Dec. 6, 2006
DUQUESNE (2-4) at (#2 AP & ESPN/USA Today) PITTSBURGH (8-0)
Wednesday, Dec. 6, 2006 • 9:00 p.m. (EST)
Petersen Events Center (12,508) • Pittsburgh, Pa. TELEVISION: Fox Sports Net Pittsburgh & ESPN Regional/Full Court with John Sanders and Bob Wenzel
DUQUESNE RADIO: KQV-AM (1410) with Ray Goss & George Von Benko
INTERNET BROADCAST: www.RedZoneMedia.com
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DUKES AND PANTHERS MEET FOR 75TH TIME
Duquesne (2-4), coming off a 73-72 loss at Robert Morris on Saturday, plays its first of back-to-back Big East opponents when it makes the 2.15 mile trip down Forbes Avenue to face No. 2 (AP) Pittsburgh (8-0) at 9:00 on Wed., Dec. 6 (FSN Pittsburgh television, KQV radio 1410 AM and on the internet at redzonemedia.com). This is the 75th meeting between the two city schools in a series that dates back to 1932. It is also just the ninth time one of the two teams enters the game ranked nationally. Pitt, currently No. 2 in the AP poll, matches the highest ranking by either team in series history (Pitt was also ranked No. 2 when it faced Duquesne on Jan. 11, 1988). The Panthers have been nationally ranked for three of the past four meetings. Duquesne, under first-year coach Ron Everhart, enters the game with eight available scholarship players - one of whom is taller than 6-6. In addition to 6-7 forwards Sam Ashaolu and Stuard Baldonado, who are sidelined with injuries resulting from a Sept. 17 shooting, 6-10 forward/center Kieron Achara is working his way back into playing shape after stress fractures were discovered in his left foot on Nov. 10. Achara, who missed last year's Pitt game with a season-ending shoulder injury, was cleared to begin limited practice work on Dec. 4. DU hosts WVU on Dec. 9 in its lone home game between Nov. 22 & Jan. 10.
DUQUESNE LATELY
The Dukes are in the midst of a stretch that sees them on the road for all but one game (Dec. 9 vs. West Virginia) between Nov. 22 & Jan. 10 (that's eight-of-nine away from home) ... Duquesne is currently competing with eight scholarship players, just one of which is taller than 6-6 ... that player - 6-9 Almamy Thiero - has played 71 minutes in DU's first six games ... Thiero, who is recovering from Oct. 9 arthroscopic knee surgery, played a total of 134 minutes in four seasons at Memphis prior to transferring as a graduate student ... a freshman has led DU in scoring in each of the team's first six games ... 6-6 freshman Robert Mitchell, DU's first two-time A-10 Rookie of the Week since 1998-99 (Nov. 26 & Dec. 4) & Scott Grote, who is also 6-6, have led the team three times each ... Mitchell is averaging a team-best 18.8 ppg. and Grote 15.0 ppg. ... Mitchell (9-of-17) and Grote (13-of-29) are a combined 22-of-46 (47.8%) from the 3-point arc through six games.
THE SERIES
This is the 75th meeting between Duquesne and Pitt in a series that dates back to Jan. 13, 1932 ... Pitt holds a 43-31 advantage overall ... this is the Dukes' third appearance at the Petersen Events Center ... Duquesne helped Pitt christen the building on Nov. 23, 2002 (an 82-67 No. 5 (AP) Pitt win) ... on Dec. 4, 2004, the 13th (AP) ranked Panthers defeated the Dukes 87-57 at the Petersen Events Center ... 2006-07 marks the 37th consecutive season the two teams have met ... the last time Duquesne and Pitt did not play was in 1969-70 ... DU snapped an eight-game Pitt win streak with an 80-69 win on Feb. 5, 1998 and won again at Mellon Arena on Dec. 21, 2000 by a 71-70 count, giving the Dukes wins in two of the past nine meetings ... Pitt has won the past five.
