Jan. 11, 2008

Complete Game Notes

DUQUESNE (11-3, 1-0) at #22/#20 (AP/ESPN) RHODE ISLAND (14-2, 0-1)
Sunday, Jan. 13, 2008 • 2:00 p.m. (EST)
Ryan Center (7,657) • Kingston, R.I.

TELEVISION: Cox Sports Television (Rhode Island viewing area)
DUQUESNE Radio: KQV-AM (1410) with Ray Goss & George Von Benko
DUQUESNE INTERNET BROADCAST: redzonemedia.com
ADDITIONAL MEDIA: Gametracker available at GoRhody.com

Duquesne (11-3, 1-0), which extended its win streak to five with an Atlantic 10-opening 74-62 win over Fordham on Wednesday, heads to the Ocean State to face #22/#20 (AP/ESPN) Rhode Island (14-2, 0-1) on Sunday, Jan. 13 at 2:00 p.m.

The Dukes will be looking for just their fifth 2-0 start in conference history as well as their first win over a ranked team since Jan. 25, 1997 (a 78-70 win at #16 (AP) Xavier) against a URI team that saw its nine-game win streak snapped by a 92-83 loss at #17 (AP) Dayton on Wednesday.

Rhode Island is 7-0 at home with an average margin of victory of +21.6 ppg. The closest game URI has had at Ryan Center is an 87-76 win over New Hampshire.

Duquesne, which has already exceeded last year's win total (10-19), is 3-2 on the road with double-digit wins at Rice, Oakland and Bowling Green.

This is the second-straight year the Dukes enter the URI game on a five-game win streak. Last year, Joe Mbang came off the bench to score 19 of his 22 points in the first half as Rhode Island jumped out to a 57-40 lead and pulled away for a 111-87 win before a crowd of 5,115 at the Palumbo Center.

The Dukes are off to their best start since the 1979-80 team opened 12-3, while Rhode Island's 14-2 start is its best since 1946-47.

DUQUESNE LATELY: Duquesne's 11-3 start is its best since the 1979-80 NIT squad opened 12-3 ... DU's 10 non-conference wins are its most since 1970-80 (11-6) ... Duquesne's quick start can be contributed to its defensive improvement ... the Dukes, who held two of 29 opponents under 40 percent in finishing ranked 324th of 325 NCAA Division I teams in field goal pct. defense (.507) last season, are holding opponents to .389 this year ... DU has outscored opponents by +16.5 ppg. ... 10 different players have scored 10 or more points in a game this year ... the Dukes have outscored opponents 654-494 in the second half (+11.5 ppg.) ... DU's three losses have come to teams that are a combined 37-7 (Drake is 13-1, Pitt is 13-2 & WVU is 11-4) ... Duquesne has assisted on 66 percent of its field goals ... DU's 19.7 apg. average ranks 5th nationally ... DU, bolstered by first-year transfer Shawn James, is averaging 8.3 blocked shots per game (currently 3rd nationally) ... James, who rejected a school and Atlantic 10 record 12 at Oakland on Nov. 20, has 60 blocks which ties the DU single-season record.

THE SERIES: Rhode Island leads the all-time series 24-22, including a 15-9 advantage in games played at Kingston, R.I. ... in A-10 regular-season games, URI leads 21-19 ... the Rams have won the past three overall - and five of the past six - with Duquesne's last series win coming at the Ryan Center by a 72-55 score on Jan. 21, 2004 ... the 17-point margin of victory tied the largest by a Duquesne team in a conference road game at that time (DU defeated URI 79-62 at Kingston on Jan. 19, 1994) ... two year's ago, Bryant McAllister scored 36 points and tied the school record with eight 3-pointers but it wasn't enough as the Dukes fell 79-69 at Kingston ... the Rams, picked to finish 2nd in a preseason poll of A-10 coaches, are off to a 14-2 start and #22 (AP) and #20 (ESPN) national ranking ... DU is 0-1 all-time against nationally ranked Rhode Island teams, dropping an 83-76 decision at #23 (AP) URI on Jan. 10, 1998.

A victory over Rhode Island would:
• Be Duquesne's first over a ranked team since a 78-70 win at #16 (AP) Xavier on Jan. 25, 1997 (a span of 20 games).
• Give Duquesne its most wins since 2003-04 (12-17).
• Give Duquesne just its fifth 2-0 start in conference history (no DU team has ever opened league play 3-0).

