Feb. 26, 2007

AKRON (21-6, 11-3) at DUQUESNE (10-16, 6-9)
Monday, Feb. 26, 2007 • 7:00 p.m. (EST)
A.J. Palumbo Center (5,358) • Pittsburgh, Pa.

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DUKES CLOSE OUT HOME SEASON VS. AKRON

Duquesne (10-16, 6-9) completes the home portion of the 2006-07 schedule with a rare late-February non-conference game against the Mid-American Conference's Akron Zips (21-6, 11-3) on Monday, February 26 at 7:00 p.m. (KQV radio 1410 AM; on the web at www.RedZoneMedia.com). The Dukes, who saw their losing streak reach five in a 97-94 home loss to St. Bonaventure on Saturday, haven't played a non-conference game this late in the season since hosting Florida Atlantic on Feb. 26, 1995.

Akron, which received votes in both the AP and ESPN/USA Today polls last week, is coming off a 93-87 win over Bowling Green on Saturday. The Zips, who are currently tied for first in the MAC East with an 11-3 record, are winning by an average margin of +14.9 ppg.

Duquesne, currently in 11th place in the A-10, clinched a spot in the 2007 Atlantic 10 Championship (March 7-10) with a La Salle loss to George Washington on Saturday. Duquesne, which has one league game remaining at George Washington on March 3, can finish no lower than 11th and with some help could finish as high as seventh. Every team other than DU and Rhode Island has two league games remaining. In an oddity of sorts, Duquesne won't have anyone to honor on what is traditionally "Senior Day." The lone player who would be playing his final game is injured graduate student center Almamy Thiero who is currently out of the country visiting relatives.

DUQUESNE LATELY

• Duquesne, picked to finish 13th in the 14-team Atlantic 10 in a preseason poll of league coaches and media (in voting done prior to a Sept. 17 campus shooting that saw five DU players injured), clinched a spot in the 2007 Championship on Saturday when La Salle lost to George Washington ... the Dukes have one A-10 game remaining at George Washington on March 3

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

• Achara is averaging 19.0 ppg., 9.1 rpg. and 3.1 blocks per game in the month of February (a span of seven g.) ... Achara, who has 12 blocked shots in his past three games, needs 11 rejections to break the single-season blocked shot record of 60 set and tied by Derrick Alston in 1991-92 & 1992-93

• Freshman forward Robert Mitchell (team-high 16.68 ppg.), a five-time A-10 Rookie of the Week, is on pace to top the school freshman record of 16.64 ppg. set by Wayne Smith in 1998-99.

THE SERIES VS. AKRON

This is the 20th meeting in a series that dates back to New Year's Eve 1946 (a 48-43 Duquesne win at Akron) ... the Dukes hold a 12-7 edge in the series, however Akron has closed the gap by winning the past five ... in games played at Pittsburgh, Duquesne leads 6-2 ... three of the past seven games have been decided in overtime ... in the last meeting at Pittsburgh on Dec. 1, 2004, the Zips defeated the Dukes 77-65 as Akron guard Bubba Walther led a 3-point barrage by hitting 5-of-9 from beyond the arc on his way to a team-high 15 points ... Akron connected on 14-of-26 3-point attempts in the victory ... last year, Akron outscored Duquesne 20-5 over the final 6:30 to turn a three-point game into a 79-61 Zips win at Rhodes Arena ... Akron also defeated Duquesne 84-82 in overtime on Nov. 28, 1998, giving them wins in their last two trips to the Palumbo Center ... Akron is in its third season under head coach Keith Dambrot ... Dambrot's father, Sid, helped Duquesne to a 70-15 record and three NIT and one NCAA appearance from 1952 through 1954.

