April 19, 2004

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The most wins since 1994, a regular-season sweep of NCAA Regional finalist Xavier and a win in the first round of the Atlantic 10 Championship highlighted head coach Danny Nee's third season at Duquesne. The Dukes, who finished with a 12-17 record, got off to a deceptive 2-6 start with overtime losses in each of their first three road games before rallying to win six of eight including consecutive wins over Xavier, UMass and Rhode Island. Five consecutive losses were followed by wins in three of the last five games of the season.

"This season has been a little bit of disappointing, a little bit of frustration and a little bit of optimism for the future," said Nee following DU's season-ending A-10 Tournament loss to Dayton. "We just lacked consistency. It was a roller coaster ride. The season went like this: It works ... it doesn't work ... it works ... "

When it worked, the Dukes were able to post a 17-point win at Rhode Island - the largest margin of victory for a Duquesne team in an Atlantic 10 road game - and a 93-56 win over Fordham - DU's largest margin over an A-10 team in 27 seasons of league play. When it didn't, the Dukes dropped five consecutive February games.

"It's a slow process, there are no shortcuts," said Nee. "We're digging out of a big negative hole and we understand that, and we're going to keep playing hard and growing."

For more infomation, please check our 43-page recap via the link at the top of this page.