Feb. 17, 2006

TELEVISION: Atlantic 10 Network with Jeff Piecoro & Steve Wolf
DUQUESNE RADIO: KQV-AM (1410) with Ray Goss & George Von Benko
INTERNET BROADCAST: www.RedZoneMedia.com

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DUQUESNE HEADS TO XAVIER

Duquesne (3-20, 1-11), coming off a 70- 57 home loss to Saint Louis on Wednesday, heads West to face Xavier (15-7, 6-4) in an Atlantic 10 Television Network game on Saturday, Feb. 18 at Noon (Fox Sports Net Pittsburgh locally; also on KQV-AM 1410 radio and on the internet at redzonemedia.com). Duquesne, which is 1-9 on the road, is looking to snap a five-game losing streak. Xavier, which is 10-3 at home, is coming off a 84-64 win over Fordham on Wednesday. This is the third of three consecutive home games for Xavier. It is also the Musketeers' second game without leading scorer 6-8, 244-pound Brian Thornton (15.3 ppg., 64% from the field) who was lost for the season after fracturing his ankle in XU's 79-70 loss to La Salle on Feb. 11.

DUKES AND MUSKETEERS

Xavier leads the overall series 23-15 ... in games played at Cincinnati, the Musketeers lead 12- 6 ... in Atlantic 10 regular season play, XU leads 15-4 ... last year, Xavier snapped a twogame Duquesne series win streak with wins at Cincinnati (73-52) and at Pittsburgh (83-72) ... last year at Cincinnati, Bryant McAllister's 27 points were not enough as Xavier outscored injury-depleted Duquesne 32-13 over the final 15 minutes to pull away for a 73-52 victory ... DU played without F Chauncey Duke (stomach virus) and G Jack Higgins (pneumonia) ... in addition, starting center Kieron Achara suffered a bruised thigh at pregame shootaround and was scoreless in 17 minutes (he played just five minutes in the second half).

DUQUESNE LATELY

• Senior guard Bryant McAllister has scored 20 or more points in five of Duquesne's last seven games (22.6 ppg. over that span) ... he enters the Xavier game tied for the Atlantic 10 scoring lead with La Salle's Steven Smith (both at 19.3 ppg.) ... McAllister is also second in the league with a 4.64 assist per game average ... the last DU player to lead the league in scoring was Derrick Alston in 1993-94 ... only two players in league history have led the league in both scoring and assists in the same season (Marques Green of St. Bonaventure in 2003 and Shawnta Rogers of George Washington in 1999) ... McAllister enters the Xavier game 11th on Duquesne's all-time leading scorer's list with 1,458 points ... he needs two to pass Rick Suder and move into the No. 10 spot and 28 to pass No. 9 Kevin Price
• Duquesne, which began the season with a 12-man roster has been dressing nine players for the A-10 season
• Senior Keith Gayden returned to the starting lineup vs. Saint Louis after coming off the bench in the previous four games ... he has played the last five games with his sprained left (shooting) wrist heavily taped ... Gayden injured the wrist when he stumbled while running up a flight of stairs in the Student Union on Feb. 1.

TWO YEAR'S AGO AT CINTAS CENTER

On Feb. 28, 2004, Duquesne - behind 21 points from Bryant McAllister - defeated Xavier 74-68 to become just the fifth team in the then four-year history of the Cintas Center to come away with a victory. The win dropped Xavier to 17-10 overall and 8-6 in the Atlantic 10 and at the time was viewed as a serious blow to the Musketeers' NCAA Tournament hopes. Little did anyone know that the loss would be Xavier's last until a 66-63 setback vs. No. 6 Duke in the NCAA Tournament Atlanta Regional Final.

HE LIKES THIS PLACE

Don't be surprised if Bryant McAllister is the first player on the bus for Duquesne's trip to Cincinnati. McAllister, who enters Saturday's Xavier game tied for first in the Atlantic 10 with a 19.3 ppg. scoring average, is averaging 17.3 ppg. in three career games at the Cintas Center. Last year, he scored over half of Duquesne's points (27) in a 73-52 loss and two year's ago he tallied 21 in a 74-68 Dukes win. In three Cintas games, McAllister is shooting 47.2 percent from the field (17-of-36) and 58.3 percent (7-of-12) from the 3- point arc. In six career games vs. the Musketeers, McAllister is averaging 15.5 ppg. and shooting 56.5 percent (13-of-23) from the 3-point arc. In his last three games vs. Xavier, he has scored 21, 27 and 20 points.

SAINT LOUIS LEFTOVERS

Saint Louis outrebounded Duquesne 37-24 and outscored the Dukes 30-10 in the paint ... 16 of SLU's rebounds came at the offensive end ... starting center Keith Gayden fouled out with 11:37 remaining ... it was the first time Gayden started since spraining his left wrist the day of the Feb. 1 La Salle game (span of four g.) ... the Dukes held Saint Louis scoreless for a 6:05 span of the second half while making a 16-2 run to cut the SLU lead from a game-high 20 to six ... Bryant McAllister, who entered the game leading the Atlantic 10 with a 19.3 ppg. scoring average, finished with 20 ... four different SLU players guarded him in the first 12 minutes of the game ... McAllister has scored 20 or more in five of DU's last seven games ... his scoring average over that span is 22.6 ppg.