40 MINUTES OF HEAVEN

With loss of 6-9 F/C Almamy Thiero (blood clots in lungs), head coach Ron Everhart unveiled a "1040" version of the Dukes on Jan. 21 at UMass with 10 players combining for 40 minutes of uptempo basketball. The Dukes, who were 5-10 and averaging 68.6 ppg. at the time of the change, have averaged 91.7 ppg. in going 5-6 since. Each of the 10 active players on the roster is averaging between 15.4 and 24.0 min./g. as Everhart has substituted a total of 633 times (57.5 subs/g.) - including entire five-man units 101 times (that's just over nine per game). In the process, the Dukes posted the school's first five-game win streak since 1985-86 & first five-game conference win streak since 1980-81. Since adopting its new style of play the Dukes have compiled a laundry list of accomplishments:

• This is the first Duquesne team to ever score 90 or more points in four (and five) consecutive games.
• Swept Dayton, Temple & Xavier in the same season for the first time in school history.
• Posted the highest point total by a Duquesne team in the 48-game series versus Temple (96-92), the 96-game series with St. Bonaventure (111-92) and the 59-game series versus La Salle (111-105).
• Set a new road scoring record in a 111-92 win at St. Bonaventure. The previous record for points in a road game was in a 109-66 win at Geneva on Feb. 18, 1953. The 111 points is the second-highest point total in the 40-plus year history of St. Bonaventure's Reilly Center (only No. 3 (AP) Saint Joseph's scored more in a 114-63 victory at SBU on Jan. 24, 2004).
• The 111 points at St. Bonaventure, in addition to being DU's highest point total in 19 years, was Duquesne's first 100-point game in 10 years (the last coming in a 102-92 win over Radford on Jan. 4, 1997) it is also the most points scored by an A-10 team this season.
• The 19-point margin of victory at St. Bonaventure eclipsed a 17-point win (72-55) at Rhode Island on Jan. 21, 2004 as the largest margin of victory ever by a Duquesne team in an Atlantic 10 road game.
• Followed the St. Bonaventure game with 111 more points in a 111-105 win at La Salle, giving the Dukes their first back-to-back 100-point games since 1988-89.
• Tied the 26-year-old school record for consecutive Atlantic 10 wins (five) with the win at La Salle (the record was set in 1980-81).
• All ten players have scored in eight of the 11 games since the change.

FANTASTIC FEBRUARY

Kieron Achara has been as hot as any player in the Atlantic 10 in the nth of February. In seven February games, the 6-10 center is averaging 19.0 points, 9.1 rebounds and 3.1 blocked shots per game. The impressive thing is that Achara, who has posted three double-doubles over that span, has put up those numbers in an economical 22.9 minutes per game in Duqeusne's two-platoon system. Achara, who missed the first six games of 2006-07 with stress fractures in his foot, needs 11 more rejections to break the school single-season record of 60 set by Derrick Alston in 1991-92 and matched by Alston in 1992-93.

QUICK NOTES

• Every player on the active roster (including five true freshmen, two of whom are walk ons) is averaging at least 15.4 minutes since the Dukes adopted a pressing, uptempo style of play prior to the Jan. 21 UMass game (n 11-game span) ... all 10 players have scored in double digits at least once this season ... nine of the 10 hit at least one 3-pointer in the win at St. Bonaventure and the loss to Rhode Island ... DU, who earlier this season scored 12 points in a half (the first half at Saint Joseph's on Jan. 3), has scored 50 in a half seven times in the past 11 games ... DU's 222 points in wins at St. Bonaventure and at La Salle was the highest total in back-to-back games since the Dukes defeated Chicago State 104-64 and Saint Peter's 127-85 in succession on Feb. 15 & 17, 1973 (231 total points) ... DU, which has 417 team assists and 386 turnovers, has assisted on 58.0 percent of its field goals ... the Dukes are 118-of-327 (36.1%) from the 3-point arc in their past 11 games after shooting 30.1 percent in their first 15 ... Duquesne enters this week first in the Atlantic 10 in scoring offense (78.5), free throw percentage (and seventh nationally at .762) and assists (16.04 apg.), fourth in steals (7.27), second in turnover margin & fourth in assist-to-turnover ratio ... Robert Mitchell (11 times), Kieron Achara (five times), Aaron Jackson (three times) and Scott Grote & Reggie Jackson (twice each) have all topped the 20-point mark ... Reggie Jackson has made his last 21 free throw attempts (last miss was Feb. 3 at St. Bonaventure).