BROTHER VS. BROTHER: This will be the first time Duquesne junior forward/center Shawn James will face his younger brother, Delroy, in a college basketball game. Delroy, a 6-7 sophomore forward for Rhode Island, missed the 2006-07 season due to NCAA Initial-Eligibility Clearinghouse issues. Delroy had his best outing of the season with 10 points and four rebounds in 11 minutes in URI's 94-63 win over Fairleigh Dickinson on Jan. 2. For the season, Delroy is averaging 2.4 ppg. in five games played. "I've never played against him in anything outside of the backyard," said Shawn. "I'll be fun." Shawn and Delroy's older brother, Gordon, was a standout Division II player at Bridgeport (Conn.), where he led that team to back-to-back NCAA Tournament appearances for the first time in over a decade. Gordon, who at 6-6 was NCAA Division II's second-leading rebounder in 2002-03, currently plays professionally in Japan.

REUNITED: This is also the third time the Worcester (Mass.) Academy backcourt of 2005 will be back on the same floor. Duquesne's Aaron Jackson, a native of Hartford, Conn., averaged 14.0 points, 7.0 rebounds and 8.0 assists per game for the 18-9 Worcester Academy Hilltoppers in 2004-05. His backcourtmate on that team was Rhode Island junior guard Jimmy Baron. Baron averaged a team-high 27.4 points on a squad that featured four NCAA Division I signees. Baron had six games with 30 or more points, while Jackson topped the 20-point mark three times in `05. In two games against his former teammate, Jackson is averaging 12.5 ppg. on 11-of-18 shooting to go along with nine assists. Baron is averaging 13.5 points (7-of-15 from the 3-point arc) and has handed out 12 assists in two games against Duquesne.

STREAKIN': During its current five-game win streak, Duquesne has averaged 87.8 points per game and assisted on 106 of 156 field goals (67.9%). The Dukes have also forced 20.2 turnovers and committed just 13.2/g. (+7.0/g.). The Jackson's - Reggie and Aaron - are each averaging 12.0 ppg. in the past five, with Aaron shooting 61.0 percent (25-of-41) and Reggie shooting 52.8 percent (19-of-36). Reggie Jackson has 27 assists and 10 turnovers over that span.

QUICK NOTES: Reggie Jackson has more than doubled his scoring average in the past six games ... Jackson, who was averaging 3.6 ppg. following the Dec. 5 Pitt game, is at 7.5 ppg. ... he is averaging 12.2 ppg. in the Dukes' past six outings ... he has scored a season-high 19 points at Bowling Green and 15 vs. Fordham in his last two ... Jackson has handed out 24 assists (6.0 apg.) in his past four games, including a career-high nine vs. Robert Morris on Dec. 28 ... Shawn James tied the Duquesne record for blocked shots in a season when he deflected a Brenton Butler field goal attempt with 6:18 left in Wednesday's Fordham game ... James' 60 blocks ties the school mark set (in 1991-92) and tied (in 1992-93) by Derrick Alston ... Alston played in 28 games in both `92 & `93 in setting and tying the old record ... James needs eight blocks to become the 18th player in NCAA Division I history to reach 400 for his career ... James leads the team with a .560 field goal percentage ... Aaron Jackson is 39-of-64 from the field (.609) in his past nine games ... Kojo Mensah saw a streak of 18 consecutive free throws made snapped at Bowling Green ... he had a streak of 13 in a row earlier this season ... Mensah posted his team-high fourth 20-point game with 22 on Dec. 28 vs. Robert Morris ... Mensah is coming off just his fourth single-digit scoring game this season ... DU is 2-2 when Mensah scores in single digits ... Damian Saunders was named A-10 Rookie of the Week for the third time on Dec. 30 ... he is the fifth player in school history to win the award more than twice in a season ... Saunders is tied for the team lead (with Mensah) with 23 steals, ranks second with a 5.9 rebounds per game average, is third in blocks (20) and is also third on the team with 11 3-pointers ... fellow freshman Bill Clark has hit three or more 3-pointers in a game four times ... Clark, at 6-6, ranks third on the team with a 5.7 rpg. average.

WHAT A DIFFERENCE A YEAR MAKES: Last year, Duquesne notched its tenth - and final - win on Feb. 7; this year, victory No. 10 came one month earlier - on Jan. 2. Through 14 games, the Dukes have shown marked improvement in nearly every category over last season - especially on defense:

                         Scoring   Ppg.  Ppg.   FG%   ReboundThrough 14 g.    W/L     Margin    Off.  Def.   Def.  Margin   Blocks2006-07          5-9      -8.9     69.3  78.1   .503    -5.1     2.62007-08          11-3     +16.1    87.2  71.1   .389    +3.1     8.3Difference       +6 W's   +25.0   +17.9  +7.0  +.114    +8.2     +5.7

SENSATIONAL SECONDS: Duquesne head coach Ron Everhart has had much success in his second season at all three of his coaching stops. Here is a look as Everhart's year one and year two records at McNeese State (1995-01), Northeastern (2002-06) and Duquesne:

SCHOOL            YR 1    YR 2  IMPROVEMENTat McNeese   11-16   15-12     +4.0at Northeastern     7-21   16-15     +7.5at Duquesne  10-19   11-3      TBD