Dec. 16, 2004

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TELEVISION: Fox Sports Net Pittsburgh with Hub Burton & Chad Estis
DUQUESNE RADIO: KQV-AM (1410) with Ray Goss & George Von Benko
INTERNET BROADCAST: www.redzonemedia.com

DUKES AT OHIO:

Duquesne (2-7), which snapped a six-game losing streak with a 76-69 win over UMBC last Saturday, returns to action to face Ohio (3-2) at Athens, Ohio on Saturday, Dec. 18. The game, which tips at 2:05 p.m. (EST), will be televised locally by Fox Sports Net Pittsburgh. It will also air on KQV-AM (1410) radio & the internet at www.redzonemedia.com. This is the third time in the last four games that DU will appear on television. The Dukes, who were in final exams from Dec. 9-15, will be playing just their second game in 14 days. Duquesne is 0-3 on the road this season, while Ohio is 3-0 at home with wins over San Francisco (81-66), Butler (64-58) and Navy (90-55) by an average margin of 18.7 points per game.

DUKES vs. BOBCATS:

This is the 13th meeting between Duquesne and Ohio in a series that dates back to March 1, 1940 ... the series, which is tied at 6-6, has been one of distinct home court advantage with Ohio leading 3-0 at Athens and Duquesne leading 5-0 at Pittsburgh (OU leads 3-1 in neutral games) ... last year DU defeated the Bobcats 96-91 despite an Ohio Palumbo Center record 20 3-pointers (in 44 attempts) ... this is the fourth time in the last five seasons the two schools - which are separated by 200 miles - have met ... on Dec. 12, 2000, DU won 94-89 at Pittsburgh ... in the last meeting at Athens, Ohio took a 73-60 decision on Nov. 29, 2001 ... the game was Danny Nee's third as head coach of the Dukes and first in the arena where he coached for six seasons in the early 1980s.

DUQUESNE LATELY:

• This is the first of three consecutive road games for the Dukes
• Junior G Bryant McAllister became the first Duke to score 30 points in a game in four years when he totaled a career-high 30 vs. UMBC last Saturday ... the last DU player to top 30 was Courtney Wallace who scored 34 vs. Ohio on Dec. 12, 2000 ... McAllister is averaging 22.8 ppg. (54.1% from field) at home and 11.4 ppg. (41.2%) in five games away from the Palumbo Center
• In his last 4 games, true freshman F DeVario Hudson is averaging 11.8 ppg. & 7.5 rpg. on 51.2% (21-of-41) shooting ... Hudson has seen his minutes quadruple from 5.8 in games one through five to 25.3 in DU's last four
• RS freshman F/C Sean McKeon, who missed four games with mononucleosis, was back in uniform for the UMBC game but did not play
• Senior forward Jon Pawlak, who scored a team-high 15 points vs. Ohio last season, has missed the last three games with a sprained ankle ... he is questionable for Saturday
• DU leads the nation in team free throw percentage at 81.3 percent (113-of-139)

MORE ON OHIO:

Ohio, whose 3-0 start was its best since 2001-02, received two votes in the Dec. 6 Associated Press poll prior dropping an 83-74 decision at St. Francis, Pa. the next day ... the Bobcats were picked to finish sixth in the Mid-American Conference East ... Ohio was the last Division I team to open its season with a Nov. 29 game vs. San Francisco ... Duquesne was among the first to start the 2004-05 campaign with three games at the NABC Classic in Albuquerque Nov. 12-14 ... the Dukes had six games in the books before OU took the floor for the first time.

FAMILIAR FACES:

DU head coach Danny Nee, who led Ohio to a 107-67 record and two NCAA Tournament appearances in six seasons as head coach (1981-86), is 2-1 against his former employer (1-0 while at Nebraska and 1-1 at Duquesne). Nee, who owns the top winning percentage in Ohio history (.615), was inducted to the Ohio University Hall of Fame in 1993. Assistant coach Randy Roth earned his bachelor's and master's degrees from Ohio in `83 and `86, while serving as a graduate assistant under Nee in 1984-85 & 1985-86. Roth also served as a full-time assistant under Nee's successor Billy Hahn for three seasons (1987-89).

