Jan. 23, 2007

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DUQUESNE HOME FOR THREE IN A ROW

Duquesne (5-11, 1-4), coming off a 101-87 loss at Massachusetts on Sunday, returns to Pittsburgh to open a three-game homestand against Dayton (13-5, 3-2) on Wednesday, Jan. 24 at 7:00 p.m. (KQV radio 1410 AM and on the internet at www.RedZoneMedia.com). The Dukes, who are looking to snap a three-game losing streak - and five-game home losing skid - are 2-5 at the Palumbo Center this season.

Dayton, which is 12-0 at UD Arena, is looking for its first road victory (0-5). Dayton, a 72-54 winner over Richmond on Saturday, is led by the A-10's second-leading scorer in 6-2 junior guard Brian Roberts (18.8 ppg.). Roberts, who has topped the 30-point mark twice, enters the DU game as one of the hottest players in the A-10. In his last five games, Roberts is averaging 23.4 ppg. and shooting 59 percent from the field including 16-of-28 (57.1%) from the 3-point arc. The Dukes will remain home to face Temple on Saturday and Xavier on Jan. 31.

DUKES AND FLYERS

Dayton leads the overall series 40-16, including a 18-3 advantage in Atlantic 10 regular-season games ... in games played at Pittsburgh, the Flyers hold a 15-10 advantage ... UD has won 18 of the past 19 meetings, including eight in a row at the Palumbo Center ... DU's last home win in the series was on Jan. 30, 1997 (80-71) ... this is the second time first-year Duquesne head coach Ron Everhart has faced the Flyers ... on Dec. 28, 1995 Everhart's McNeese State Cowboys dropped an 86-76 decision at UD Arena.

DUKES MINI PACK

The Dayton game, set for a 7:00 p.m. tip, will be followed by a Jan. 27 game against Temple and a Jan. 31 clash with Xavier. The Dayton, Temple & Xavier games (along with Charlotte on Feb. 21) make up the Dukes Mini Pack which includes a reserved seat ticket, hot dog, Pepsi and a premium gift for each contest. For tickets call 412-232-DUKE.

DUQUESNE LATELY

• Duquesne, which began the season with seven scholarship players, is currently competing with eight ... of the 10 total players on the current active roster, just one is over 6-6 (6-10 junior Kieron Achara)

• With the indefinite loss of 6-9 F/C Almamy Thiero (hospitalized with blood clots in his lungs on Jan. 19) head coach Ron Everhart unveiled a "1040" version of the Dukes at UMass, with all 10 members of the current active roster combining for 40 minutes of uptempo basketball ... each player in the 10-man group logged at least 11 minutes against the Minutemen as Everhart substituted a total of 44 times in the game (including entire five-man units four times in the game's first 11 minutes)

• DU forced an opponent season-high 23 turnovers and the Dukes' 87 points were a season high for a regulation game

• Reggie Jackson came off the bench to hit four 3-pointers on his way to a career-high 22 points at UMass

• Walk ons Jimmy Sherwood and Jason Duty both started and played 11 and 18 minutes respectively ... Sherwood entered the game having played two minutes this season.

HOME, NOT SO SWEET HOME

The Dukes, who opened the season with back-to-back Palumbo Center victories, enter the Dayton game with a five-game home losing streak. The Dukes are shooting 42.2 percent overall and 27.1 percent from the 3-point arc in their own building. On the other hand, visitors have made themselves at home, shooting a gaudy 56.6 percent from the field and 47.7 percent from the 3-point arc in seven games at the Palumbo Center. In Duquesne's two A-10 home losses, opponents shot a combined 64.5 percent (La Salle was 31-of-51, 60.8% and Fordham a Palumbo Center record 29-of-42, 69.0%).

AL OUT

Graduate student center Almamy Thiero (CHEER-o) was admitted to the hospital in the early hours of Jan. 19 for treatment of blood clots in his lungs. As of Jan. 23 he remained hospitalized. Thiero, who played 134 minutes in just 28 total games in four injury-plagued seasons at Memphis prior to transferring, eclipsed the minute total in DU's first 11 games of 2006-07. Thiero, who underwent arthroscopic surgery on his left knee on Oct. 9, was one of four players to play in each of the Dukes' first 15 games. The Mali, West Africa native played doubledigit minutes four times at Memphis. Despite recovering from the surgery, he played double digit minutes seven times at DU (including a career high-tying 22 twice).

