Jan. 4, 2005

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DUKES OPEN ATLANTIC 10 PLAY AT DAYTON

Duquesne (3-10), coming off a 74-58 New Year's Eve home win over Youngstown State, opens Atlantic 10 play at West Division foe Dayton (6-4) on Wednesday, Jan. 5 at 7:00 p.m. (EST) (1410 KQV-AM & www.redzonemedia.com). The Dukes, who were picked to finish fifth in the A-10 West in a preseason poll of league coaches, are looking for their first road win (0-6). Dayton, which is 5-2 at home, was picked to finish third in the West.

Duquesne is coming off its top defensive performance of the season, giving up just 54 points and blocking 10 shots in limiting Youngstown State to 29.1 percent shooting. Dayton, which has won four in a row at home, lost in its last outing, 90-74 at Vanderbilt on Dec. 29.

DUKES & FLYERS

Dayton leads the overall series 38-15, including a 23-3 edge in games played at Dayton ... UD is one of three A-10 teams Duquesne has yet to beat on the road (La Salle and Richmond are the others) ... the Flyers also hold a 16-2 advantage in Atlantic 10 regular season games ... UD, winner of the last 16 in a row, has won the last 12 meetings at University of Dayton Arena ... DU's last series win at Dayton was on Feb. 1, 1983 by a 58-55 margin ... 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 A-10 Tournament at UD Arena ... DU's last series win was at home on Jan. 30, 1997 by an 80-71 count.

• Duquense will be playing without junior guard Jack Higgins (8.6 ppg.) who is back in Pittsburgh with pneumonia ... Higgins had played in every game this season (22.8 min./g.)
• DU is beginning its 28th Atlantic 10 season with a 14-13 record in league openers (4-9 when opening on the road)
• The Dukes enter the Dayton game shooting 79.3% (161-of-203) from the foul line ... the mark is the second-best in the nation
• Sophomore C Kieron Achara is coming off a career high-tying 5 block game vs. Youngstown State
• Duquesne's 10 rejections vs. YSU were its most since 12 vs. George Washington in 1990 ... Achara, who has a team-high four double-doubles, is shooting a team-best 53.6% ... Achara, who scored a career high 19 at Robert Morris on Dec. 22, scored a then career high 13 at Dayton last year
• Leading scorer, junior G Bryant McAllister is averaging 21.4 ppg. (53.6% from field) at home and 11.9 ppg. (41.6%) in eight games away from the Palumbo Center.

70 IS THE KEY

Duquesne is 0-7 this season when scoring under 70 points and 2-3 when scoring 70 or more. When holding opponents under 70 points, the Dukes are 3-0.

FOUL ME!

For the first time in four weeks, Duquesne has relinquished its NCAA lead in free throw shooting percentage. The Dukes, who hit 19-of-25 from the stripe in the New Year's Eve win over Youngstown State, were passed by Michigan State, which went 21-of-25 from the line in a Dec. 29 win over UNC Asheville. Duquesne, which enters the Dayton game shooting 79.3 percent, is shooting 81.6 percent from the line at home and 77.1 percent on the road (including neutral-site games). Duquesne has shot under 70 percent in a game just once this season (8-of-12, 66.7% at New Mexico on Nov. 14). Two Dukes have yet to miss a foul shot this season (Tyler Bluemling 5-5 and Jon Pawlak 8-8), while point guard Martin Osimani, who is at 92.9 percent (26-of-28), had a streak of 20 in a row snapped vs. YSU. Guard Bryant McAllister is also over 80 percent at an 82.7 (43-of-52). Six-nine center Kieron Achara, who has attempted the most free throws, is at 74.2% (46-of-62):

79.5%   178-224 Michigan State79.3%   161-203 DUQUESNE79.0%   124-157 Army77.8%   158-203 Morehead State77.4%   178-230 Loyola Marymount

DUQUESNE QUICK NOTES

• Kieron Achara, who scored a career-high 19-points at Robert Morris on Dec. 22, followed that by tying his career best with 5 blocked shots vs. Youngstown State last Friday ... the Stirling, Scotland native, who hit all six of his shots from the floor and went 7-of-8 from the line vs. the Colonials, was 4-of-7 from the field and 6-of-8 from the line in adding 14 points vs. YSU ... he has a total of eight blocks in his last two games ... Achara, who is shooting a team-best 53.6 percent from the field, 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)
• Martin Osimani needs one more 10-assist game for the school career record ... Osimani, who will be playing his 43rd career game at 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 6.9 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 20 games to reach his current 90 point total ... Osimani saw a streak of 20 consecutive free throws made snapped in the Youngstown State game ... Osimani, who is 26-of-28 from the line this season, had a streak of 17 free throws made in a row last year
• Senior guard Tyler Bluemling has scored 50 points in 13 games this season ... his point total in 17 appearances last year was 24 ... he has 26 assists and 15 turnovers as the back-up at the point guard spot
• Jack Higgins' streak of 36 straight games played will be snapped at Dayton ... Higgins was diagnosed with pneumonia on Sunday and did not make the trip to Dayton
• Bryant McAllister, who has scored in double figures in 11 of DU's 13 games, has topped the 20 point mark three times this season (24 vs. Lafayette, 21 vs. Akron & a career-high 30 vs. UMBC)
• Freshman Chauncey Duke has just three turnovers in 207 total minutes on the season ... Duke, who pulled down a career-high 7 rebounds vs. Youngstown State, has not turned it over since the second half of the UMBC game on Dec. 11 (that's no turnovers in his last four games, 74 total minutes)
• Fellow freshman DeVario Hudson has scored 29 points and grabbed 13 rebounds in his last two games (17 at Boston College and 12 vs. Youngstown State) ... he sat out the Robert Morris game on Dec. 22 as a penalty for returning late from Christmas break ... Hudson is shooting a team-best 52.9 percent (9-of-17)
• Redshirt freshman Sean McKeon, who missed four late November-early December games with mononucleosis, has scored 16 points on 8-of-10 shooting in his last two games ... he was 5-of-5 from the field with 10 points in 11 minutes at Boston College and went 3-of-5 with 6 points, 3 rebounds and 2 blocks in a career-high 21 minutes vs. Youngstown State ... he did not play at Robert Morris (the game between B.C. and YSU)
• Duquesne used seven different starting lineups in 10 games, with 10 different players starting at least once during the non-conference season.

A-10 QUICK FACTS

Duquesne is 150-267 (.360) in regular season Atlantic 10 play since 1976-77 ... the Dukes are 16-26 in 27 A-10 Tournament appearances ... overall DU is 103-105 at home (.495), and 47-162 (.225) on the road in league play ... the Dukes have had three winning seasons (1980, `81 & `91) and three .500 seasons (1978, `86 & `94) in conference play ... the 1976-77 Dukes earned an NCAA Tournament bid by winning the Eastern 8 Tournament.

ON THE ROAD

Duquesne is 0-6 on the road and 1-1 at neutral sites so far this season. The Dukes went 3-9 on the road and 1-0 in neutral site games last year, with four of the losses coming by a combined 15 points (the first three in overtime). The three road wins - all of which came in conference play (at Rhode Island, at St. Bonaventure and at Xavier) - were the most by a DU team in a season and conference season since the 1994-95 team went 5-8 on the road overall and 3-5 in the A-10. Duquesne has yet to beat three current Atlantic 10 members on the road: Dayton (0-9), La Salle (0-9) and Richmond (0-3). DU's top road victims in league play are: Rhode Island (9 wins, 2003-04 last), St. Bonaventure (8 wins, 2003-04 last), George Washington (6 wins, 1999-00 last) and UMass (5 wins, 1988-89 last).