FOUL ME!:

Duquesne began the week leading the nation in team free throw shooting percentage at 81.3 percent. Three Dukes have yet to miss a foul shot this season (Tyler Bluemling 5-5, Jon Pawlak 4-4 and Sean McKeon 3-3), while point guard Martin Osimani is at 95.5 percent (21-of-22). JC transfer Keith Gayden is 12-of-15 (80.0%) from the stripe and guard Bryant McAllister is hitting at an 81.6 percent clip (31-of-38). Oddly enough, DU's two starting forwards - freshmen DeVario Hudson and Chauncey Duke - have yet to attempt a free throw:

NATION'S TOP FREE THROW SHOOTING SCHOOLS
through games of Dec. 12

81.3%   113-139 DUQUESNE80.5%   107-133 Morehead State79.8%    91-114 Army79.8%    75-94  Stetson79.5%   132-166 Michigan State78.9%   101-128 UC Davis78.5%    95-121 Rider

DUQUESNE QUICK NOTES:

• Senior guard Martin Osimani needs one more 10-assist game for the school career record ... Osimani, who will be playing his 39th career game at Ohio, shares the record for career 10 assist games with Clayton Adams who posted four in 109 career games between 1988-91 ... Osimani, who averaged 4.6 ppg. last season, is scoring at a 8.4 ppg. clip this season ... he has scored a career-high 16 points twice (at New Mexico and vs. Lafayette) ... his career high entering the season was 11 ... last year, it took Osimani 19 games to reach his current 76 point total
• Bryant McAllister is coming off a career-high 30-point outing vs. UMBC ... McAllister, who has scored in double figures in eight of DU's nine games, has topped the 20 point mark three times this season (24 vs. Lafayette on Nov. 20 & 21 vs. Akron on Dec. 1)
• Sophomore center Kieron Achara has posted double-doubles four times this season (10-11 at New Mexico, 11-10 vs. Lafayette, 15-11 at George Mason & 16-11 vs. UMBC) ... his current 8.1 rebounds per game average is the best by a Duquesne player since 6-11 Derrick Alston averaged 9.3 rpg. as a junior in 1992-93 ... Achara, who saw his streak of consecutive double-digit scoring games snapped at six with his 8 point outing vs. Akron, totaled a career-high 17 points vs. North Carolina A&T in the second game of the season
• Senior guard Tyler Bluemling has scored 40 points in nine games this season ... his point total in 17 appearances last year was 24
• Freshman Chauncey Duke, who scored nine points in the first 10 minutes of his first career start vs. Akron on Dec. 1, has attempted just four field goals (and not scored) 45 total minutes since: 0-1 in 13 second-half minutes vs. Akron, 0-2 in 16 minutes at Pitt and 0-1 in 16 minutes vs. UMBC
• Duke and fellow freshman DeVario Hudson have yet to attempt a free throw in 263 combined minutes of action this season
• Duquesne has used six different starting lineups in nine games, with 10 different players starting at least once
• DU, which is shooting 32.1% from the 3-point arc, is being outscored by 123 points from long distance (273-to-150) ... DU's opponents are converting at a 40.8% rate from 3-point land ... foes have hit 10 or more 3-pointers in a game four times (all DU losses)
• DU's opponents have made just four fewer free throws (135-210) than the Dukes have attempted (113-139)
• The Dukes have committed 30 more fouls than their opponents (181-to-151)
• DU is shooting a nation's-best 81.3 percent from the foul line
• The Dukes are coming off their top shooting game of the season (25-of-49, 51.0%) in the win over UMBC
• DU attempted a season-low seven 3-point field goals (making one) vs. the Retrievers