Jan. 14, 2005

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YOU AGAIN?

Duquesne (4-12, 1-2), coming off a 73-52 loss at Xavier on Wednesday, returns home to begin a stretch of three-straight home games vs. Dayton (8-5, 1-1) on Saturday, Jan. 15 at 1:00 p.m. (1410 KQV-AM & www.redzonemedia.com). This is the second meeting between the Dukes and Flyers in 10 days. Duquesne, which took a 94-93 double-overtime decision at Dayton on Jan. 5, is 2-4 at home this season. Dayton, which defeated Richmond, 63-62, at home on Wednesday, is 1-2 on the road. The game time was changed from the originally annoucned 7:05 p.m. to avoid conflict with the Pittsburgh Steelers NFL Playoff game.

DUKES vs. FLYERS

Duquesne snapped a 16-game Dayton series win streak with a 94-93 double-overtime win at University of Dayton Arena ten days ago ... the victory was the Dukes' first at Dayton since Feb. 1, 1983 and first in the series since Jan. 30, 1997 ... Dayton leads the overall series 38-16, including a 16-3 advantage in Atlantic 10 regular-season games ... in games played at Pittsburgh, Dayton holds a 14-10 edge ... last year, Dayton defeated the Dukes three times (70-58 at Dayton, 73-69 at Pittsburgh & 69-56 at Dayton) ... the last meeting was in the second round of the Atlantic 10 Tournament at UD Arena ... Dayton has won the last seven at Pittsburgh, with the last two coming by one- and four-point margins (76-75 in 2003 and 73-69 last year) ... Duquesne has never swept an Atlantic 10 series from Dayton ... the last time DU defeated UD twice in a row was in March of 1993 (67-51 at home when both were members of the Midwestern Collegiate Conference) and January of 1996 ( 59-56 at home in Dayton's first season in the A-10).

DUQUESNE LATELY

• Bryant McAllister, the Jan. 10 Atlantic 10 co-Player of the Week, picked up where he left off with 27 points in the loss at Xavier ... McAllister, who hit a career-high five 3-pointers in seven attempts, added 6 rebounds, 4 assists and 3 steals vs. the Musketeers ... he is averaging 24.0 ppg. i n league play
• Tyler Bluemling, who has started the last two games for the ailing Chauncey Duke (stomach virus), scored all 10 of his points at Xavier in the first half ... Bluemling, who has 21 assists and just 4 turnovers in his last seven games (a 5.25-to-1 ratio), is DU's third-leading scorer in A-10 play at 7.7 ppg.
• Kieron Achara suffered a bruised thigh at shootaround the day of the Xavier game and was scoreless in 17 minutes vs. the Musketeers ... Achara, who scored a career-high 23 points in the first meeting with Dayton, played just five second-half minutes at XU
• DU is shooting 78.3% from the foul line ... the mark is the third-best in the nation.

CLOSE ONES

Since February 1993, Dayton has played in a total of seven one-point games, of the seven, three have come against Duquesne (1993, 2003 & 2005).

SICK BAY

Chauncey Duke, who missed the game at Xavier with complications from a stomach virus, will not play vs. Dayton. Jack Higgins, who missed the last three games with pneumonia, has been cleared to return to practice and could see action vs. the Flyers. Kieron Achara, whose thigh was bruised at the Xavier pregame shootaround, is questionable for the Dayton game.

THEY WILL NEED A SCORECARD

The Duquesne student body may indeed need a scorecard for the Dayton game - only they won't need it to identify the Flyers. Of DU's six home games thus far, only one has been played with students able to attend en masse. The Nov. 20 and Nov. 24 games vs. Lafayette and West Virginia were played during Thanksgiving break. The UMBC game on Dec. 11 was played during final exams and the Dec. 31 Youngstown State and Jan. 8 George Washington games were played during Christmas break. Only the Dec. 1 Akron game was played with the majority of students on campus. DU started the spring semester on Monday.

