Jan. 21, 2005

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TELEVISION Atlantic 10 Network with Scott Graham & Mark Adams
DUQUESNE RADIO: KQV-AM (1410) with Ray Goss & George Von Benko
INTERNET BROADCAST: www.RedZoneMedia.com
LIVE STATS: Gametracker

DUKES HOST ST. BONAVENTURE

Duquesne (4-14, 1-4), completes a three-game homestand with an Atlantic 10 Television Network game vs. St. Bonaventure (1-14, 1-4) on Sunday, Jan. 23 at 12:05 p.m. (1410 KQV-AM & www.RedZoneMedia.com). The game will air locally on Fox Sports Net Pittsburgh.

The Dukes, who are looking to snap a four-game losing streak, are taking on their second consecutive Atlantic 10 East Division foe in St. Bonaventure. On Wednesday, the Dukes lost 76-69 to Rhode Island. The Bonnies, who dropped a 71-47 decision at Temple on Wednesday, are 0-6 on the road this season.

DUKES vs. BONNIES

This is the 93rd matchup between Duquesne and St. Bonaventure in a series that dates back to Feb. 13, 1920 ... it also marks the 54th consecutive season the Dukes and Bonnies have met at least once on the hardwood ... Duquesne leads the overall series 48-44 ... in Atlantic 10 regular season play, the Dukes lead 20-19 ... at Pittsburgh, Duquesne holds a 32-12 advantage ... in games at Olean/Buffalo, St. Bonaventure leads 29-15 ... last year, DU won for the first time at St. Bonaventure since Feb. 14, 1998 by an 85-78 count ... three of the last 16 games have been decided in overtime, with the average score over that span 75.7-73.9 (+1.8 ppg.) in SBU's favor ... in their last appearance at the Palumbo Center, the Bonnies defeated the Dukes 86-78 on Jan. 25, 2003 in a game that was later forfeited due to St. Bonaventure's use ineligible player Jamil Terrell.

DUQUESNE LATELY

• After today's game, the Dukes won't play at home until Feb. 13 vs. Xavier (a span of three weeks)
• Jack Higgins is averaging 15.0 ppg. in two games since returning following a bout with pneumonia ... Higgins was sidelined for the first three games of the conference season ... the Pittsburgh native scored a season-high 20 in 23 minutes off the bench vs. URI on Wed.
• Bryant McAllister scored 16 of his 18 points in the second half vs. Rhode Island ... McAllister's 19.2 ppg. scoring average in conference play leads the A-10
• Tyler Bluemling has 27 assists and just 5 turnovers in his last nine games (a 5.4-to-1 ratio) ... he is shooting 50.0 percent from the field (10-of-22 from the arc) and averaging 7.8 ppg. in A-10 play
• Duquesne connected on a season-high 10 3-pointers (in 25 attempts) vs. URI
• The Dukes are shooting 77.3% from the foul line ... the mark is the fourth-best in the nation
• Head coach Danny Nee has used nine different starting lineups ... all 11 scholarship players have started at least once

DON'T I KNOW YOU?

St. Bonaventure tops list of Duquesne's most frequent all-time opponents:

OPPONENT         G        SERIESSt. Bonaventure  92       48-44West Virginia    80       36-44Pittsburgh       73       31-42

BEASTS VS. THE EAST

St. Bonaventure is the second of six Atlantic 10 East Division opponents on the 2004-05 schedule. Last year, Duquesne went (5-2) vs. the A-10 East, with wins at URI and St. Bonaventure and home victories over Massachusetts and Fordham. DU's fifth East win came in the A-10 Championship opening round over UMass. The Dukes are 0-1 against the East this season.

SICK BAY

Jack Higgins (pneumonia) made his first appearance since New Year's Eve for Duquesne against Dayton on Jan. 15. Higgins, who missed a total of three games, is averaging 15.0 ppg. in two games since his return.

Chauncey Duke, who missed two games due to complications from a stomach virus, played eight minutes vs. Rhode Island in his first game back.

Various aches and sprains have plagued Duquesne this season. So far, a total of six different players have missed a total of 14 games due to everything from mononucleosis, to sprained ankles to returning late from Christmas break.

FOUL ME!

Duquesne, which is 54-of-75 from the foul line in A-10 play (72.0%), is fourth nationally in free throw shooting percentage at 77.3%. The Dukes led the nation for four consecutive weeks in December. Duquesne has shot under 70 percent in a game just four times this season with three coming in the last four games. Point guard Martin Osimani - who had a streak of 20 FT's made in a row snapped vs. Youngstown State - leads the way at 88.6% (31-of-35). Guard Bryant McAllister is also over 80 percent at 82.4% (61-of-74).