• #1 - AARON JACKSON: Aaron Jackson, who led all Atlantic 10 returnees with a 1.73-to-1 assist-to-turnover ratio last season, has a team-high 97 assists this year ... his 1.8-to-1 ratio ranks fourth in the A-10, his 3.73 assists/g. rank seventh and 1.38 steals rank ninth 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 13 in 26 games this season ... he has led DU in assists a team-best 15 times and is second to Kieron Achara for most times leading the team in rebounding (9) ... Jackson, who splits time at both guard spots, leads the team with 59 offensive boards, including a spectacular put-back dunk at Boston College ... the Hartford, Conn. native put together one of the top stat lines by an A-10 player this season with 16 points, 9 rebounds, 7 assists and a career-high 5 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 7 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 ... Jackson topped the 20-point mark for the second time this season (and second time of his career) with 20 points on 8-of-9 shooting in the win over Temple ... he added 7 rebounds and 6 assists vs. the Owls ... Jackson scored a career-high 22 vs. Northern Illinois (9-of-11 from the field) on Nov. 20 ... scored 15 of his career high-tying 22 points in the final 2:34 at La Salle to help the Dukes erase a seven-point deficit in a 111-105 win ... went scorless for just the third time in 52 career games vs. Charlotte (0-of-4) ... did contribute a team-high 9 boards vs. the 49ers.

• #2 - KIERON ACHARA: Six-ten junior forward/center Kieron Achara, who was diagnosed with three stress fractures in his left foot on Nov. 10, discarded the protective boot he wore for three weeks on Dec. 2 ... he 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. - and end a seven-game losing streak - 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 ... 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 in a 73-63 win at SLU ... went 3-of-7 from the 3-point arc in scoring 17 at UMass ... blocked four shots, including a big rejection of a Brian Roberts shot with under 10 seconds left, in the 93-89 win over Dayton ... tied his career high with 22 points (7-of-9 from the field and 8-of-9 from the foul line) in 26 minutes vs. Temple ... his two free throws with 38 seconds left gave the Dukes the lead for good against the Owls ... posted his first double-double of the season (and 10th of his career) with a then career-high 25 points and 11 rebounds in 22 minutes at St. Bonavneture ... followed that with a double-double at La Salle (17-11 with 4 blocks) ... just missed his third and fourth-straight double-doubles with 16-9 vs. Rhode Island and 13-9 at Richmond before going for 20 and 11 at Fordham ... tied his career high with five rejections to go along with 16 points vs. Charlotte ... set a new career high with 26 vs. St. Bonaventure on Feb. 24 ... his 131 career blocks rank second on DU's all-time list & his .530 field goal pct. (293-of-552) ranks fourth all-time.

• #3 - REGGIE JACKSON: Point guard Reggie Jackson ranks second on the team with 89 assists (has 58 turnovers for a 1.5-to-1 ratio) ... also second on the team with 33 steals ... has eight five-plus assist games with a high of eight vs. Charlotte ... scored a career-high 23 points in 23 minutes in the win at La Salle on Feb. 7 ... went 7-of-7 from the foul line, including 4-of-4 in the final 1:20 to help seal the win ... added four steals, including a big deflection that led to an Aaron Jackson dunk with 1:05 left against the Explorers ... hit 8-of-12 shots from the field, including 4-of-6 from the 3-point arc in scoring 22 points in 26 minutes at UMass ... added 14 in 21 minutes - including four clutch free throws in the final nine seconds - versus Temple ... hit 5-of-8 from the floor (3-of-5 from 3-point) 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 ... 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 ... had a solid game in the win at Boston College with six points, six rebounds, seven assists and three steals ... has 10 double-digit scoring games and eight games with three or fewer points ... has hit his last 21 free throw attempts (over the past six games) ... DU is 7-3 when Jackson scores in double digits.