FOUL ME!

Duquesne, which is 34-of-46 from the foul line in A-10 play, is third nationally in free throw shooting percentage at 78.3%. The Dukes led the nation for four consecutive weeks in December. DU is shooting 80.4% from the line at home and 76.9% on the road (including neutral-site games). Duquesne has shot under 70 percent in a game twice this season (8-of-12, 66.7% at New Mexico on Nov. 14 & 2-of-4 vs. GW on Jan. 8). Point guard Martin Osimani - who had a streak of 20 FT's made in a row snapped vs. Youngstown State - leads the way at 93.3% (28-of-30). Guard Bryant McAllister is also over 80 percent at 81.4% (57-of-70).

80.7%   209-259 Michigan State80.2%   146-182 Army78.3%   195-249 DUQUESNE

FTA = SUCCESS

In four wins this season, Duquesne has attempted an average of 26.5 free throws (84-of-106). In 12, losses, the Dukes have gone to the line an average of 11.9 times (111-of-143).

DUQUESNE QUICK NOTES

• Kieron Achara, who entered the game at Xavier having topped his career scoring high in two of the previous four games, went scoreless on 0-of-3 shooting in 17 minutes of action at XU ... Achara was slowed by a thigh bruise suffered at the morning shootaround ... he played just five minutes in the second half ... Achara scored a then career-high 19 points at Robert Morris on Dec. 22, and topped that with 23 in 36 minutes of DU's 94-93 double-overtime win at Dayton ... the Stirling, Scotland native, who is shooting a team-best 54.1 percent from the field, has posted double-doubles five times this season (10-11 at New Mexico, 11-10 vs. Lafayette, 15-11 at George Mason, 16-11 vs. UMBC and 23-11 at Dayton) ... he is questionable for the Dayton game
• Martin Osimani needs one more 10-assist game for the school career record ... Osimani, who will be playing in his 46th career game vs. Dayton, 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 6.8 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 24 games to reach his current 109-point total ... Osimani, who is 28-of-30 from the line this season, saw a streak of 20 consecutive free throws made snapped in the Youngstown State game ... the JC transfer had a streak of 17 free throws made in a row last year ... Osimani, who has 77 assists and 45 turnovers on the season, has turned it over 10 times in DU's last two games
• Senior guard Tyler Bluemling has scored 73 points in 16 games this season ... his point total in 17 appearances last year was 24 ... he has 36 assists and 17 turnovers as the back-up at the point guard spot (2.1-to-1 ratio) and is third on the team with 16 3-point field goals ... in his last seven games, Bluemling has 21 assists and 4 turnovers in an average of 20.4 min./g. ... he had 10 points, 3 assists, 3 steals and 0 turnovers 29 minutes at Dayton ... he scored all 10 of his points in the last 1:07 of regulation and first 1:26 of the first overtime period (at total span of 2:33) ... he added a career-high 5 assists in a start vs. George Washington and scored 10 more at Xavier in 25 turnover-free minutes to up his A-10 scoring average to 7.7 ppg. ... the 7.7 ppg. mark ranks third on the team in conference play
• Jack Higgins' streak of 36-straight games played ended when he missed the game at Dayton due to pneumonia ... Higgins, who was also not in uniform for the George Washington & Xavier games, was cleared to practice for the first time late this week
• Bryant McAllister, who has scored in double figures in 14 of DU's 16 games, has topped the 20 point mark five times this season (24 vs. Lafayette, 21 vs. Akron, a career-high 30 vs. UMBC, 26 at Dayton and 27 at Xavier) ... he is averaging an Atlantic 10-best 24.0 ppg. in conference play ... McAllister, who has 33 steals (2.06 spg.), is one of just four A-10 players averaging over two steals per game
• Freshman Chauncey Duke has just three turnovers in 260 total minutes on the season ... he has not turned it over since the second half of the UMBC game on Dec. 11 (that's no turnovers in his last six games, 127 total minutes) ... Duke, who pulled down a career-high 7 rebounds vs. Youngstown State added 7 points at Dayton including a driving layup with :05 left in the second overtime that proved to be the game-winner ... Duke will miss the Dayton game as he continues to get testing following a stomach virus
• Fellow freshman DeVario Hudson had a rough outing at Dayton, going 0-of-10 from the field in 28 minutes... he bounced back with 8 points in 22 minutes vs. GW (4-of-7 from the field), before going 2-of-9 at Xavier ... Hudson had scored 29 points and grabbed 13 rebounds in his two games prior to Dayton (17 at Boston College and 12 vs. Youngstown State) ... he is shooting 23.1% in conference play
• Redshirt freshman Sean McKeon, who missed four late November-early December games with mononucleosis, is averaging 14.0 min./g. in conference play ... he scored 8 points in 14 minutes in the first meeting at Dayton
• Duquesne has used seven different starting lineups in 15 games, with 10 different players starting at least once.