79.5%   233-293 Michigan State78.6%   158-201 Army78.0%   312-400 UTEP77.7%   215-278 DUQUESNE

In four wins this season, Duquesne has attempted an average of 26.5 free throws (84-of-106). In 14, losses, the Dukes have gone to the line an average of 12.3 times (131-of-172).

DUQUESNE QUICK NOTES

• Bryant McAllister, who has scored in double figures in 15 of DU's 18 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 19.2 ppg. in conference play ... in his last six games, the Pittsburgh native is 14-of-28 (50.0%) from the 3-point arc ... McAllister, who has 37 steals (2.06 spg.), is one of just five A-10 players averaging over two steals per game
• Kieron Achara, who opened conference play with a career-high 23 points to go along with a career high-tying 11 rebounds in the double-overtime win at Dayton, has been up-and-down in five league games ... he followed the Dayton game with 12 points vs. George Washington before going scoreless in 17 minutes at Xavier (0-of-3 from the field) ... Achara, who was slowed at Xavier by a thigh bruise suffered at morning shootaround, played just five minutes in the second half at XU ... he rallied to post a game-high 16 points vs. Dayton on Jan. 15 before scoring 6 points on 2-of-4 shooting in 27 minutes vs. Rhode Island ... 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)
• Martin Osimani needs one more 10-assist game for the school career record ... Osimani, who will be playing in his 48th career game vs. SBU, 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 6.4 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 27 games to reach his current 116-point total ... Osimani, who is 31-of-35 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 a team-high 85 assists and 50 turnovers on the season, has 16 assists and 15 turnovers in his last four A-10 games ... he is 2-of-13 from the arc and averaging 3.8 ppg. over that four-game span
• Senior guard Tyler Bluemling has scored 89 points in 18 games this season ... his point total in 17 appearances last year was 24 ... he has 42 assists and 18 turnovers as the back-up at the point guard spot (2.3-to-1 ratio) and is third on the team with a career single-season high 21 3-point field goals ... he has handed out 16 assists with just three turnovers in five Atlantic 10 games ... his gaudy 5.3-to-1 assist-to-turnover is the best in the league in conference play ... in his last nine games, Bluemling has 27 assists and 5 turnovers in an average of 20.9 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 ... he followed that with 9 points (all on 3-pointers), 5 assists and 0 turnovers vs. Dayton at home ... he has hit at least one 3-pointer in each of the Dukes' last seven games
• Jack Higgins, who saw his streak of 36-straight games played ended when he missed the game at Dayton due to pneumonia, made his return on Jan. 15 vs. Dayton ... Higgins, who was also not in uniform for the George Washington & Xavier games, scored 10 points (on a team-high 10 shots) in 20 minutes off the bench vs. UD ... he followed that with a season-high 20 points (4-of-7 from 3-point) in 23 minutes vs. URI ... he is shooting 47.8% from the field (6-of-12 from the arc) and averaging 15.0 ppg. since his return
• Freshman Chauncey Duke, who missed the at Xavier and Dayton home games with complications from a stomach virus, saw his first action in 11 days vs. URI ... Duke, who has just three turnovers in 260 total minutes on the season, has not turned it over since the second half of the UMBC game on Dec. 11 (that's no turnovers in his last seven games, 135 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 ... he started the season 7-of-14 from the 3-point arc in his first seven games ... since then (a span of nine games) is is 1-of-14 from long distance ... his last 3-point make came in the second half at Boston College on Dec. 22 (a span of five games played)
• Fellow freshman DeVario Hudson has gotten off to a slow start in conference play averaging 5.4 ppg. on 30.2 percent shooting ... he showed signs of breaking out with 10 points in 28 minutes off the bench vs. Rhode Island ... Hudson had scored 29 points and grabbed 13 rebounds in his two games prior to the A-10 opener at Dayton (17 at Boston College and 12 vs. Youngstown State)
• Redshirt freshman Sean McKeon, who missed four late November-early December games with mononucleosis, made his first career start vs. Rhode Island (one rebound in nine minutes) ... he is averaging 12.4 min./g. in conference play ... he scored 8 points in 14 minutes at Dayton on Jan. 5
• Duquesne has used nine different starting lineups, with all 11 scholarship players starting at least once
• Duquesne is 4-3 this season when scoring 70 or more points and 0-11 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.