QUICK NOTES

• Head coach Ron Everhart has used nine different starting lineups in the Dukes' first 16 games ... every player on the active roster (including five true freshmen) has started at least one time ... the fivesome of Robert Mitchell, Scott Grote, Kieron Achara, Aaron Jackson and Reggie Jackson is only group that has started more than three games (they've started four times) ... the average age of the 12 players currently dressing for games is 19.9

• DU, which has 236 team assists and 241 turnovers, has assisted on 58.3 percent of its field goals ... Duquesne is averaging 21.4 three-point attempts per game ... the Dukes broke out of a two-game 6-of-38 (15.8%) slump from the arc by hitting a season-high 12 three-pointers on a season-best 31 attempts at UMass ... Duquesne began the week second in the Atlantic 10 in free throw percentage (.727), third in assists (14.75 apg.) and fifth in assist-to-turnover ratio

• Eight different Dukes have scored in double digits at least once ... Robert Mitchell (eight times), Scott Grote (twice), Aaron Jackson, Kieron Achara and Reggie Jackson (once each) have all topped the 20-point mark

• Aaron Jackson, who leads the Atlantic 10 at 36.1 minutes per game, has logged 40 or more minutes in three of DU's past seven games ... the sophomore guard, who led all Atlantic 10 returnees with a 1.73-to-1 assist-to-turnover ratio last season, has 64 assists and 33 turnovers this year ... his 1.94-to-1 ratio & 4.00 assists per game rank fourth and third respectively in the A-10 ... Jackson, who averaged 3.2 rebounds per game last season, posted double-doubles in DU's first two games (12-11 vs. Youngstown State & 15-10 vs. UNC Asheville) ... he had five games with five or more rebounds in 27 outings last year, he has nine in 16 games this season ... Jackson leads the team with 42 offensive boards, including a spectacular put-back dunk at Boston College ... huiw 5.1 rpg is third on the team ... the Hartford, Conn. native put together one of the top stat lines by an A-10 player this season with 16 points, nine rebounds, seven assists and a career-high five steals at Saint Francis, Pa. ... he was named A-10 co-Player of the Week (Dec. 24) for his effort ... he followed that with 19 points and seven rebounds in DU's 98-93 OT win at Boston College to earn A-10 POW honors for the second consecutive week ... in the process, he became just the seventh player in school history to win conference Player of the Week honors twice in one season ... the Dukes are 5-3 when Jackson scores in double figures ... Jackson broke out of a two-game, 3-of-15 (5.5 ppg.) shooting slump with 11 points (4-of-9) at UMass ... he also had seven assists and seven boards versus the Minutemen

• 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 previous three weeks on Dec. 2 ... the Stirling, Scotland native began practicing on Monday, Dec. 4 and made an unexpected return at Pitt (18 minutes) two days later ... it was his first game action since Dec. 3, 2005 vs. Robert Morris (he played in just three games last season with a torn labrum in his left shoulder ... he had season-ending surgery last Dec. 15) ... Achara made his first start on Dec. 9 vs. West Virginia and went 6-of-6 from the field in scoring 15 points in 25 minutes and followed that by scoring 13 of his 17 points in the second half (8-of-12 from the field) at Niagara ... he topped both outings by hitting a game-winning 3-pointer from the top of the key with 0:00 left to give the Dukes a 72-71 win at Saint Francis, Pa. on Dec. 22 ... Achara finished with a game-high 22 points to go along with eight rebounds ... he also went 2-of-4 from the 3-point arc against the Red Flash ... Achara entered the Saint Francis game 1-of-14 from the arc for his career ... he added 17 points in 29 minutes before fouling out at Boston College ... Achara had a streak of four consecutive double-digit scoring games snapped at Saint Joseph's (1-of-8 for three points in 27 minutes) before bouncing back with 12 points on 4-of-6 shooting at Saint Louis ... he played a key role in limiting SLU 6-10, 270-pound center Ian Vouyoukas to six points and seven field goal attempts in 34 minutes ... he averaged 14.5 ppg., 8.5 rpg. & 3.5 bpg. in DU's two-game homestand vs. La Salle and Fordham and went 3-of-7 from the 3-point arc at UMass

