Dec. 27, 2004

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DUKES HEAD TO ROBERT MORRIS

Duquesne (2-9), coming off a six-day Christmas layoff, will be making the 18-mile trip west for the first time since 1994 to face cross-town rival Robert Morris (2-7) on Wednesday, Dec. 29 at 7:30 p.m. (EST) (1410 KQV-AM & www.redzonemedia.com). This is the third of three consecutive road games for the Dukes who are still looking for their first win on an opponent's home court. The Dukes, who dropped an 88-70 decision at Boston College in their last time out on Dec. 22, will be facing an RMU squad that is 2-7 on the season including a 1-2 mark at home. Robert Morris lost at Northwestern, 72-58 on Dec. 22 in its final outing prior to Christmas.

DUKES vs. COLONIALS

This is 15th game between Duquesne and Robert Morris - and second meeting in as many years between the two schools ... prior to last season, all of the 13 previous games came between December of 1980 and December of 1995 ... DU, winner of the last six matchups, holds a 11-3 edge in the series ... in games played at the Sewall Center, the Dukes lead 3-0 ... the last time the two met at RMU was Dec. 22, 1994 (an 87-58 Dukes win) ... Duquesne was Robert Morris' first opponent at Sewall Center on Nov. 30, 1985 (an 80-65 DU win) ... the other Sewall meeting was on Dec. 10, 1991 (a 93-82 Duquesne win) ... RMU's last series victory came on Dec. 22, 1990 at the Palumbo Center by an 85-81 score ... the Colonials are led by fourth-year coach Mark Schmidt ... Schmidt is familiar with Duquesne having served as an assistant coach at Xavier from 1994-01.

FAMILIAR FACE

This is the second time Duquesne head coach Danny Nee is facing his former team. Nee, the fourth-year coach of the Dukes, was the head coach at Robert Morris during the 2000-01 season. Nee rallied the Colonials from a 2-14 start to a 7-13 record in the Northeast Conference on the way to a 7-22 finsh. RMU went 5-7 in its last 12 games that season. The Colonials have one player remaining from Nee's `01 squad in forward Chaz McCrommon (14.0 ppg.). This is Nee's first game at Robert Morris.

DUQUESNE LATELY

• This is the third of three straight road games for the Dukes
• DU has led the nation in team free throw percentage for the last month ... the Dukes enter the RMU game at 80.0 percent (132-of-165) as a team
• Senior G Martin Osimani, who is 25-of-26 from the stripe this season, has made his last 20 consecutive free throws (his last miss was Nov. 14 at New Mexico)
• Junior G Bryant McAllister is averaging 22.8 ppg. (54.1% from field) at home and 11.9 ppg. (42.1%) in seven games away from the Palumbo Center
• On the other hand junior G Jack Higgins is averaging 5.0 ppg. at home (where he's shooting 20.6%) and 11.0 ppg. on the road (38.5%) ... Higgins is coming off a career-high 9 assist game at Boston College ... his previous assist high was three done twice earlier this season
• Redshirt freshman F/C Sean McKeon came off the bench to score a career-high 10 points in 11 minutes at B.C.
• True freshman F DeVario Hudson scored 13 of his team-high 17 points in the second half at B.C. (7-of-12 from the field).

ON THE REBOUND

Duquesne has been outrebounded 100-47 in its last two games (48-23 in a 73-60 loss at Ohio and 52-24 in an 88-70 loss at Boston College). Entering the Ohio game, the Dukes were outrebounding their opponents by a 36.8 to 34.8 margin (+2.0 rpg.) and had not been outrebounded by more than six in a single game. The average margin in the last two games has been -26.5. "This is the second game in a row we were outrebounded badly," said head coach Danny Nee following the B.C. game. "Rebounding had been a strength for us earlier in the season. It now has become a very serious problem. It takes mental toughness, effort, desire ... throwing a body on someone."

DUQUESNE QUICK NOTES

• Duquesne followed its lowest scoring half of the season (20) with its highest (50) in its 88-70 loss at Boston College
• Three freshman - DeVario Hudson, Sean McKeon and Chauncey Duke combined for 26 of DU's second-half points ... Hudson scored 13 of his team-high 17 in the second half ... McKeon, who was 5-of-5 from the field, scored eight of his career-high 10 in the second 20 minutes and Duke totaled five of his six after intermission
• Jack Higgins came off the bench to hand out a career-high 9 assists (with two turnovers) at B.C. .. Higgins, whose previous assist high was three set at New Mexico and matched at George Mason earlier this season, was credited with all nine assists in 14 second-half minutes ... Higgins totaled 16 assists in 23 games last season
• Martin Osimani needs one more 10-assist game for the school career record ... Osimani, who will be playing his 41st career game at Robert Morris, 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 7.5 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 83 point total
• Osimani brings a streak of 20 consecutive free throws made into the RMU game ... he has a way to go to challenge the school record of 42 set by Dick Ricketts over a seven game span in 1956-57
• Bryant McAllister, who has scored in double figures in nine of DU's 11 games, has topped the 20 point mark three times this season (24 vs. Lafayette, 21 vs. Akron & a career-high 30 vs. UMBC)
• 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 7.3 rebounds per game average is the best by a Duquesne player since 6-11 Derrick Alston averaged 7.3 rpg. as a senior in 1993-94
• Senior guard Tyler Bluemling has scored 40 points in 11 games this season ... his point total in 17 appearances last year was 24
• Freshman Chauncey Duke has just three turnovers in 171 total minutes on the season
• Duquesne has used six different starting lineups in 10 games, with 10 different players starting at least once
• DU is being outshtot 40.9% to 32.3% from 3-point land ... foes have hit 10 or more 3-pointers in a game four times (all DU losses)