• #23 - ROBERT MITCHELL: Freshman Robert Mitchell has been named A-10 Rookie of the Week a league-high - and Duquesne school record - five times ... his 16.7 ppg. scoring average is challenging the school freshman single-season mark of 16.6 set by Wayne Smith in 1998-99 ... 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 ... has scored 20 or more in five of 13 games since ... saw a streak of three consecutive 20-point games ended with 10 in the win over Temple before bouncing back to score 26 - including 19 in 11 first-half minutes - against Xavier ... was 4-of-4 from the 3-point arc vs. the Musketeers ... Mitchell, who has scored in double digits in 22 of 25 games, had 10 or more in his first nine collegiate games before being held to seven in 33 minutes at Saint Francis ... has topped the 20-point mark a team-high 11 times and led the team in scoring on 13 occasions ... his 29 points at Robert Morris on Dec. 2 is the fourth-highest total ever by a Duquesne freshman ... scored 17 of his team-high 24 in the second half to help the Dukes erase a 10-point deficit in a 93-89 win over Dayton on Jan. 24 ... is one of two A-10 freshmen leading his team in scoring ... Richmond's Dan Geriot (11.1 ppg.) is the other.

• #30 - SCOTT GROTE: Scott Grote (Grote-EE) scored 14 of his game high-tying 23 points in the second half to help the Dukes rally from an eight-point deficit to defeat Youngstown State 81-75 in the season opener ... his 23 points tied for third-most by a Duquesne player in his first varsity game ... Grote, who missed four free throws in the final 43 seconds, was three shy of tying the record of 26 set by Tom Pipkins versus Robert Morris in the 1993-94 opener ... as one of three freshman starters in the season opener vs. YSU, Grote added nine rebounds and four assists in 34 minutes ... he converted two game-deciding free throws with 1.3 seconds left and intercepted the ensuing inbounds pass to give the Dukes a 77-76 win over UNC Asheville on Nov. 18 ... he also hit a game-tying 3-pointer with 8.2 seconds left to force overtime in a 98-93 win at Boston College ... Grote scored 17 of his 19 after the half in helping the Dukes to the school's first-ever win in an Atlantic Coast Conference arena and earn A-10 Rookie of the Week honors ... Grote, who hit 13 of his first 29 3-point attempts (44.8%) to open the season, went through a 13-game 9-of-50 stretch, before converting 8-of-20 in DU's past seven games ... had one of his better floor games with five assists and one turnover in 31 minutes at Saint Louis ... has scored in double digits in six of DU's past 10 games ... had 13 points, eight rebounds, four assists and three steals in 25 minutes versus Xavier and 11 points and six boards in 19 minutes at St. Bonaventure ... the SBU game was his first with more than one 3-pointer (2-of-5) since Dec. 2 at RMU (3-of-4) ... went 3-of-3 from the arc at Fordham.

• #20 - PHILLIP FAYNE: Sophomore guard Phillip Fayne started four of the first five games of the season ... scored eight points and handed out four assists in 26 minutes in a start at Saint Louis ... also started against La Salle before the Dukes adopted their new playing style ... scored in double digits in each of the first two games of the season (11 vs. Youngstown State & 10 vs. UNC Asheville) ... scored eight in 18 minutes vs. URI ... had a season-high three steals vs. Charlotte ... is 7-of-18 (38.9%) from the arc in his past six games.

• #22 - GARY TUCKER: Junior guard Gary Tucker is averaging 9.9 ppg. and shooting 56.7 percent from the field since Duquesne changed its playing style (11 g.) ... he has scored in double digits seven times in 11 games since the change (compared to three in his first 14 g.)... scored a season-high 17 points (7-of-10) in 22 minutes against Xavier, had 15 on 6-of-9 shooting vs. Charlotte and 14 on 6-of-6 shooting at St. Bona. ...scored 13 each both at La Salle & vs. Rhode Island ... his previous high game was 11 on three occasions (vs. Northern Illinois, at Robert Morris and vs. Dayton) ... hit 5-of-6 free throws - all in the final 5:16 - of DU's come-from-behind win at Saint Louis ... added four assists and four steals to go along with 11 points in 14 minutes versus Dayton ... finished the UD game 6-of-6 from the line ... owner of a pair of acrobatic three-point plays on alley-oop dunks (vs. Dayton and at St. Bonaventure) ... took off from the first dash beyond the block on the outside of the key for a rim-rattling dunk vs. Charlotte.

