Jan. 8, 2008
Complete Game Notes
FORDHAM (6-6, 0-0) at DUQUESNE (10-3, 0-0)
Wednesday, Jan. 9, 2008 • 7:00 p.m. (EST)
A.J. Palumbo Center (5,358) • Pittsburgh, Pa.
TELEVISION: None
DUQUESNE RADIO: KQV-AM (1410) with Ray Goss & George Von Benko
DUQUESNE INTERNET BROADCAST: redzonemedia.com
ADDITIONAL MEDIA: Gametracker and streaming video available at GoDuquesne.com
PROMOTIONS: The first 3,000 fans in attendance will receive a Shawn James/Kieron Achara poster. In addition "Quick Change" will perform at halftime.
Duquesne (10-3, 0-0), which extended its win streak to four with a 96-78 victory at Bowling Green last Wednesday, opens the Atlantic portion of its schedule at home against Fordham (6-6, 0-0) on Wednesday, Jan. 9 at 7:00 p.m.
This marks the first time the Dukes have opened league play at home in eight years.
Duquesne is 15-15 in A-10 openers, including a 10-5 mark when opening at home.
Duquesne, which matched last season's win total (10-19) with the victory at Bowling Green, will be looking to snap a five-game Fordham series win streak.
Last year, the Rams swept the Dukes, winning 71-59 at Pittsburgh and 86-83 at New York. Fordham shot a Palumbo Center record .690 (29-of-42) in its last visit to the Steel City.
The Dukes are off to their best start since the 1979-80 team opened 12-3. The 2007-08 Dukes are the first team since 1979-80 to post double-digit non-conference wins. The only two teams to win 10 or more non-league games were the 1978-79 (11-4) and 1979-80 (11-6) Dukes. Duquesne began conference play in 1976-77.
Fordham is one of three teams DU will face twice during the 16-game conference season (St. Bonaventure and La Salle are the others). Fordham was picked to finish fourth in the Atlantic 10 preseason poll of coaches and media, Duquesne was picked to finish 11th.
DUQUESNE LATELY: Duquesne's, 10-3 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 .387 this year ... DU has used five-man substitutions and full court pressure to outscore opponents by +16.5 ppg. ... 10 different players have scored 10 or more points in a game so far ... the Dukes have outscored opponents 620-458 in the second half (+12.5 ppg.) ... West Virginia is the only team to outscore Duquesne in the second half this year ... Duquesne has assisted on 260 of its 394 field goals (.660) ... the 20.0 apg. average ranks 3rd nationally ... DU, bolstered by first-year transfer Shawn James, is averaging 8.5 blocked shots per game (began the week ranked 4th nationally) ... James' 57 blocks, including a school and Atlantic 10 record 12 at Oakland on Nov. 20, are just three shy of the DU single-season record.
THE SERIES: Duquesne leads the series 13-11, including a 7-4 advantage in games played at Pittsburgh ... in A-10 regular-season action, Fordham leads 8-6 ... Fordham has won the past five meetings with Duquesne's last win coming on Mar. 2, 2002 at Fordham ... Fordham began the current streak with a 65-53 win in the opening round of the 2005 Atlantic 10 Championship at U.S. Bank Arena in Cincinnati ... the Rams' win ended a four-game DU series streak ... Fordham then went on to sweep the season series in 2005-06 and 2006-07 ... last year at Pittsburgh, Fordham shot a Palumbo Center record 69 percent in defeating Duquesne 71-59 ... Marcus Stout went 10-of-12 from the field and hit all six of his 3-point attempts in leading the Rams with 26 points ... in the game at Fordham, Duquesne - down eight points with just over four minutes remaining - had two chances to tie or take the lead in the game's final 30 seconds only to come up empty in an 86-83 loss ... the Dukes and Rams will do it all over again in 10 days, as they complete this year's home-and-home series at Fordham on Jan. 19.
A victory over Fordham would:
• Snap a five-game series losing streak.
• Give Duquesne its most wins since 2003-04 (12-17).
• Give Duquesne just its third 1-0 start in conference play in the past 10 years.
• Be DU's seventh home win of the season.
• Put Ron Everhart's career coaching record at 195-194 in 14 seasons.
QUICK NOTES: Reggie Jackson has nearly doubled his scoring average in the past five games ... Jackson, who was averaging 3.6 ppg. following the Dec. 5 Pitt game, is at 6.9 ppg. ... he is averaging 11.6 ppg. in the Dukes' past five outings ... he is coming off a season-high 19 points at Bowling Green ... Jackson has handed out 21 assists (7.0 apg.) in his past three games, including a career-high nine vs. Robert Morris on Dec. 28 ... Shawn James is closing in on the school record for blocked shots in a season ... Derrick Alston rejected 60 shots in 28 games in 1991-92 and did it again in 1992-93 ... James has 57 blocks in 13 games ... he also needs 11 blocks to become the 18th player in NCAA history to reach 400 for his career ... James, who was bothered by a sore back in last week's game at Bowling Green, shot below 50 percent (he was 2-of-6) for the first time this season in that game ... James leads the team with a .579 field goal percentage ... Aaron Jackson is 34-of-56 from the field (.607) in his past eight 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 ... DU is 1-2 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 leads the team with 22 steals, is tied for second with 20 blocks ... his 5.6 rpg. average ranks third ... he's 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 second on the team with a 5.7 rpg. average.
STREAKIN': During its current four-game win streak, Duquesne has averaged 91.3 points per game and assisted on a phenomenal 90 of 124 field goals (that's 72.6%). The Dukes have also forced 21.0 turnovers and committed just 14.0 turnovers per game (that's a plus 7.0 per game) over that four-game span.
GIVING AND TAKING AWAY: The 2007-08 Dukes own the No. 1 & No. 6 high assist games in school history (35 vs. Howard and 28 vs. St. Francis) in addition to four of the top six shot blocking games - including No. 1 (15 at Oakland) & No. 2 (13 vs. St. Francis). Duquesne has handed out 20 or more assists in a game eight times this season. The Dukes began the week ranked third nationally in both blocks (8.5) and assists (20.0) per game.