EVERHART VS. THE NEXT TWO - PITT & WVU
This is the first game against Pitt for first-year Duquesne head coach Ron Everhart. Everhart, a native of Fairmont, W.Va., has faced DU's Dec. 9 opponent, West Virginia, twice before. On Dec. 4, 1999, Everhart's McNeese State team lost to WVU 93-84 at Wheeling. Coincidentally, the 1999-00 Mountaineers were coming off a 94-80 loss to Duquesne in the previous game - also in Wheeling. On Nov. 29, 2003, Everhart's Northeastern Huskies traveled to Morgantown and handed WVU a rare non-conference home defeat, 91-84. Northeastern finished the 2003-04 season 19-11, while John Beilein's Mountaineers went 17-14 including two wins in the NIT. Everhart is 2-7 all-time vs. the Big East, with all nine games on the road. Everhart's other Big East win came on Jan. 5, 2003 when he led Northeastern - minus two starters - to Chestnut Hill, Mass. and posted one of the biggest road wins in school history by defeating Boston College 72-67. It marked just the third time in 35 meetings that Northeastern defeated BC (it was also the last meeting between the two schools).
QUICK NOTES
Head coach Ron Everhart has used four different starting lineups in the Dukes first six games ... eight different players, including three true freshmen, have started at least once ... the average age of the 12 players currently dressing for games is 19.8 ... DU, which has 90 team assists and 84 turnovers on the season, has assisted on 56.2 percent of its field goals ... the Robert Morris game marked the first time the Dukes had more turnovers (21) than assists (13) this season ... Duquesne is averaging 21.5 three-point attempts per game ... freshman Robert Mitchell has scored in double digits in all six games ... he has topped the 20-point mark in three of Duquesne's past four games ... freshman Scott Grote and sophomore Aaron Jackson have scored 10 or more four times each ... seven different players have scored in double digits at least once ... Mitchell (three times), Grote (twice) and Aaron Jackson (once) have all topped the 20-point mark ... Aaron Jackson, who averaged 3.2 rebounds per game last season, is the Dukes' second-leading rebounder at 5.5 rpg. ... the 6-2, 180-pounder posted double-doubles in DU's first two games (12-11 vs. Youngstown State & 15-10 vs. UNC Asheville) ... he has a total of 12 boards in DU's past four games ... Jackson had five games with five or more rebounds in 27 outings last year ... as a team DU has been outrebounded in all six games this season ... 6-10 junior forward/center Kieron Achara, who was diagnosed with three stress fractures in his left foot on Nov. 10, discarded the protective boot he had worn for the past three weeks on Dec. 2 ... the Stirling, Scotland is scheduled to begin a gradual return to practice on Monday, Dec. 4 ... his return to playing date is to be determined.
DU VS. NUMBER TWO
Duquesne has faced the second-ranked (AP) team in the nation a total of four times in its history. On Mar. 22, 1952, in front of a crowd of 13,641 at Chicago Stadium, No. 2 Illinois defeated No. 4 Duquesne 74-68 in the NCAA East Regional to advance to the Final Four. Jim Tucker scored a game-high 29 points in a losing effort. On March 1, 1961, Duquesne - playing without injured star Mike Rice - used 31 points from Ned Twyman to upset second-ranked St. Bonaventure 79-74 in overtime at Pitt Field House. DU President Rev. Henry J. McAnulty, caught up in the excitement of the win over the 21-2 Bonnies, cancelled the next day's classes. Red Manning's Dukes, 12-7 at the time of the game, finished 14-7 that season. The Bonnies lost in the NCAA East Regional Semifinal to Wake Forest. On Dec. 17, 1982, Jim Satalin's first Duquesne team dropped a 55-42 decision to No. 2 Kentucky in the first round of the Kentucky Tournament at Lexington, Ky. The 1982-83 Wildcats advanced to the NCAA tournament Elite Eight before losing 80-68 in overtime to Louisville. Duquesne's last game against a second-ranked team was on Jan. 11, 1988 against Pitt. Demetrius Gore scored 21, Charles Smith 17 and Jerome Lane 12 for the 10-1 Panthers. DU, 5-8 at the time of the game, finished 11-21. The 1987-88 Panthers, seeded second in the NCAA Midwest Regional, advanced to the second round before dropping an 80-74 overtime decision to seventh-seeded Vanderbilt at Lincoln, Neb.