• #31 - STEPHEN WOOD: Freshman Stephen Wood has played in 24 of 26 games ... has scored in double digits twice (11 in the season-opener vs. Youngstown State and 12 at #2 (AP) Pitt) ... has attempted 66 3-pointers ... shooting 22.5 percent in conference play (10-of-45 from 3-point).

• #4 - JIMMY SHERWOOD & #43 JASON DUTY: Freshman walk ons Jason Duty and Jimmy Sherwood made their first career starts on Jan. 21 at UMass ... Duty, who had played in six games (two A-10) prior to UMass, scored seven points in 18 minutes vs. the Minutemen ... Sherwood, who played a total of two minutes in two games prior to UMass, grabbed a rebound in 11 minutes of action ... Sherwood scored his first four career points in 17 minutes vs. Dayton and added three rebounds in 16 minutes versus Temple ... followed a seven-point outing at St. Bonaventure (including his first career 3-pointer) by hitting 5-of-6 3-point attempts in scoring a career-high 15 at La Salle ... Sherwood entered the La Salle game with a total of 15 points in his first seven games played ... added five boards in 17 minutes at St. Bonaventure ... Sherwood added eight points and a career high five assists with no turnovers in a career-high 19 minutes at Fordham and followed that with 13 points in 15 minutes on 4-of-5 shooting vs. Charlotte ... Sherwood and Duty combined for a key play in the win over Dayton ... with the Dukes down one with a minute left, Sherwood deflected a UD inbounds pass that was scooped up by Duty who was fouled and converted a pair of free throws to give DU its first lead since the 15 minute mark ... Duty keyed a late-game eight-point comeback by hitting a clutch 3-pointer to pull the Dukes within two with 2:46 left ... Duty, who hit 10 of his first 17 3-point attempts (in nine games), is 3-of-25 from the arc in his past eight ... 42 of his 51 field goal attempts have come from beyond the 3-point arc ... has not missed a free throw since a pair of late-game misses vs. Temple on Jan. 27 (he's 8-of-8 since and 14-of-17 on the season).

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DUQUESNE UNIVERSITY TENTATIVE STARTERS VS. AKRON

#  P Name            HT   Cl  Pts   Reb  G/GS   Hometown23 F Robert Mitchell 6-6  Fr. 16.7  5.2  25/17  Brooklyn, N.Y.     School record five-time Atlantic 10 Rookie of the Week30 F Scott Grote     6-6  Fr. 9.9  4.0  26/19  Centerville, Ohio     5-of-9 from 3-point in the past three games20 G Phillip Fayne   6-2  So.  5.0  1.6  26/11  Carbondale, Ill.     One of four players to see action in all 26 games22 G Gary Tucker     6-0  Jr.  6.8  2.0  25/ 8  Pensacola, Fla.     Double-digit scorer in six of past eight games3  G Reggie Jackson  5-10 Jr.  7.6  1.5  26/16  Hogansville, Ga.     Dukes are 7-3 when he scores in double figures

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 4 F Jimmy Sherwood  6-1  Fr.  4.8  1.5  13/ 6  Sharon, Mass.     13 points in 15 minutes (4-of-5 from field) vs. Charlotte31 F Stephen Wood    6-3  Fr.  4.1  1.5  24/11  S. Jamaica Queens, N.Y.     Has two double-digit scoring games (last 12/6 at Pitt) 2 C Kieron Achara   6-10 Jr. 15.5  6.9  20/14  Stirling, Scotland      Career high 26 vs. SBU; 3 double-doubles in past 7 games43 G Jason Duty      5-11 Fr.  3.8  0.6  17/ 6  Cranberry, Twp., Pa.     Late add walk-on; 42-of-51 FGA have been from 3-pt. range 1 G Aaron Jackson   6-2  So. 11.4  4.8  25/20 Hartford, Conn.     Shooting 52.4% from the field;  team-high 97 assists