at Akron ... the Dukes hold a 12-5 edge in the series, with Akron winning the last three ... in games played at Pittsburgh, Duquesne leads 6-1 ... last year, Akron defeated Duquesne 64-61 in overtime at Akron.

WORKING OVERTIME

Three of the last five meetings between Duquesne and Akron have been overtime affairs.

DUQUESNE LATELY

• Duquesne will be welcoming back 6-7 junior Keith Gayden who missed the George Mason game with a sprained ankle ... Gayden injured the ankle the day before setting new career highs with 15 points and 9 rebounds in 22 minutes off the bench vs. WVU
• Sophomore C Kieron Achara has scored in double digits in each of DU's first six games ... he has recorded double-doubles in three of the Dukes' last four games
• True freshman F DeVario Hudson came off the bench to score a team-high 18 points and grab 8 rebounds in 21 minutes at George Mason ... Hudson, who hit 8-of-12 shots from the floor - including his first two career 3-pointers, has scored 30 points in 50 minutes this season
• DU is shooting 80.9 percent from the foul line.

VS. THE MAC

Akron is the first of two Mid-American Conference schools on Duquesne's schedule this season (at Ohio on Dec. 18 is the other). Last year DU dropped a 64-61 overtime decision at Akron on Dec. 17, before bouncing back to defeat Ohio at home 96-91 on Jan. 4. The Dukes are 60-31 (.659) all-time vs. the schools that make up the current MAC, including an 8-11 mark vs. MAC schools since 1989-90 (7-2 at home & 1-9 on the road) ...of the 19 post-1989-90 games, over half (10) have been single-digit affairs with five decided in OT.

Home (7-2)Road (1-9)
Feb. 5, 1992    Kent (2OT)      W       84-80   Dec. 30, 1989   at Toledo       L       77-88Dec. 14, 1993   Ohio (OT)       W       79-74   Dec. 12, 1992   at Kent     L       71-73Dec. 23, 1995   Ohio        W       93-80   Dec. 30, 1994   at Ohio     L       58-71Nov. 30, 1996   Akron       W       71-55   Dec. 31, 1995   at Akron (OT)   W       76-75Nov. 21, 1998   Buffalo     W       75-56   Dec. 28, 1996   at Ohio     L       67-85Nov. 28, 1998   Akron (OT)      L       82-84   Dec. 31, 1997   at Akron        L       62-72Dec. 12, 2000   Ohio        W       94-89   Dec. 2, 2000    at B. Green     L       77-92Dec. 5, 2001    B.Green     L       62-64   Dec. 5, 2000    at Buffalo      L       59-64Jan. 7, 2004    Ohio        W       96-91   Nov. 29, 2001   at Ohio     L       60-73Dec. 17, 2003   at Akron (OT)   L       61-64

A FAMILIAR NAME

Akron is in its first season under head coach Keith Dambrot. Dambrot's father, Sid, helped Duquesne to a 70-15 record and three NIT and one NCAA appearance from 1952 through 1954.

OUCH

Duquesne, like many of its cohorts in the Atlantic 10, has had to battle a number of injuries and ailments in the early season. First point guard Martin Osimani had his nose broken in a preseason scrimmage. The senior point guard played the first five games wearing a protective mask that was discarded for the first time for the George Mason game on Nov. 27. Next, redshirt freshman Sean McKeon was diagnosed with mononucleosis which has kept him out of uniform for DU's last two games (he is expected to be out for another week). Then, starting forward Keith Gayden suffered a grade two sprain of his right ankle in practice the day before he scored 15 points and pulled down 9 rebounds in a 72-69 loss to West Virginia. The injury kept him out of the George Mason game. Finally, back-up forward Jon Pawlak sprained his ankle with just over five minutes to go at George Mason. Gayden is expected to return vs. Akron, while Pawlak is currently doubtful for Akron.

DeVARIO GOOD

True freshman DeVario Hudson (Decatur, Ga./Columbia) gave the thin frontcourt a boost with 18 points and 8 rebounds in 21 minutes off the bench at George Mason. Hudson, who entered the game averaging 2.4 points and 1.2 rebounds per game, hit 8-of-12 shots from the field including his first two career 3-pointers. He also added a pair of rim-rattling dunks. On the season, Hudson has scored 30 points in 50 minutes of action.