• Freshman Robert Mitchell saw his streak of 12 consecutive games played ended when he was held out of the Saint Louis game for not being "accountable to himself and his teammates in practice," according to head coach Ron Everhart ... came off the bench to score 14 points in 23 minutes vs. La Salle and followed that with 23 more - including 20 in the second half - vs. Fordham and 22 at UMass ... Mitchell scored in double digits in his first nine collegiate games before being held to seven in 33 minutes at Saint Francis ... he has topped the 20-point mark in eight of Duquesne's past 14 games ... the Jan. 3 game at Saint Joseph's was his first with under 10 field goal attempts (4-of-8) ... the Dukes are 1-9 when Mitchell leads the team in scoring ... is one of two A-10 freshmen leading his team in scoring ... Richmond's Dan Geriot (12.5 ppg.) is the other

• Scott Grote hit 10-of-11 from the charity stripe, including 5-of-6 in overtime, in scoring 19 points in DU's come-from-behind 98-93 OT win at Boston College on Dec. 28 ... Grote, who is 6-of-40 from the 3-point arc in DU's past 10 games, made the third of the six makes count as he drilled a trey from the right wing with 8.2 seconds left in regulation to force an extra frame in the win at BC ... Grote, who hit 13 of his first 29 3-point attempts (44.8%) to open the season, scored 17 of his 19 at BC in the second half to earn A-10 Rookie of the Week honors on Dec. 31 ... the 3-pointer at BC was the second dramatic late-game shot for Grote, who converted a pair of free throws with 1.3 seconds left to give the Dukes a 77-76 win over UNC Asheville on Nov. 18 ... Grote has scored in double figures seven times ... the Dukes are 4-3 in those games ... had one of his better floor games with five assists and one turnover in 31 minutes at Saint Louis ... he has attempted just five field goals in the past two games ... he went scoreless for the first time at UMass (0-of-2 in 16 minutes before fouling out)

• Point guard Reggie Jackson hit 5-of-8 from the floor (including three 3-pointers in five attempts) in scoring 13 points at Saint Louis ... he scored DU's first eight points of the second half to pull the Dukes within two in what became a 73-63 win ... it was just his second double-digit outing in an 11 game span ... Jackson added four assists and seven steals against the Billikens ... the seven steals, which were the most by a DU player since Mike James had seven vs. La Salle on Jan. 31, 1998, tied the second-highest single game total in school history ... he followed that with just two points on 1-of-9 shooting (0-of-6 from the arc) in the loss to La Salle and two more points on 1-of-3 shooting vs. Fordham before exploding for a season-high 22 points on 8-of-12 shooting (4-of-6 from the 3-point arc) off the bench in the 101-87 loss at UMass ... Jackson had a solid game in the win at Boston College with six points, six rebounds, seven assists and three steals ... Duquesne is 4-1 when Jackson scores in double digits

• Sophomore guard Phillip Fayne made his first start since Nov. 25 at Saint Louis ... he scored eight points and handed out four assists in 26 minutes vs. the Billikens ... he also started against La Salle, before coming off the bench vs. Fordham

• Gary Tucker ended a three-game scoreless streak with seven points in 13 minutes at Boston College ... he hit 5-of-6 free throws - all in the final 5:16 - of DU's come-from-behind win at Saint Louis ... Tucker went 4-of-6 from the field in scoring 10 points vs. Fordham .... it was his first double-digit scoring game since Dec. 2 at Robert Morris (11 points)

• Walk-ons Jason Duty and Jimmy Sherwood made their first career starts at UMass ... Duty, who has played in seven games (three A-10) scored a season-high seven points in 18 minutes vs. the Minutemen ... Sherwood, who played a total to two minutes in two games prior to UMass, grabbed a rebound in 11 minutes of action

• DU is 4-0 when leading at the half.