70 IS THE KEY

Duquesne is 4-3 this season when scoring 70 or more points and 0-9 when scoring fewer than 70. When holding opponents under 70 points, the Dukes are 3-0. If you want to go five points higher, consider that DU is 4-0 when scoring 75 or more.

ACHES AND SPRAINS

Duquesne has battled through a number of injuries and ailments which hindered Danny Nee's search for a consistent rotation during the non-conference 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 at George Mason on Nov. 27. Next, redshirt freshman Sean McKeon was diagnosed with mononucleosis on Nov. 21 which kept him out of uniform for four games. 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 on Nov. 24. The injury kept him out of the Nov. 27 George Mason game. Back-up forward Jon Pawlak sprained his ankle with just over five minutes to go at George Mason further thinning DU's frontcourt. Gayden made his return on Dec. 1 vs. Akron, and Pawlak - who missed three games - was back in uniform but did not play at Ohio on Dec. 18. In addition, freshman forward DeVario Hudson sat out the Dec. 29 Robert Morris game as punishment for returning late from Christmas break. The backcourt placed its first member on the games-missed list when Jack Higgins came down with a virus prior to the conference-opener at Dayton. Chauncey Duke was the latest casualty when complications from a stomach flu sidelined him at Xavier.

PLAYER             AILMENT             GAMES MISSED (13 Total)                           Sean McKeon        mononucleosis       West Virgina, George Mason, Akron, Pitt (4)Keith Gayden       ankle sprain        George Mason (1)Jon Pawlak         ankle sprain        Akron, Pitt, UMBC (3)DeVario Hudson     suspended           Robert Morris (1)                   (late return from Christmas break)Jack Higgins       pneumonia           at Dayton, George Washington, at Xavier (3)Chauncey Duke      stomach virus       at Xavier (1)

A total of 13 games have been missed by six different players

McALLISTER DOUBLING UP

Junior guard Bryant McAllister has quietly established himself as one of the most consistent scorers in the Atlantic 10. McAllister, who has started 66 of 75 games in his career, has scored in double digits in 14 of 16 games this season. The Pittsburgh native, who has 46 career double-digit scoring games, had back-to-back single-digit games just once last 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) and has yet to have back-to-back single-digit scoring games this year. McAllister, who has led the Dukes in scored a team-high ten times, has topped the 20-point mark five times this season with 24 vs. Lafayette, 21 vs. Akron a career-high 30 vs. UMBC, 26 at Dayton and 27 at Xavier. McAllister, who entered the Dayton game averaging 11.9 points on 41 percent shooting in DU's first eight games away from home, hit 8-of-15 shots from the field and 8-of-11 from the line at Dayton. His 15-foot runner in the lane with :10.7 left forced a second overtime in the Dukes dramatic 94-93 2 OT win. He was named A-10 co-Player of the Week on Jan. 10 for his efforts in the win at Dayton followed by a 19-point performance vs. George Washington.