GUTS

Forward Keith Gayden, who came to Duquesne with the reputation of being a hardworking, blue-collar style player, showed why last Wednesday versus West Virginia. Gayden, who suffered a grade two sprain of his right ankle in practice last Tuesday, spent game day on crutches, missing the afternoon shoot-around and most of pre-game warm-ups. The first-year JC transfer, who was initially expected to miss the game, came out to join his teammates with under 10 minutes on the pregame clock. Gayden did not start, but gave the Dukes a huge boost with eight points and seven rebounds in 11 first-half minutes off the bench. He finished with career highs for points (15) and rebounds (9) before breaking out the crutches and ice bags for the trip back to the dorm following the game. He was later ruled injured enough to sit out the game at George Mason on Saturday. "Keith kept telling me `I'm going to play, I'm going to play,'" said his roommate Bryant McAllister, "I'm like, `But you can't even walk.' He just kept getting treatment and getting treatment. He has the heart of a lion." Added frontcourt mate Kieron Achara, "He's a hustle player. He's very aggressive. The way he walks is even aggressive." Gayden and Achara were the prime reasons the Dukes outscored the Mountaineers 34-12 in the paint and enjoyed a 36-24 rebounding edge. Gayden is expected to rejoin the starting lineup for the Akron game.

I CAN SEE CLEARLY NOW

Senior point guard Martin Osimani, who played the first five games of the season wearing a clear plastic mask to protect a broken nose, played for the first time this season without the mask at George Mason. Osimani, who broke the nose in a preseason scrimmage vs. Bowling Green on Nov. 6, handed out 11 assists in the Dukes' win over North Carolina A&T on Nov. 13. The assist total, which was one shy of the school record he shares with two other players, also tied him with Clayton Adams for the career 10-assist game record with four. Oddly enough, this wasn't the first time the second-year JC transfer has played with a protective shield. Last seasons, Osimani came off the bench wearing goggles to protect a scratched eye, and handed out a school record-tying 12 assists in 25 minutes vs. Ohio. Osimani, who leads the Dukes with 29 assists (4.8 apg.), has seen his scoring average increase from 4.6 ppg. last season to 9.8 ppg. through six games. He has scored a career-high 16 points twice (in back-to-back games at New Mexico and vs. Lafayette). Osimani's high point game last season was 11.

MR. CONSISTENCY

Junior guard Bryant McAllister has quietly established himself as one of the most consistent scorers in the Atlantic 10. McAllister, who has started 56 of 65 games in his career, averaged a team high-tying 29.2 minutes per game at the shooting guard spot as a sophomore. He shook off an early-season ankle sprain to finish second on the team with 21 double-digit scoring games. The Pittsburgh native had back-to-back single-digit scoring games just once during the season (9 points vs. Siena in game No. 2 followed by zero points in 12 minutes vs. Pitt when he tried to play on the injured ankle). McAllister opened the season scoring 12, 17 and 15 points in three NABC Classic games before adding a career-high 24 vs. Lafayette. He added 16 more vs. West Virginia before scoring just two points in 19 minutes at George Mason. McAllister's point total at GMU was his lowest as a starter since tallying two in 29 minutes as a freshman vs. George Washington on Feb. 19, 2003.

HIGGINS STRUGGLING

Jack Higgins, who began the year as the Atlantic 10's No. 2 returning 3-point shooter at .456 (41-of-90), has struggled thus far this season. After hitting 3-of-5 3-pointers in scoring 15 points in the opener vs. Santa Clara, Higgins has hit the skids, converting just 4-of-18 from the arc in the ensuing five games. Higgins, who came off the bench to score in double digits in 10 of 23 games last season (Duquesne was 8-2 when Higgins scored 10 or more), has reached double digits twice (he added 12 in the loss at New Mexico). Higgins, who topped 20 in a game twice last year, has scored a total of 12 points in DU's last three games.