DUQUESNE VS. THE AP's No. 2 TEAM
DATE OPPONENT DU RANK SITE W/L SCOREMar. 22, 1952 #2 Illinois DU #4 N L 68-74Mar. 1, 1961 #2 St. Bonaventure (OT) H W 79-74Dec. 17, 1982 #2 Kentucky A L 42-55Jan. 11, 1988 #2 Pitt A L 58-85
A "BIG" PROBLEM
Duquesne - which has played the first six games of the season with a roster that includes just one player over 6-6 - has been hurt by its lack of size, especially against teams with a marquee big man. In the Nov. 20 87-82 overtime loss to Northern Illinois, NIU's 6-11 center James Hughes - a preseason All-MAC pick, hit 11-of-12 shots on the way to a game-high 25 points. In the 67-53 loss to Oakland on Nov. 22, the Golden Grizzlies' 6-7, 275-pound center, Shawn Hopes, went 9-of-10 from the floor from close range in scoring 20 points. Hughes struck again with 22 points on 8-of-11 shooting in the rematch at Northern Illinois on Nov. 25. In three games against teams against Duquesne, sizable centers (Hughes twice and Hopes once) have gone a combined 28-of-33 (84.8%) and opponents have shot a combined 58.9 percent (86-of-146) from the field.
FGs AND FTs
Duquesne has dropped its past two games despite having more field goals than its opponent on both occasions. In an 85-74 loss at Northern Illinois, DU had 29 field goals to 26 for NIU. In Saturday's 73-72 loss at Robert Morris, the Dukes had two more field goals (including five more 3-point goals) than RMU. Where has the difference come? At the free throw line. In the past two games, Duquesne has been outscored by nearly 15 points per game (29 total points) from the charity stripe. In the past two games - both on the road, opponents are 41-of-55 from the line, while the Dukes have gone 12-of-19. Scott Grote, who leads the team with 35 free throw attempts, has attempted just two free throws in DU's past two games. For the season, opponents have made five fewer free throws (95-of-132) than Duquesne has attempted (76-of-100).
MITCHELL JOINS SELECT GROUP
Robert Mitchell is the first Duquesne player to earn Atlantic 10 Rookie of the Week more than once in the same season since Wayne Smith in 1998-99. Mitchell, who was named ROW on Nov. 26 & Dec. 4 is the eighth DU player to win the award multiple times. Tony Petrarca (1987), Tom Pipkins (1994) and Kevin Price (1995) are the only players in school history to be named Rookie of the Week more than two times in the same season:
DU's MULTIPLE A-10 ROOKIE OF THE WEEK HONOREES
1995 Kevin Price 4 times1994 Tom Pipkins 4 times1987 Tony Petrarca 4 times2007 Robert Mitchell 2 times1999 Wayne Smith 2 times1992 Ganon Baker 2 times1985 Collins Dobbs 2 times1984 Ron Stevenson 2 times
DUQUESNE UNIVERSITY TENTATIVE STARTERS AT PITTSBURGH
| # | P | Name | Ht | Yr | Pts | Reb | G/GS | Hometown | Quick Facts |
| 23 | F | Robert Mitchell | 6-6 | Fr. | 18.8 | 6.5 | 6/5 | Brooklyn, N.Y. | 26.0 ppg. in last 2g.; top scoring freshman in A-10 |
| 30 | F | Scott Grote | 6-6 | Fr. | 15.0 | 4.0 | 6/6 | Centerville, Ohio | Has led team in scoring three times; has att. 35 FT's |
| 22 | G | Gary Tucker | 6-0 | Jr. | 6.2 | 1.6 | 5/1 | Pensacola, Fla. | Started (11 pts. & 5 reb. in 29 min.) at Robert Morris |
| 1 | G | Aaron Jackson | 6-2 | So. | 12.7 | 5.5 | 6/6 | Hartford, Conn. | Leads all Atlantic 10 players in minutes/g. (36.7) |
| 3 | G | Reggie Jackson | 5-10 | Jr. | 7.2 | 1.2 | 6/5 | Hogansville, Ga. | Second on team with 23 assists; came off bench at RMU |
