March 11, 2004

Complete Release in PDF Format
Download Free Acrobat Reader

TELEVISION: Atlantic 10 TV Network
( Comcast FYI channel locally)
DUQUESNE RADIO: KQV-AM (1410) with Ray Goss & George Von Benko
INTERNET BROADCAST: www.redzonemedia.com
LIVE STATS: www.Atlantic10.org/sports/mbball/champs.asp

ROUND TWO:

Duquesne advanced to the second round by virtue of its 79-76 win over No. 4 (East) seed Massachusetts yesterday. The victory was the Dukes' first Atlantic 10 Tournament win since an 82-69 victory over Rhode Island in the first round of the 1995 tournament (a span of nine games). The last time DU posted back-to-back victories in the Atlantic 10 Tournament was in 1985, when the Dukes - playing as a #8 seed - defeated #9 Penn State (78-64) and #1 West Virginia (70-66) before losing to #4 Rutgers (78-53) in the semifinal at Piscataway, N.J.

DUKES VS. FLYERS

Dayton leads the overall series 37-15, including a 22-3 edge in games played at Dayton ... the Flyers also hold a 16-2 advantage in Atlantic 10 regular season games ... UD is one of three A10 teams Duquesne has yet to beat on the road (La Salle and Richmond are the others) ... this is the first conference tournament meeting between the two ... UD, winner of the last 15 series meetings, has won the last 11 at University of Dayton Arena ... DU's last series win at Dayton was on Feb. 1, 1983 by a 58-55 margin ... DU's last series win was at home on Jan. 30, 1997 (80-71) ... last year, Dayton took both games by a combined six points ... Duquesne rallied from a 20-point second-half deficit to take a one-point lead with just over a minute left but could not hold on in the a 77-72 loss at Dayton ... in the return matchup at Pittsburgh, the Dukes had the ball down one with 13.2 seconds remaining but couldn't get a shot off as time expired in a 76-75 loss ... Dayton swept this year's regular-season series, 70-58 at Dayton on Feb. 15 and 73-69 at Pittsburgh in the regular-season finale on March 6.

Duquesne's last series win _____________ Jan. 30, 1997
Duquesne's last win at Dayton ___________ Feb. 1, 1983
Duquesne's last A10 Tournament Second Round win: Mar. 7, 1985
___________ 70-66 over No. 1 seed West Virginia (DU was a No. 8 seed)

DID YOU KNOW?

Duquesne began the week of March 8 ranked 59th nationally in field goal percentage defense. Last year the Dukes finished the season ranked 208th in the same category. (That's an improvement of 149 spots from last season.)

WIN NUMBER 12

The win over UMass yesterday was Duquesne's 12th of the season ... it is the first time since 1993-94 when the NIT Dukes went 17-13 that a Duquesne team has won 12 games ... DU's six regular-season Atlantic 10 wins were also its most since the '94 Dukes went 8-8 ... Duquesne finished with a 3-8 road record, with all three wins coming in conference play ... the road win totals were the most since the 1994-95 team went 5-8 away from home including a 3-5 mark in A10 play ... the three league wins marked just the second time in the last 14 Atlantic 10 seasons that DU won more than two conference road games.

LEAGUE FINISH

Duquesne finished the regular season fifth in the A10 West with a 6-10 record. The Dukes went 3-5 at home and 3-5 on the road in league play.

LOST AND FOUND

Duquesne senior Jimmy Tricco looks to be rounding into shape just in time for the season's homestretch. Tricco, who shot 42.9 percent from the 3-point arc last season, went through a 16-game 13-of-66 3-point shooting slump that left his overall percentage at .261 following the game at Dayton on Feb. 15. In the ensuing six games, Tricco has been on a tear - hitting 21-of-37 from the arc to bring his season 3-point percentage up to .358. Tricco's 18 points in the regular-season finale vs. Dayton were his most since a season- high 20 at West Virginia on Dec. 13.

DUQUESNE LATELY

• With his six assists in the win over UMass yesterday, junior PG Martin Osimani upped his single-season assist total to 167 ... his assist total ranks second only to Norm Nixon's 178 in 1976-77 ... Osimani's 5.96 apg. average is the third highest in school history (Nixon had two 6.0 apg. seasons in 1973-74 & 1975-76
• Duquesne is 12-3 this season when scoring 70 or more points, and 0-13 when held under 70
• DU's 12 wins are its most since the 1993-94 NIT Dukes finished 17- 13
• Duquesne's opponents are shooting .414 from the field ... the defensive field goal percentage is the best by a DU team since the 1970-71 NCAA Tournamentbound Dukes (21-4) held opponents to a .389 mark ... last year, Duquesne's opponents shot .445 from the field
• Senior G/ F Jimmy Tricco has hit 21 of his last 37 3-point attempts in DU's last six games ... he brings a season-best five game double digit scoring streak into the Dayton game ... last year at Dayton, Tricco scored 20 points in the second half of a 77-72 loss
• The Dukes are 3-6 in games decided by five or fewer points
• The Dukes hit their last 10 free throws in last night's 79-76 win over UMass
• DU is 8-1 when Jack Higgins scores in double figures ... Higgins, who scored all 14 of his points vs. UMass in the second half, is 12-of-23 (52.2%) from the arc in his last five games
• Kieron Achara tied his career high with 13 points vs. UMass ... his other 13- point game was also at UD Arena on Feb. 15 ... Achara went 5-of-5 from the foul line last night ... it was the sixth time this season he has been perfect from the stripe
• Bryant McAllister tied his career high with seven rebounds vs. UMass ... he also posted six assists and did not turn the ball over in 32 minutes.